FONTAO

Best months: Jan–Mar

Why dive here

With 490+ marine species recorded in the area - including barracuda, blue sharks, bull sharks, eagle rays and great white sharks - FONTAO offers some of KwaZulu-Natal's richest wreck diving. Water ranges 21-26°C, warmest January, February, March.

Best timeJan–Mar

WetsuitA 3mm full wetsuit

Marine lifeBarracuda, Blue Sharks, Bull Sharks, Eagle Rays and Great White Sharks · 490+ species recorded

Water21-26°C · warmest January, February, March

CharacterWreck dive · max 23m

StandoutExceptional marine biodiversity

Fontao sits in a sweet spot, a fishing trawler scuttled for research, now a proper artificial reef. We love wrecks you can actually get *inside*, and Fontao delivers. Dropping down, the steel hulk looms, surprisingly intact. You can push through the wheelhouse, navigating past the occasional moray eel peeking from a darkened corner, or explore the open cargo holds where schools of snapper dart in and out of the light shafts. The current is often mild here, making for relaxed penetration dives, even for those newer to overhead environments, provided you're good on air and buoyancy. Look for the resident potato bass lurking under the stern; they’re enormous and not shy. This isn't a deep dive, around 23 meters, meaning plenty of bottom time to really absorb the details, from the barnacled winches to the anemones blooming on every available surface. We'd suggest checking it out in the late morning, after the early boat traffic has cleared, when the light really hits the superstructure.