Eco-tourism Experieces

Eco-tourism can play a vital role in ensuring the conservation and survival of many endangered and rare marine predators and species. Each operation supported by SAMPLA has been critically reviewed and approved in terms of fulfilling the founding principles of eco-tourism. The “Ethical Eco-tourism” award is issued to companies that fulfill all six of these basic principles of eco-tourism.

© Fiona Ayerst – A shark curiously circles a potato bass. On coral reefs, strange symbiotic relationships can often form; a recent study documented cooperative hunting between groupers and moray eels.

A grouper and a shark in a tropical ecosystem

Shark diving Africa

  • Whale Shark Diving
  • Tiger Shark Diving
  • Reef Shark Diving
  • Ragged Tooth Shark Diving
  • Blue and Mako Shark Diving

(Due to our research assessing the impact of white shark cage diving in South Africa, we feel it inappropriate to host tours in this tourism sector. This does not reflect an unwillingness to support cage diving, but it motivated by requirements for impartiality)

  • © Fiona Ayerst - The whale shark is a favorite amongst recreational divers and snorklers. Despite being the biggest fish in the planet, the whale shark is totally harmless to humans, and feeds exclusively off phytoplankton and zooplankton.
  • © Fiona Ayerst- A tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) is accompanied by pilot fish during a routine patrol. Tiger sharks are one of the only shark species that successfully attack dolphins as prey.
  • © Fiona Ayerst - Hammerhead sharks school during mating season along South Africa’s coastline. Females within these schools often exhibit heavy mating scars inflicted by the males.
  • © Fiona Ayerst -The sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) has an interesting reproductive strategy called embryonic cannibalism (adelphophagy). Embryos within the female uterus feed off each other until only two remain at birth.

Make a booking for Shark Diving Africa at

Marine Bird Watching

  • Cape Town - South Africa
  • © Davide Gaglio - Marine seabirds are invariably attracted to a white shark predation on a Cape fur seal. However, rarely, also Cape gannets are seen to enter the feeding frenzy.
  • © Davide Gaglio - A gliding Cape gannet. Renowned for their rocket like dives into the ocean whilst hunting fish. Recent studies have documented multitudes of hairline cranial fractures in elderly gannets as a result of continued impacts with the water.
  • Sea gulls are good companions in each trip at sea (© Davide Gaglio, False Bay 2006)

Make a booking for Marine Bird Watching at

Diving Eco-tourism

  • Tofu – Mozamibique
  • Ponto Do Oura – Mozambique
  • Sodwanda - South Africa
  • © Fiona Ayerst - In Mozambique, Manta rays frequently interact with divers, allowing stunning photographic opportunities.
  • © Fiona Ayerst – Research on coral reefs have illustrated incredibly complex three dimensional ecosystems containing the marine world’s most diverse ecosystems. Science frequently compares coral reefs to tropical rain forests.

Make a booking for Diving Eco-tourism at

Marine Mammal watching

Marine mammals include seals, whales and dolphins. All of which occur in abundance in the coastal waters of Southern Africa.

  • Cape Fur Seal Viewing
  • Humpback whale watching
  • Southern Right Whale Viewing
  • Dolphin Encounters
  • © Enrico Gannari - Cape fur seals
  • © Fiona Ayerst - A humpback whales swims with its newborn calf. Such mother calf groups are often shadowed by a third female, commonly called a midwife.
  • © Enrico Gennari - Southern right whale
  • © Fiona Ayerst - Indian ocean bottlenose dolphins are common throughout the Southern Africa’s coastline. Like with the white shark, the dorsal fin of these cetaceans can be used for identification. For instance, the lower right dolphin has lost the top section of its dorsal fin.

Make a booking for Marine Mammal watching at