The first weeks of 2006 have been dominated by marine side of Cruise SA. Cruise Sub Aqua has treated a bunch of lucky divers to some phenomenal diving on the Cape peninsula. Not only does the world have some brand new PADI Open Water Divers (check out the Cruise Sub Aqua Courses page) but currently Cruise Sub Aqua is launching the professional careers for those enrolled in the PADI Divemaster and PADI Instructor programs. Furthermore, some of the dive sites have borne witness to some very unusual sightings - firstly a whole family of BIG and strange-looking Sevengill Cowsharks on Pyramid Rock just off the Cape of Good Hope. There are also regular sightings of a lone juvenile Flutemouth that must have lost its way so badly it has found itself in another ocean altogether. Flutemouths are never found in Cape Town waters since they (normally) prefer the warm, tropical waters of the Indian Ocean. Hope this guy has bought his drysuit! 2006 Has also seen the entire Cape peninsula being declared a Marine Protected Area and Cruise Sub Aqua are one of the few that have been granted a special permit to allow our divers the opportunity of diving in one of the world's most unique marine environments - where else can one dive on dozens of wrecks in waters with seals, Great White Sharks, Kelp Forests, Sunfish and penguins in one single area?

Not only are scuba divers in Cape Town being treated to some unusual sites but Cruise Sub Aqua has got some fantastic prices for a real gem of a dive destination off the coast of Tanzania and no, its not Zanzibar. It is in fact the small and little known island of Mafia to the south of Zanzibar. Mafia Island is a divers paradise and like the Cape Peninsula in South Africa is a Marine Protected Area. This means the marine life is varied and abundant and is literally some of the best diving one will ever do!!! Check out the dive packages page for some real good prices on this unique dive destination.

Of course, that does not mean that there has been nothing going on top side! Cruise South Africa continues to entertain tons of visitors on the top of Table Mountain, show them the end of the earth at the Cape of Good Hope and treat them to a wine-tasting bonanza in the winelands just outside Cape Town. These three tours continue to be the 3 most popular things to do when visiting Cape Town. Yet apart from that, we have hired out our cars at rock bottom rates, booked people into amazing hotels full of glamourous heritage or splendiforous solitude - see the accommodation window, and organized road, air and boat trips for guests from all over the world.

As we stated with the last newsletter, Cruise South Africa thought it good to provide some useful hints for visitors to these happy shores. One very common question is:
When is the best time to come to South Africa?
Generally, South Africa's climate is perfect. Not too cold and not unpleasantly sweltering either. We have very poor rainfall patterns which means sunny skies most of the year. As an example, South Africa has seaside resort-town called Mossel Bay on the south coast close to where the two mighty oceans of the Indian and Atlantic meet. This town with some of the best and longest beaches you will ever see, has been touted as the place with the mildest climate in the world! In other words, this place never sees extreme weather, it is a utopia that remains perfect all year round. As for the rest of the country, the north east is always warm to hot with intermittent summer rainfall and the south west is always mild to warm with the odd shower in winter.

The currency in South Africa is called the Rand which exchanges just over six to the US$ and 7 to the €uro. We South africans are very proud of our natural environment and our notes reflect this enthusiasm by exhibiting our BIG 5 on their faces:
- Rhinoceros/R10 note
- Elephant/R20 Rand note
- Lion/R50 note
- Buffalo/R100 note (nice to have a herd of them)
- Leopard/R200 note (very solitary)

"Specimen"

South Africa works on the metric system which we adopted in 1961 when we finally figured out that the Queen of England was not really our Head of State but someone else's (imagine the shock! We had even given her some nice big glittery rocks that she put in her tiara). So visitors from those countries still on the Imperial system must bear in mind to convert to kilometres, kilograms and kilolitres. Although some of our older generation still speak the old way so it can become a little confusing.

Finally, remember we are a sunny country, so bring your sunscreen along or buy some the minute you arrive. The Afrikaners (Africanised Europeans of largely Dutch decent) have another word for an "uitlander" or foreigner - it is a "rooinek" which means "redneck" on account of the rapid effect of the harsh South African sun on the sensitive white skin below the hairline on the neck of those newly arrived from cooler climes. Basically you don't want to be called that and besides you will feel a little sore too.