South Africa
Best overall months to dive: Apr–Jul
South Africa's diving is big-animal and shark-led. The KwaZulu-Natal coast is the country's shark capital: two offshore reef systems — Aliwal Shoal off Umkomaas and Protea Banks off Shelly Beach — deliver ragged-tooth aggregations in winter and tiger, bull and hammerhead sharks in the warmer months, while the winter Sardine Run draws dolphins, sharks and whales up the coast. The Cape adds cold-water kelp diving and cage diving with great whites. We are populating the KwaZulu-Natal shark coast first.