by admin | Jan 25, 2017 | Dive Inn
Dive Inn Cape Town 2016
Dive Inn Cape Town 2016 will have a summary of what happened to us .Looking at my calendar today I could not believe that 2016 has flown by. Last year we had a blog post Dive Inn Cape Town Peak season stating what we did in a short period. Thus it will be like a chairman’s report on what were the highlights of our year.
Cape town from air
Dive Inn Cape Town 2016 we did 156 dives with an average bottom time of 54 minutes. We had one dive trip to Sodwana Bay at Reef teach and had some great sightings. Snorkelling with a whale shark and Dolphins then scuba diving with a big manta. Not to mention the small critters like Sea horses and of Course Dive Inn favourite – Nudibranchs.
We had more Nudibranch hunting trips then scuba training. Courses done were PADI Open and Advanced open water, RAID Enriched air divers, Discover Scuba divers, PADI Rescue diver. And our topside favourite course the DAN basic life support and First Aid course. This course is ideal for divers and non-divers alike. DAN also does a lot or the dive community so a good agency to support. An extra feature of the DAN BLS & FA course is that it is Department of Labour Approved.
Iridescent
The touring part of Dive Inn Cape Town 2016 was the busiest with over 100 days of touring done. With the Cape Peninsula and Cape Winelands tour being the most popular. Table Mountain and city tour a close follower. With the great white sharks cage diving and Hermanus tour another popular trip we did. West coast flower trips we had no requests to do. These tours are normally done in August and we hope we will some for the 2017 year on the calendar.
Lot of my guests and friends ask how can you do the peninsula tour sometimes 3-4 times a week and not get bored with it. Easy as the only the road/route stays the same (sometimes). The sightings and weather change constantly and of course our stunning Guests. With all the tours we share what our wonderful Cape Town has on offer and all the guest share a bit of their stories as well which makes the tours even better. I think for me and the guests.
Most times after a tour when we do our farewells it almost feels like we are family or have known each other for a long long time. Thus the tours can never get boring or so I hope ;-). The wine farms always have good wine or we visit the De Villiers chocolate or even have Beer Tasting at Cape BrewingCompany. So the options are endless.
Our Dive Inn Cape Town 2016 guests were from all over the world but the most was from America. We had Brazilians, Peruvians, Argentinians and Mexicans. From up north the Canadians also had a couple of representatives.
Nudibranch Hunting
Europe side we had English (for now), Irish, Scottish, French, Danish, Dutch, Norwegians and Germans. Also from Africa we had guests from Dubai, Qatar, Ghana, and Namibia and of course South Africans. In addition Ukraine, Singapore, India and Indonesia also send some guests my way. Sjoe as I’m typing here it is unbelievable how many nationalities I have met. Wonder now which countries I have missed.
Thank you
Most of all Thank you to all my guest and students who endured my strong Afrikaans accent and added to it my fast way of talking.
Hope Dive Inn 2017 to be just an eventful year with loads of laughs and awesome guests from all over the world. Check us out on FaceBook, Instagram and Twitter. We even have some of the guests praising us on Tripadvisor.
To end Dive Inn Cape Town 2016 blog, also some bit of advertising as seen in the 2017 Official visitors guide Cape Town. “Dive Inn Cape Town provides Private tours, Scuba dive tours and training to travelers and locals in Cape Town with packages to suit all. Level 1 First aid training (department of labour approved) is also provided. We’re committed to ensuring you have a wonderful time in Cape Town above and below water.”
by admin | Oct 19, 2016 | Dive Inn
World Tourism Day
World Tourism Day is held on the 27 September each year. Idea is to bring attention how important tourism is to cities, countries and there people.
Table Mountain
In Cape Town it was taken even further and September was made Tourism month. So this meant all around small functions and indabas to celebrate and discuss what the tourism market means in Cape Town.
In South Africa September is also seen as Heritage month with the 24th being heritage day and then also a public holiday. Dive Inn Cape Town attended 2 events, one at Wine tourism Indaba (Groot Constantia). The first at the Protea hotel in Stellenbosch (hosted by Metrorail and variety of partners).
The current online life hash tags for world tourism day would of course be the norm thus. #tourism4all #WTD2016 was created and used all around.
Tourism for all was the main theme for this year and focuses on Universal accessibility in tourism.
A lot of travellers do have disabilities and only for some this is catered for. The norm is normally wheel chair access, parking and specialised restrooms. But this is not the only disabilities out there. Vision for example is also a big issue. Writing is small on all paper work, taps you cannot make out which is hot or cold. Steps in showers can also be an issue for most people.
Metrorail
For some the restrooms and bath rooms are also not very well planned and it could be an issue as well.
Counters can be too high for people in wheel chairs. Most wine tasting rooms do have ‘Bartop’ counters and it’s too high for the wheelchairs. This is mostly an issue for the smaller farms. Lucky the farms with the bigger tasting rooms have separate tables where all the guests can sit and enjoy the stunning wines at eye level.
Groot Constantia
On World tourism day Derek Hanekom, Minister of tourism stated the following:
“The Department of Tourism is undertaking many initiatives to promote Universal Accessibility:
- The Tourism Grading Council of South Africa provides tourism establishments with guidelines on UA features
- A new incentive programme which will become effective in 2017 will support tourism businesses to become UA compliant
- The Service Excellence program for staff at attractions includes Sensitivity Training, training for tour guides to serve clients with special needs, and Sign Language training
- A database of UA compliant providers and suppliers is being compiled to help tourists make choices
- The Department is working with South African Tourism to market UA products domestic and internationally, and encouraging the development of UA tourism routes
- We have engaged various organisations that represent people with disabilities to explore how the tourism industry can serve them better, including Blind SA, Deaf SA, the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in South Africa, and the South African Disability Alliance.
- The Department has been working with Cape Town and Durban to conduct UA audits on tourism businesses and public attractions, transportation and other places of interest
- This year, the Department will develop a UA Assessment Tool for government-owned provincial parks, and provide raining for staff at tourism attractions
- Next year, we will conduct audits at government-owned parks in four provinces, identify the gaps and recommend solutions.”
World tourism day summary.
Thus in short we as suppliers or providers need to think how we can change our outlook on people of disabilities and how to change how we tour with our guests.
The below link from Responsible tourism Cape Town also provide more info. http://responsiblecapetown.co.za/responsible-tourism-in-cape-town-how-to-guide/
by Carel van der colff | May 23, 2012 | Dive Inn
Cape Town Autumn
Cape Town is experiencing the cool Autumn weather with Winter fast on its way. Thus people start to dive less because they do not want to get cold and wet;-0, or the nasty winter flue keep you out of the water and in bed. For the diving business it is bad news but on the touring side it can be the other way around.
So if you do not want to get cold and wet what about driving around see the sites, taste the wines and enjoy the many different restaurants like the Boulders Beach Lodge & Restaurant. Sea view, good food and of course penguins on the beach.
The Cape Peninsula tour is also a popular tour to do but with the weather it could be some what grey. We do prefer to dive inn the Stellenbosch or Franshoek winelands which really is great. Especially on a Cape Town Autumn day. One winefarm Delheim even welcomes you with a glas of Gluhwein.
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by Carel van der colff | Feb 18, 2012 | Uncategorized
Wine Tasting @ Graham Beck blogging is a new thing I get to today. So a slow start and hopefully later one when I get feedback/reviews I will be able to up my blogging/writing skills.
In the last week a trip was made to the Graham Beck wine farm outside of Franschoek for a wine and smells pairing/tasting.
On arrival we got a glass of Blanc de Blanc Cap classique and then were escorted up to a tasting “Boardroom”. Our wine guide started with the white wines. Where we 1st nosed the wines followed by a sniff of for example gooseberries, tinned asparagus, wood chippings, dark chocolate etc. and then tasted them.
So with all the wines we could smell the fragrances that has been picked up in the wine.
We also had some dark cappuccino chocolate, ham, and salmon bits for snack to pair with the wines.
This was my 1st experience of a sense tasting. As normally it is said yes you can smell the apple but now we had a comparison to confirm the smell.
The morning with Wine Tasting @ Graham Beck ended with us buying some wines. Also tasting some other wines which we had an interest in.
The tasting room and cellar is very modern with cheetah sculptures and other new age sculptures outside.
Unfortunately the farm has been sold we have been told that the tasting room will be closed in June. So go out and arrange a group to go and experience the wonders of smell and wine.
Or I can arrange it ;-). The Stellenbosch Wine route got everything to offer. Wines, Chocalate, Brandy and beers are up to taste. Even food pairings are also very popular.
All the farms upped their game and fun to go out and explore.
Wine tasting smelling
