South African Sardine Run By Prodive

CREDIT: Prodive

_{EXPERIENCE THE EXHILARATING SARDINE RUN, SPENDING TIME OUT AT SEA INTERACTING WITH DOLPHINS, WHALES, SEALS, PENGUINS, SHARKS AND BIRDS CHASING THE BIGGEST SHOAL ON EARTH!}

THE ULTIMATE SOUTH AFRICAN SARDINE RUN EXPERIENCE

A typical sardine bait ball in crystal clear conditions where dolphins, sharks, whales and sea birds are in a feeding frenzy is in fact a rare sighting. Film crews have spent weeks out at sea over the span of a couple of years in search of the perfect bait ball action to get the footage regularly seen on television.

WHAT SETS PRO DIVE APART

After more than twenty years experiencing the Sardine Run and our local knowledge and experience with the animals, Pro Dive provides the highest probability of encountering the densest displays of the Sardine Run action, where you can see penguins, seals, dolphins, whales, sharks as well as the birds on the bait balls.

STATE-OF-THE-ART BOATS

Pro Dive’s boats are modern and include state-of-the-art modifications specifically with the Sardine Run in mind. A specially designed camera tray that is positioned down the centre of the boat, additional fuel tanks that enable our boats to reach 160km and an aft seating arrangement, ensures more space with fewer people on pontoons and excellent agility, reach and speed.

BEST EQUIPMENT

Pro Dive is Port Elizabeth’s number one dive centre and shop. This ensures that we provide divers with the latest and greatest new or well-maintained equipment. Divers on the Sardine Run are provided with 12ℓ steel tanks and boats are equipped with ladders for easy boat access as well as having oxygen on board. Benefits that few other sardine run operators have.

SEASONED SKIPPERS

Our skippers are all PADI Certified and seasoned Sardine Run specialists. They have worked with the animals for over 20 years and their intuition and local knowledge guarantees the best Sardine Run experience. They have two goals in mind, your safety and making your Sardine Run experience the most memorable expedition of your life.

SOUTH AFRICAN SARDINE RUN TOURS AND CHARTERS FROM PORT ELIZABETH AND PORT ST JOHNS

The Sardine Run action starts in Port Elizabeth in April where the sardines, and their predators, migrate up the Eastern Cape coastline of South Africa. By the end of June, the sardines reach Port St. Johns which is situated in the heart of the Wild Coast, a 250km coastline which offers spectacular scenery and unique beauty to the Sardine Run experience.

From March to April, Port Elizabeth has the best Sardine Run sightings.
Port Elizabeth has excellent dive sites characterized by colourful soft corals and a remarkable concentration and diversity of marine species including whales, dolphins, seals and jackass penguins.

Port Elizabeth’s Algoa Bay is also home to the Ragged Tooth Shark and the largest breeding colony of African Penguins & Cape Gannet’s in the world.

Port Elizabeth is the gateway to South Africa’s renowned Garden Route, has a collection of Big 5 Game Reserves located nearby, beautiful beaches, restaurants, hotels, shopping centres and loads more attractions to enjoy on days off to complete the South African experience.

The Wild Coast is 250kms of relatively untouched coast and offers adventure and a unique beauty to the Sardine Run experience.

Port St Johns is a quaint coastal village known as the Jewel of the Wild Coast, and from June to July we make a luxury lodge on the banks of Port St Johns’ Mzimvubu River our base.

We join the various predators like sharks, humpback whales, dolphins and birds as they move along the South African coastline feeding on the bate balls during the day, and spend the evenings relaxing with friends around the fire eating, drinking and talking about the day’s excitement.

WHY DO DIVERS JOIN DAN?

DAN members have a passion for the water, a quest for knowledge and love of community. They love being part of something bigger. You can join nearly 500,000 divers worldwide and experience valuable benefits to make you a safer, smarter diver.

Divers Alert Network (DAN) is the world’s most recognised and respected dive safety organisation comprised of dive professionals and medical experts dedicated to supporting divers. Through research, medical services, educational programs and global response initiatives

For over 20-years, DAN has created an extensive network capable of providing divers around the world with vital services. Everyday divers rely upon DAN for dive safety information and health guidance. They know that in event of emergency, we’ll be there for them - no matter where adventure takes them.

For over 20-years DAN has been helping divers and we will continue to cultivate a culture of dive safety! Join DAN today and be part of the largest dive safety community.

THREE REASONS WHY PEOPLE JOIN DAN?

CALL & ASSIST

Most divers realise that diving is an adventure sport that may result in injuries as such they want the peace of mind that, in case of a diving emergency, there is a 24-hour hotline to call with membership benefits for the medical services they will need.

COST SAVING

DAN membership is not expensive by most standards. Diving medical advice is offered free of charge and is available 24/7/365. Membership benefits are secondary to any primary medical insurance and include diving medical and travel related cover that are also extremely affordable and very competitive. DAN members also have access to discounts on safety and educational materials.

CULTURE OF CARE

Many divers like being part of an organisation that is so obviously committed towards their safety. Apart from being available as a diving emergency and diving-medical-information line, DAN is always actively campaigning for safety, initiating and supporting safety initiatives, and finding practical ways to make diving safer and more enjoyable.

DAN is a very personal organisation. Callers quickly learn that DAN is not an “institution”; it is a living and vibrant organisation. In many ways, DAN members feel that they are becoming part of a “family” who look out for one another “divers helping divers” as we always like to say.

So, many divers just seem to like the idea of being part of something worthwhile and they are willing to give up some of their discretionary income to be a part of it.

That being said, it is also common knowledge that DAN offers top-rated services and has an exceptional network of experienced diving medical professionals. One call to the DAN hotline and divers find themselves talking to a professional diving doctor who “speaks their language”. This is truly something special. With access to so many likeminded people, DAN is able to arrange evacuation by land, sea or sky if required and help injured divers gain access to specialised medical treatment facilities such as recompression chambers.

In a nutshell! DAN members help support a 24-hour hotline. This hotline offers access to specialists trained in diving medicine and is freely available to members with a diving-related query. The DAN hotline can be called 24/7/365 by a member worldwide in the event of a dive emergency. DAN membership subscription contributes towards the 24-hour emergency and information line. The emergency and diving-medical-information line is freely available to DAN members. So members can call for medical advice on any topic to do with diving or ask to be referred to a health professional knowledgeable in diving medicine.

SO WHY JOIN DAN?

When you support DAN, you support the organisation’s ongoing efforts to reduce dive injuries and improve first response and medical treatment. One hundred percent of DAN’s profits are reinvested in research, medical services and programs that make diving safer for all divers. As a diver, you need DAN and DAN needs you.

DAN offers comprehensive plans that provide protection and peace-of-mind in the event of a dive accident for far less than the cost of an unplanned event.

DAN’s dive accident cover plans are recognised worldwide providing secondary coverage of up to R800,000 and paying 100% of eligible expenses.

DAN DIVE COVER VS. MEDICAL INSURANCE

It is true that some medical insurance include cover for diving injuries. However, divers who have tried to go this route soon discover that it is not easy to work with a medical insurance when trying to organise an emergency evacuation for a diving injury. That is simply not the time to discover that your medical insurance is not able to assist you in getting the most appropriate treatment or advice. Their convenient 0800 toll-free number doesn’t work in Zanzibar and even in South Africa, working your way through a multi-prompt menu from a cell phone is not what you need in a crisis. Also, getting documented authorisations takes time and nearly all private emergency service providers now insist on a written Guarantee of Payment (GOP) before responding. That is not surprising given that most aeromedical evacuations in Africa come in at R200 000 or more and even evacuations by ambulance approach R20 000 plus when advanced life support services are involved. Evacuations are costly. Recompression, on the other hand, is not that expensive in Africa. In the rest of the World, it may set you back about R100 000, but in South Africa the cost is usually under R20 000 unless multiple treatments are needed. However, if evacuation and hospitalisation are called for, the costs can be very high.

As a DAN member, all these concerns disappear. One number and you have all the help and cover you need for a diving emergency. The travel and medical benefits are an added bonus, but don’t tear up your medical insurance card just yet. So, should a diver have a medical insurance or be a DAN member? A diver should have both!

WHAT DO YOU RECEIVE WHEN YOU JOIN DAN?

• Medical Dive Accident - Up to R800,000
• Cover Evacuation - Real Expenses
• Assistance International Non-Diving - Up to R800,000
• Cover Personal Liability - Up to R2,000,000
• Depth Limit - 40 meters
• Cover for freedivers & spearfishermen