Diving & Travel Guide to Tsitsikamma & Plettenberg Bay

About Tsitsikamma & Plettenberg Bay

Tsitsikamma and Plettenberg Bay offer some of South Africa's most pristine and protected diving, headlined by the Tsitsikamma Marine Protected Area – South Africa's oldest marine reserve with extraordinary fish densities and pristine kelp forests accessible from Storms River Mouth. Plettenberg Bay provides dramatic pinnacle diving at Robberg Peninsula with seal colonies and bronze whaler sharks, alongside the historic Athina wreck and diverse reef systems at Beacon Isle. The limited commercial diving operations in Tsitsikamma mean virtually untouched underwater environments with giant red roman, galjoen, and banks of fish in densities rarely seen elsewhere. The combination of protected marine wilderness, upscale Plettenberg Bay tourism infrastructure, and the stunning Tsitsikamma coastal forest creates a diving experience that feels genuinely remote and pristine despite being on the popular Garden Route.

Highlights

• ✓Tsitsikamma MPA – South Africa's oldest marine reserve with pristine kelp forests
• ✓Giant red roman and galjoen in extraordinary densities
• ✓Robberg Peninsula pinnacles with seal colonies and bronze whalers
• ✓Historic Athina wreck (1975) in Plettenberg Bay
• ✓Shore entry diving from Storms River Mouth
• ✓Limited commercial diving preserving pristine marine environments

Getting There

Drive from George Airport (GRJ) approximately 1.5-2 hours east along the N2, or from Port Elizabeth approximately 2.5 hours west. Plettenberg Bay and Storms River Village are the main bases.