| Casual Diving |
| African Odyssea was founded by Trevor Krull who has been leading dives on Protea Banks for 12 years, which means when diving with us you have a wealth of experience and local knowledge behind you. This is invaluable on an advanced dive site such as Protea Banks. Additionally with 25 year’s operational surf launching experience (ex. Sharks Board - 6 years) and a 100% safety record you can rest assured you are in good hands. |
Where:
We meet at the African Odyssea Dive Centre so you can kit up in comfort. Travellers outside Africa may check on various connecting and direct London, Paris or Rome flights to South Africa. 704 Bugle Road Shelly Beach KZN South Africa. Directions... |
When:
During Summer ( Oct - May) we launch at 7am, so please arrive at 6am to give you time to kit up and go through the dive briefing. During Winter (Jun - Sep) we launch at 8am so please arrive for 7am. |
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Protea Banks History
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1990.
Trevor and friend spearfished on Protea Banks.
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1993 - First divers " braved" the waters of Protea Banks.
Trevor Krull and Mike Fraser began diving on Protea Banks in 1993 and were referred to by the fisherman as being suicidal due the large number of resident sharks on the reef.
According to Trevor and Mike is was not uncommon to see at least 20 Zambezi's upon descent to the reef.
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1994 - Trevor opened African Dive Adventures.
This was the first dive operation in the area and had small dedicated group of clientele. Most of the diving population were not very convinced of the safety aspects of diving with large numbers of sharks. On those first few pioneering dives each diver carried a stick of his choice, whether it be a pool queue or the like, just to give the very inquisitive Zambezi's a little prod if they came too close. |
1994 - 2000 African Dive Adventures grew from strength to strength.
Slowly but surely divers and the world began to conquer the JAWS syndrome and diving with sharks became a privilege and a wonderful experience to enjoy. |
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2000 - Trevor sold African Dive Adventures.
After running this successful business with a 100% safety record for 6 years Trevor sold and moved to Mozambique to explore new business opportunities.
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Trevor had a 3 year restraint of trade on Protea Banks during which time he ran a successful operation at Barra Lodge & Tofo in Mozambique.
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Dec 2002 - African Odyssea sets up a Dive Centre at Shelly Beach.
African Odyssea began operating under the supervision of Trevor Krull and still maintains the only 100% safety record on Protea Banks.
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2004 - Protea is internationally recognized.
Protea Banks has since become recognized as one of the world,s premier shark dives. It is not uncommon to see up to four different shark species on a dive. Sadly we do not experience the thrill of descending on 20 Zambezi's anymore. The shark populations have been decimated by foreign trawlers and local sport fishing charters. Nonetheless it is still an amazing dive site that will alter your outlook on sharks forever!
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2006: Trevor has started another first on Protea Banks.
A low frequency device emits a sound wave underwater that is very similar to a distressed, struggling fish. Sharks like Zambezies and Blacktips are attracted to these soundwaves as their main diet is fish. It has varied results, it all depends on whether there are gamefish in the area, water temperature and if the sharks are hungry. There is no danger as the sharks are only attracted to the device and it is incredible to witness how accurately the sharks can pin point the source of the signal. |
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