ABOUT US | EST. 1986 | BENONI
About Ecstasea
Dive School
Nearly 40 years underwater. Our history, our reef conservation work, and why generations of South African divers have trained with us.
Our Story
Ecstasea Dive School was established in Benoni in 1986, making us one of South Africa's oldest and most professional scuba diving schools. Over the past four decades we've qualified thousands of sport divers, and trained dozens of instructors and hundreds of dive leaders, alongside a number of technical and speciality divers. We remain one of the few dive schools in South Africa offering as many as 50 different courses, ranging from a diver's very first breath underwater to dive leadership.
1986
Established
50
Different Courses
1000s
Divers qualified
Four Decades of Firsts
1986
Ecstasea Dive School established in Benoni.
1990
Alliance with SATOUR — introducing international visitors to South African diving.
1992
Helped draft the Sports Diving Management Protocol for Sodwana Bay Marine Reserve
1997
Joined the Global Reef Check Monitoring Program with SAUES.
2002
Reef Check report presented at the World Summit in Johannesburg.
Pioneers in South African
Dive Travel
In 1990, Ecstasea formed an alliance with SATOUR (the South African Tourism Board) and became one of the first dive operators to introduce international visitors to South African diving, combining scuba tours with game safaris. We went on to operate one of the very first dive charters at Sodwana Bay, and were instrumental in plotting and locating a large portion of the coral reef system found off that stretch of coastline — work that has shaped how the area is dived and protected to this day.
A Voice for Reef Conservation
In 1992, Ecstasea assisted the Natal Parks Board in drafting and implementing the Sports Diving Management Protocol for the Sodwana Bay Marine Reserve, a framework still used to help manage the reserve today. That same year, we formed an alliance with the South African Underwater Ecology Society (SAUES) and helped implement one of the first sport-diver-based coral reef research programmes in the world. In 1997, Ecstasea and SAUES joined the Global Reef Check Monitoring Program, and our divers carried out some of the first NGO volunteer-based marine research on reefs along the South African and Mozambican coastlines. That research culminated in a five-year Reef Check report, Trends and Solutions for the Global Coral Reef Crisis, presented at the World Summit in Johannesburg in 2002.
Our Home in Mozambique
The seaside town of Ponta D'Ouro in southern Mozambique has become a diving mecca for local and international divers, in no small part thanks to the early efforts and funding of Ecstasea Dive School. Between 1992 and 2003, we funded and built the Ponta D'Ouro camp site and helped establish some of the very first dive sites along that coastline.
This little town has become very commercialized and nowadays we prefer taking our divers to Ponta Malongane. Where you are able to park your vehicle and walk where you want to go. No need to drive to a launching site. You literally fall out of bed and into your diving gear
More than a Dive School
Ecstasea has always been about more than certification cards. We see ourselves as a platform for people to get involved in conservation, take part in community-based rehabilitation projects, travel through Southern Africa and abroad, and connect with a community of like-minded divers. We arrange travel to destinations across the region and overseas, from camping trips to luxury accommodation — so before you spend hours searching the internet for your next dive holiday, give us a call and let us help plan something special.
Send us a Message
PHONE
011 425 5426
ADDRESS
7 Marcus Ave, Morehill, Benoni, 1501, Gauteng
ecstasea@mweb.co.za
OPENING HOURS
By appointment only
Start Online
Prefer to get going straight away? Register for your free SSI theory course today at www.divessi.com and select Ecstasea as your preferred dive centre — then give us a call to book your practical sessions.