Have you ever seen videos of giant bait balls being chased by large fish? Most of these videos have been shot during the sardine run South Africa while scuba diving. The sardine run South Africa occurs from May through July when billions of sardines spawn in the cool waters of the Agulhas Bank and move northward along the east coast of South Africa.

Their sheer numbers create a feeding frenzy along the coastline. The sardine run South Africa contains millions of individual sardines. It occurs when a current of cold water heads north from the Agulhas Bank up to Mozambique where it then leaves the coastline and goes further east into the Indian Ocean.

In terms of biomass, researchers estimate the sardine run South Africa could rival East Africa’s great wildebeest migration. However, little is known of the phenomenon. It is believed that the water temperature has to drop below 21 °C in order for the sardine run South Africa to take place.

Close your eyes for a few minutes and imagine yourself scuba diving at 10 metres  with perfect buoyancy in blue water. Yes we know it is hard to imagine yourself with perfect buoyancy, but try! Now imagine schools of sardines swimming ahead of you in large numbers.  Then comes the dolphins rounding up the sardines into bait balls. These bait balls can be 10–20 metres in diameter. Once the sardines are rounded up, sharks, game fish and birds take advantage of the opportunity. This is what this trip is all about and it is truly spectacular to see while you are scuba diving!

The incredible thing about this is that this does not have to be a dream or a great video from National Geographic. This is something any scuba diver can experience on our scuba diving trip. During a ten day trip, you can do over 14 dives in various sardine runs across the coast. As you know, South Africa also has a lot to offer on land to extend your trip and make it a trip of a lifetime.

Our environment is changing everyday and no one truly knows what creates this phenomenon. In 2003, the sardine run failed for the third time in 23 years. While 2005 saw a good sardine run, 2006 marked another nonsardine run. Don’t leave this trip too long and let us CONTACT YOU to set up this incredible scuba diving holiday!