Top Ten Southern Africa Classic Adventures

The warm, subtropical waters north of Durban have some of the Southern Hemisphere's most unspoiled reefs. They also have some of the Southern Hemisphere's sharks. There are a number of dive operators leading underwater safaris into this brightly colored submarine paradise; with the danger factor, you obviously want one with extensive experience and an excellent safety record. With an experienced dive master in control, an encounter with a shark will give you no more than a modest frisson of adrenaline while you swim with the vast shoals of fish, ride on the backs of turtles, and, if you're lucky, play with dolphins, which frequent this coastline in great numbers. Try Andy Cobb Eco Diving; Andy has been leading trips here for more than a decade and knows the reefs intimately. Need a side trip? Combine your dive with an inland safari to the Ufolozi-Hluhluwe wilderness in central Zululand, one of the world's best repositories for rhino.