Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Castor Rock

The dive site Castor Rock is an offshore rocky reef in the Simon's Bay area on the Cape Peninsula side of False Bay, near Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Castor Rock Halal Travel Guide

Castor Rock Reef map - Map of the dive sites near Roman Rock. Castor rock reef is the large reef to the north of the lighthouse Roman Rambler and Castor rocks map - Map showing the position of Castor Rock reef in relation to the surrounding reefs

Position

S34°10.680’ E018°27.590’ Castor Rock - Northern Pinnacle GPS -34.178000,18.459833
S34°10.740’ E018°27.610’ Castor Rock - Central Pinnacle GPS -34.179000,18.463500
S34°10.810’ E018°27.650’ Wonders Pinnacle GPS -34.180167,18.460833
S34°10.831’ E018°27.802’ Roman's Rest GPS -34.180517,18.463367 An extensive area of rocky reef north of Roman Rock lighthouse with several pinnacles

This site is in a Marine Protected Area (2004). A permit is required. The site is mostly inside the Boulders Restricted Zone.

Name

The area is shown on SA Navy charts as "Castor Rock".

Depth

Maximum depth is about 18 m to the south, and 22 m to the north. The highest point on the reef is about 4 m deep. There are a few other pinnacles above 12 m.

Topography

Thit is an extensive reef of granite. Basically a very large area of moderate to low outcrops with occasional high areas, small gullies, ridges, boulders, small crevices and overhangs. The edge of the reef is penetrated at irregular intervals by small sandy bottomed gullies between the ridges.

The reef is divided into two large lobes by a pair of narrow sand tongues which encroach into the reef from the east and west, and nearly meet just north of Wonders Pinnacle on the west side of the south lobe.

The northern lobe is Castor Reef proper, and is more compact and substantial overall than the southern lobe. The edges are also penetrated by gullies, but to a lesser extent. The northern end is relatively flat and slopes gradually down to the sand, but the eastern and western sides are more ruggedly profiled. Castor rock reef north lobe has a very different character to Roman and Rambler rocks. The reef top is of moderate relief, with relatively shallow sandy gullies, small overhangs and boulders, and has some steep areas at the edges. The sand to the south is coarse and shelly in places.

The pinnacle to the north east is Castor Rock pinnacle, which is a locally shallow area with a steep drop to the sand on the north east face, and more gradual slope to the reef top on the other sides

There is a high profile reef section a few metres across the sand to the north of the main reef known as North Pinnacle, which is a good site with impressive topography, comprising a tall steep pinnacle with overhangs and swimthroughs. It is a short distance across the sand from the main reef, which can be seen from the pinnacle reef on a good day. The northern pinnacle is small enough to be comprehensively explored on a single dive.

The southern lobe is longer and narrower than the north lobe, and has an area of pinnacles at each end. The reef between is lower and somewhat broken along the edges. This lobe is commonly called Wonders Reef.

The western pinnacle is Wonders Pinnacle, and the eastern area is Roman's Rest pinnacles. The main pinnacle of Roman's Rest is a huge outcrop rising from the sand to just above 12 m at the top, very steep on the north east side, and with several deep round bottomed indentations. The east side is also pretty steep, but the south west side is more gradually sloped and the north west side steps down towards a pair of lesser pinnacles to the north west. These are huge boulders standing on a flattish rock base at about 20 m depth and rising to about 12 m at the top. One of them is relatively narrow for its height, about 5 m one way and about 7 or 8 m the other way, and is about 8 m high and pointed on top. The other is wider and a bit lower, but they make an impressive pair. They can be seen from the edge of the sand tongue in reasonable visibility.

There are occasional low outliers around the east side of the reef near the pinnacle.

Castor reef has several other reefs nearby which are known as good dive sites, These include Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Roman Rock|Roman Rock, Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Tivoli Pinnacles|Tivoli Pinnacles, Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Friskies Pinnacle|Friskies Pinnacle and the Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Rambler Rock|Rambler Rock reefs.

Geology: Granite corestone outcrops and boulders of the late Pre-Cambrian Peninsula pluton.

Conditions

The site is exposed to winds from all directions, which can produce an unpleasant choppy sea, and make it difficult for the boat crew to see a diver on the surface. Generally considered a winter dive, as thit is when conditions are most likely to be good, but can be dived any time the swell is low and the visibility is acceptable. This can happen any time of the year after a period of light winds when the swell is low or short period.

Muslim Friendly Travel TO Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Castor Rock

-34.179000|18.463500 width=|align=Castor Rock}} Always dived from a boat. The site is 3.3 km from Simon’s Town jetty, or 5.6 km from Miller’s Point.

What to See

Marine life

Large variety of invertebrates, and if you do your safety stop near one of the pinnacles you may be visited by shoals of reef fish including Hottentot, Galjoen, Dassie and Fransmadam. Relatively large numbers of Bank steenbras have been seen here, but mostly quite small. Zonation is variable according to depth and surface orientation. Some kelp above about 10 m, but small and sparse. Red bait and other large ascidians fairly numerous, but not densely packed. There are patches of encrusting sponges and ascidians on relatively horizontal areas. Moderate numbers of elegant feather stars are scattered around. Common feather stars are also common in some areas, mostly where it is fairly steeply sloped. There are also clumps of red chested cucumbers, mauve cucumbers, striped anemones, Stephens' codium (relatively shallow), bushy corallines, encrusting corallines and Coral plocamium.

There are lots of gorgonian sea fans along the reef edges in the 15 m to 20 m depth range. Palmate, Sinuous, and Flagellar fans appear to be equally common. There are huge numbers of golden sea cucombers on the reef slopes to the north and more expectedly, also in the sand along the reef margins. Occasioanally virtual carpets of hairy brittle stars can be seen at the north end of the reef.

Leopard catshark at Castor Rock DSC05960 - Leopard catshark
Scorpion fish at Castor Rock DSC09578 - Scorpion fish
Shoal of Galjoen at Castor Rock DSC06030 - Shoal of Galjoen
Soft corals at Castor Rock DSC00868 - Reef scene with green soft corals
Striped anemones and red chested cucumbers at Castor Rock DSC00878 - Red cucombers and Striped anemones
Shy shark at Castor Rock DSC05945 - Shy shark
Catshark egg case at Castor Rock P5025951 - Catshark egg case on a sinous sea fan
Sea fan covered by hairy brittle stars P4025192 - Sea fan covered by hairy brittle stars
Reef cover of golden sea cucumbers at Castor Rock P5025962 - Reef cover of golden sea cucumbers

Photography

Good photographic site. Most equipment will be usable depending on visibility.

Routes

Main Reef: Drop off over the main reef and work your way down to the sand and then back up to one of the pinnacles if the surge is not too strong.
North Pinnacle: Either drop off over the North Pinnacle, or at the northern pinnacle of the main reef, and swim north over the sand to the North Pinnacle. After the dive either shoot a DSMB and ascend, or swim across the sand to the south and ascend at the northern pinnacle of the main reef.
Wonders Pinnacle: Drop off at the pinnacle, dive the reef and ascend at the pinnacle. Thit is a relatively small area, but enough for a good dive.
Roman's Rest Pinnacle: Drop off at the pinnacle, dive the reef and ascend at the pinnacle. Visit the twin pinnacles. Thit is a small area, but enough for a good dive. If you have time to spare, it is not very far to the Western reef section near Wonders Pinnacle.

Stay Safe

Hazards

Great white sharks have been seen in the vicinity.

Skills

No special skills required, though the ability to deploy a DSMB is useful in case you are separated from the group or need to surface away from the shot line.

Equipment

A light is useful to restore colour at depth, a compass to keep track of your movements, and a DSMB will let the boat know where you are when surfacing.

Nearby

Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Livingstone Reef|Livingstone Reef GPS -34.176750,18.459520
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Target Reef|Target Reef GPS -34.176983,18.453767
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Castor Rock|Castor Rock - Northern Pinnacle GPS -34.178117,18.459833
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Castor Rock|Castor Rock - Central Pinnacle GPS -34.178667,18.460083
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Friskies Pinnacle|North Friskies Pinnacle GPS -34.178667,18.463833
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Friskies Pinnacle|Friskies Pinnacle GPS -34.179667,18.463667
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Castor Rock|Wonders Pinnacle GPS -34.180167,18.460833
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Castor Rock|Roman's Rest GPS -34.180583,18.463417
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Roman Rock|Roman Rock GPS -34.18122,18.46007
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Roman Rock|Spider Crab Reef GPS -34.1815,18.457167
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Tivoli Pinnacles|Tivoli Pinnacles GPS -34.1815333,18.46275
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Rambler Rock|Rambler Rock North-east reefs GPS -34.181933,18.466600
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Rambler Rock|Rambler Rock North-west pinnacle GPS -34.182067,18.464983
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Rambler Rock|Rambler Rock Southern pinnacles GPS -34.183517,18.465300
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Dome Rock|Dome Rock GPS -34.185317,18.462933
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Rambler Rock|Hotlips Pinnacle) GPS -34.185767,18.468183
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Noah's Ark|Noah’s Ark - Twin barges GPS -34.189583,18.452083
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Phoenix Shoal|Phoenix shoal GPS -34.18980,18.448300
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Ammunition Barges|Ammunition Barges GPS -34.190139,18.449750
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Noah's Ark|Parana wreck, main section GPS -34.191283,18.452867
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Noah's Ark|Parana wreck, small section GPS -34.191617,18.452383
Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Noah's Ark|Noah’s Ark - Eastern wreck GPS -34.192167,18.455100

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Diving the Cape Peninsula and False Bay/Castor Rock

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