Aliwal Dive Centre

Location :

2 Moodie St, Umkomaas, 4170
Added by Jopie, at 18 November 2015

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• Emil Grip

  13 August 2017

  Would most definitely recommend Aliwal dive centre to everyone who wants to explore the magnificent reefs in Umkomass! Diving here is incredibly, and we are for sure coming back for more.
  Only thing is that the site is very busy in weekends.We had way to many divers in the boat and the reef was kind of crowded.
  Next time we'll be back for some summer diving and plenty of sharks - but not during the weekends ;)
  Till next time

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• Brad Warne

  07 July 2017

  Had a great first dive with my 2 daughters. My one daughter was quite scared but the Dive Master took great care of her and ensured she had a wonderful experience. We even got to see a Raggie and sea turtle. Thanks also to a great skipper and breakfast afterwards.

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• Shane Franks

  12 July 2016

  These guys are not as safe as I would have liked.
  My brothers first sea dive and he was under weight so struggled to descend. No dive master actually bothered to see if he and I were OK. Currents were too strong and took us in a different direction as it split in certain areas. I advised the Dive master that this would happen but he didn't seem to care. When we surfaced, as we didn't have a choice, the dive master surfaced and tried to have a go at us. Would not recommend using this center if you are not experienced diver as they simply don't seem to care.

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• Stephen Sugg

  25 November 2015

  Human Error Created Dangerous Situation.
  
  I am posting this review in the hopes this situation does not happen to someone else.
  
  I dove with Aliwal Dive Center on October 13, 2015. My dive buddy, Lauren, was also the Dive Master from ADC and we went with another pair. Upon entering the water, we gave the ok and began to descend. I didn't have enough weight on my belt to get to the bottom and only reached about 3 meters underwater. Lauren lead the way to the bottom and didn't see I was having problems.
  
  I resurfaced to get additional weight from the skipper but the boat had left and was not visible in the area that I had just entered the water from. Time that had elapsed was less than 1 minute at this stage. I dove back under the water to try to find Lauren and the others but could not.
  
  I resurfaced again and saw the dive boat in the distance. The seas were pretty choppy that day. I swam over to the dive boat and exited the water. At that point Lauren resurfaced and it had been approximately 15 minutes.
  
  This situation could have been avoided if Lauren had watch the decent and noticed I was having difficulty and the dive boat was in the same position when we entered the water and just got additional weight and continued the dive. Instead I was left solo in the open ocean (on a dive to see sharks).
  
  After getting more weight, I rejoined the group and the rest of the dive went fine except I had used alot of oxygen in the excitement.
  
  After the dive, I spoke with the owner, skipper and Lauren about the experience. Lauren did not accept any responsibility and said she followed protocol and standard operating procedure.
  
  We all make mistakes and I want this to be a learning experience. A suggestion is to change procedure to aborting the dive when not all the divers reach the bottom including when it's your dive buddy missing.
  
  I realized afterwards that Lauren perhaps could not take responsibility because of liability reasons.
  
  The owner, Basie, and skipper was apologetic that I had such a bad dive, my worst in 40+ dives, and comped the cost. I gave Aliwal Dive Centre a 3 star instead of 1 star because they realized what a serious situation that was - this is how people get swept to sea - and were genuinely concerned about what had happened.
  
  ~ Stephen Sugg

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