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Sardine Run 2016 around the corner!

Sardine Run 2016 around the corner!

“The red hot pokers have bloomed” – Louis Wolmarans (uttered every year, over and over, like a chant).

Louis, long time surfing guru on the KZN South Coast, is amping for the waves each year. When the aloes bloom in their red splendour each year, it marks the beginning of the surfing season. And the sardine run 2016 too! An odd combination of events considering their mutual denominator – sharks!

The hills through the Transkei and surrounds are covered red with the flower of the aloe. Temperatures have dropped. And the swells have been coming through huge! Few surfers made it out at the big waves spots, and it looks like more to follow as cold fronts line up across the Atlantic, marching methodically and with purpose.

But big swells and sardines do go together. The ocean in its wild eastern seaboard state, confuses the little fish as they make their way north. Often the sardines beach in the wildest conditions.

But the ocean is still very warm, and even though confirmed reports of sardines have been made deeper into the Transkei – we still have a while to go.

In a month or so, things should be really humming!

In the meantime, enjoy this spectacular underwater video clip of a bunch of gannets, completely at home underwater, swimming from aisle to aisle as they load up in the gannet supermarket, 5 metres down. They are competing with common dolphin – beautiful with their contrasting colours, and of course sharks.

If this kind of thing gets you going, hop on over to offshoreportstjohns.com or divingwithsharks.co.za and login with Rob or Debbie for some up close and personal sardine action. They do specialised sardine run diving trips and ocean safari style outings, right from where all the action is – Port St. Johns.

 

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Sardine run 2016 preparations with Offshore Africa

Sardine run 2016 preparations with Offshore Africa

Sardine run 2016 preparations with Offshore Africa have begun already as everybody looks forward to that bumper sardine run we all deserve.

Offshore Africa in Port St. Johns take divers right into the sardine bait ball action where every kind of marine perdator can be seen hard at work. Gorging the shoals of hapless sardines, they compete and work together – their common goal – the obliteration of bait balls, one by one.

Rob Nettleton and Debbie Smith, who for a decade now have operated boats and dive expeditions in The Transkei, arrange accommodation and meals for punters, and then take them to sea on one of their custom designed and rigged inflatables. The surf launch through the Umzimvubu River mouth warms the adrenalin valve up nice, and by the time you reach the action, you will be well into a state of flow. And that is the way you will stay as you get to jump in with sharks and whales and fish and dolphins and gannets…sensory overload is part of the menu.

Port St. Johns is far enough south and Offshore are normally the first to encounter the huge shoals. Other attractions include great fishing in the river and off the shore, incredible hikes through forests and over mountains – some that drop straight into the ocean, wide open beaches, a quaint settlers town to explore…the list is long.

At this time of the year, bookings with Offshore Africa for the 2016 sardine run, start to fill up fast. But, because of last years fantastic run, Rob and Debbie have extended their Sardine Run 2016 experience availability, adding a week or two on either side of their last years schedule.

Click on over to Offshore Africa Port St. Johns for more information and to make a booking.

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Offshore Africa Port St John’s wins Service Excellence Award for Eastern Cape

Offshore Africa Port St John’s have just won Service Excellence of the Year for Eastern Cape in the 2016 Holiday & Tour Specialist Awards!

Offshore Africa in action down in beautiful Port St Johns
Offshore Africa in action down in beautiful Port St Johns

The following excerpt was taken from the announcement by Luxury Travel guide.

 

“Congratulations Rob & Debbie, you have won Service Excellence of the Year for Eastern Cape in the 2016 Holiday & Tour Specialist Awards!

 

The Luxury Travel Guide awards program selects winners based on their achievements and strengths in the travel industry. We received an overwhelming number of superb nominations this year and the judging panel had the unenviable task of selecting those firms, teams and individuals within each category most worthy of an award.

 

All winners of the 2016 Holiday & Tour Specialist Awards are subject to the same rigorous assessment criteria, carried out by our experienced in-house professionals as well as a number of celebrity guest judges. This ensures that only the most deserving teams, businesses and individuals walk away with one of these prestigious accolades.  Award winners that have demonstrated success and innovation will gain a place in our soon-to-be published award winners’ guide, which will be distributed to over 500,000 readers.

 

All of Luxury Travel Guide Award programs represent the pinnacle of achievement, championing the best in their respective fields, therefore to come out as a clear winner is an achievement to be proud of.”

Click on over to Offshore Africa in Port St. Johns, right here.

smaller logo Luxury Travel guide

 

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The Sardine Run 2016 with Offshore Africa in Port St. Johns: bookings open

The Sardine Run 2016 with Offshore Africa in Port St. Johns: bookings open

The Sardine Run 2016 with Offshore Africa in Port St. Johns is looking to be the best yet. With the effects of the biggest El Nino ever recorded going on around us this year, we are hoping for the cooler water to prevail, to entice the shoals north, earlier and for longer.

Even in the quieter years, there is always some show of the little buggers, but from time to time, the stars line up, and a bumer season can be expected. This ain’t no guarantee, but for sure, the effects of the El Nino, and the correlation of past years El Ninos, means we can, according to maths, expect some sardine this in huge numbers, this year or next (howz that for insurance!).

In the meantime, I raided Captain Rob Nettleton’s video archives and pulled out a  series of 15 second clips, for us to enjoy, in the lead up to the season….

Here is the first, enjoy!

Offshore Africa, run by Rob Nettleton and Debbie Smith, is based right on the Umzimvubu River in Port St. Johns, deep into the Wild Transkei. Their combined experience ensures you get out to the shoals safely, and back again.

Click on over to Offshore Africa’s new website on http://offshoreportstjohns.com, choose The Sardine Run, and really get a taste of what is to come.

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