The 5 Week Experience is a more compact version of our flagship 11 Week Experience. It is ideal for those looking for an all-round trip filled with water sports, adventure activities, travelling and a Game Reserve Experience.
The trip starts off in Cape Town where you’ll have 2 weeks living in the centre of the city, a stone’s throw from shops, bars, restaurants and parks along with other guys on the trip. Your two programmes are a four day surf course, filled with lessons, practice time and surf excursions and a 5 day PADI Open Water SCUBA diving course which gives you a globally recognised qualification in a sport that will allow you to experience diving in some of the most exotic locations on earth.
As well as SCUBA diving and surfing courses, there’s also time to visit our charity organisation, Ubuntu Africa, helping out and meeting the staff and kids there.
Leaving Cape Town we spend 3 weeks travelling through the country on our famous Pepper Road Trip. This is a totally guided experience, seeing the country with locals, meeting locals in out-of-the-way places and really getting under the skin of some hidden gems that make South Africa such a special country.
Look forward to tasting some world-class wines, spotting whales on the Garden Route, taking on the highest bungy jump in Tsitsikamma National Park, diving with Tiger Sharks and lion-spotting on safari.
Here’s more on the individual programmes:
The SCUBA diving section consists of a PADI Open Water Diver course. This is an internationally recognised qualification that can set you on the way to becoming an advanced diver for leisure or work purposes. Expert instruction in the pool, classroom and ocean will see you grow as a diver and give you the bug to keep discovering the thrills and sights of the underwater world.
You will be collected from your accommodation by your instructor each morning and returned back there at the end of the day. Whether you’re in the pool, in the ocean or at the dive centre itself you’ll be in great company among the Pro Divers team and can also always call on the Pepper guides to help you out with any queries.
Pro Divers are based in the centre of Cape Town. They operate a PADI 5 star dive centre which is also the only one around with National Geographic status. They have a full-time team dedicated to providing great diving experiences and top-class instruction. Co-founders Ulrich and Pieter, who have over 30 years of diving experience and training between them under their weight belts will ensure that you get the best possible introduction to this awesome sport.
The Cape Peninsula has a different ocean on either side of it whose contrasting currents make for a huge diversity in underwater life...
The Atlantic’s Benguela current on the west of the peninsula is home to huge kelp forests rising up from the ocean floor and you’re likely to spot rays, dolphins and two types of shark; the small cat shark and the brilliantly named Seven Gill Cow shark. The highly inquisitive Cape fur seals also make regular appearances and will often get up close and personal with you.
The warm Agulhas current on the False Bay side of the peninsula provides plenty of great reef dives with more seals and stingrays and lots of colourful reef life. False Bay is also close to the highest known populations of white sharks anywhere in the world and the chance to see these prehistoric beasts breaching is a really special and unique dive experience.
The infamous Cape of Storms has signalled the end of around 2,700 ships’ lives and many of these ships provide excellent wreck diving opportunities. Some are perfect for beginners and available as shore dives such as The Clan Stuart Wreck (1914) but there are many others of varying difficulty right up to the Lusitania, a Portuguese liner which sank off Cape Point in 1911 and is a very challenging but hugely rewarding wreck dive in the right conditions.
The Surfing course is a four day programme filled with lessons both in and out of the water, supervised practice sessions and surf excursions including a visit to a shaping bay and a chance to get your own customised board.
A great introduction to a fantastic sport with passionate local coaches who’ll always get you to where the waves suit you best and guide you through the stages to put you well on your way to living the dream lifestyle!
You will be collected from your accommodation by your professional surfer each morning and also taken back at the end of the day. Whether you’re on the beach, in the ocean or out on a surf excursion you’ll be in great company among your surf pros and fellow surfers and you can also always call on the Pepper guides to help you out with anything at all.
Cape Town Surf Adventures are based at Llandudno – an absolutely picture postcard beach with great waves and even better views. They have a full-time team of instructors and lifeguards who are there to give you the full surfing lifestyle experience. As qualified instructors they’ll make sure you’re fully prepared when you hit the water, be right next to you when you catch your first wave and be on hand to give you one on one tips so you’ll have every chance of improving fast during your four days.
Surfing is a big part of lots of people’s lives in Cape Town. There aren’t many young locals who haven’t at least taken a board out at Muizenberg and had a go; it’s such a perfect place to have your first go at this incredible sport.
The beauty of the area is that there are so many different beaches all around the peninsula that there’s always somewhere to go for a surf. From perfect beginner’s waves to giant 40 foot breaks at Dungeons where they hold the Big Wave Africa event and everything in between, Cape Town is a world-class surfing destination.
With our professional surfers teaching you the ropes from line-up etiquette to swell prediction and from safety in the water to development techniques you’ll be on your way in no time and ready to adopt the surfers’ paradise lifestyle!