Kwazulu Natal is characterized by a mild subtropical climate. Summer months are warm and wet, while the winter is moist to dry. The average air temperature is 28C/82F during the months of January through March and 20C/68F from June to August. Rainy weather stays between April and September. June is the driest month. The water temperature ranges from 19C/66F to 26C/79F. The visibility ranges from 5m/16ft to 40m/131ft.
What to see
In Aliwal Shoal dives can see an array of pelagic and reef fish, dolphins, whales, potato bass, whale sharks, mantas, devil rays, eagle rays, stingrays, turtles (hawksbill, green, loggerhead), moray eels, guitarfish, ragged-tooth sharks, white-tip reef sharks, huge schools of snapper, batfish, pipefish, pineapple fish, frogfish, nudibranchs, soft corals, anemones, feather stars and many others. Some divers come in May-June on the KwaZulu-Natal coast to see the annual phenomenon of the "sardine run". It is the greatest shoal on earth, when millions of sardines migrate from their spawning grounds along the Eastern Cape coastline toward Kwazulu-Natal, attracting thousands of predators such as orcas, sharks, seals, whales and dolphins.