Partridge Point, False Bay

Verified2026-09-30 checkedReef

A Cape fur seal colony over kelp, ten minutes out of Simon’s Town.

Depth: 8–16 m26–52 ft
Difficulty: Intermediate
Entry: Boat
Typical current: Light
Coordinates: 34°11.748′S 18°27.432′E
Activities: Scuba · Freediving

False Bay's granite boulders carry a seal colony that has grown used to divers, and a dive here is mostly spent being inspected by young seals doing barrel rolls a hand's width from a mask. The kelp is sea bamboo rather than the giant kelp of California, shorter and stiffer, and the octopus made famous by a film lives on this coast and in this habitat. Water is 12–16 °C. False Bay is also white shark habitat — the population collapsed here after orca predation from 2017 and sightings are now rare, which operators will tell you plainly.

Ten minutes by boat from Simon’s Town, 40 minutes from Cape Town by road or rail.

Best season

ExcellentApr–May
ExcellentOct–Nov
GoodJun
GoodSep
FairDec–Mar
FairJul–Aug

Conditions

Water temperature: 14.2°C58°F
Wave height: 3.2 m10 ft
Air temperature: 15.9°C61°F
Wind speed: 17.3 km/h10.7 mph

Updated 2026-10-07 15:45 UTC · Source: Open-Meteo

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Conditions are reported for information only. Assess the site yourself and follow your guide and your training.

No live conditions for this site yet.

We only show numbers we can attribute to a source.

Sea state and tide

On a date

Tide · 10/7

High12:460.26 m
Low19:03-1.02 m

Forecast heights against mean sea level. Real tides in a bay, a harbour or over a flat can differ — check an official tide table before you get in.

Pick a day to see its tide

Only wave height and wind are scored, because those are what close a boat ramp or a shore entry. Water temperature is reported and never scored: 12°C is an ordinary dive in a drysuit and punishing in a 3 mm, and a number that cannot see your suit has no business marking it down. Stars do not decide whether you get in — you and your guide do, on the day.

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Marine life you may see

Cape fur sealArctocephalus pusillusCommon
Common octopusOctopus vulgarisCommon

From divers

What people who were in the water reported. Not a forecast, and not a judgement about whether the site is safe to dive.

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