INDIAN OCEAN
Wild Coast · Sardine Run
- South Africa
- Advanced
- May - July
Plan your dive
- Experience level
- Advanced
- Depth guide
- Blue water; fast boats
- When to go
- May - July
- Site type
- Baitball
Featured wildlife
- Common bottlenose dolphin
- Tiger shark
- Giant trevally
- Chevron barracuda
About this dive site
Migrating baitballs with dolphins, sharks and diving gannets.
Along South Africa's Wild Coast and Transkei, the sardine run creates chaotic surface action when dolphins, copper sharks, Bryde's whales and gannets hammer shrinking shoals. Most participation is snorkel or fast boat work in cool water, advanced fitness and realistic expectations matter more than a certification card.
Most trips target May - July, but wind, swell and current still decide the day's site. Calendar peak is May - July, but skippers still move sites when wind, swell or current change. Book with a crew that knows Wild Coast day to day, not just the map pin.