WaterOrphans

10/10/2026

Homeschool timetable looking a little… dry? Let’s add some water and swap a little desk time for POOL time!

Come make a splash, build confidence and learn a life-saving skill, all before the school day is done! 💦

📩 Contact us to find out more!

10/10/2026

And then Phillip made the fatal mistake of picking up a scrubbing brush in front of a group of swim instructors with smartphones. 😂

Phillip: Putting his training into practice by scrubbing stains off the steps. 🧽

The swim instructors: Clearly busy with quality control. Someone had to make sure he was doing it correctly! 🍿

We train champions in the water… but apparently, on land, we train supervisors! 🐬

02/10/2026

SEASON 1: THE ULTIMATE SIGN-OFF CHALLENGE!

When a 7-year-old (future) PADI scuba diver walks into Sodwana Bay Lodge Scuba Centre and challenges the instructor to a sign-off… you’d better believe she came prepared! 😎🐠

Unfortunately there were a few signs that mysteriously didn’t make it onto camera… including Lost Buddy 👀, Buddy on Boat 🚤 and a few others that the quizmaster forgot to ask while the camera was rolling… 🙄

But the tiny scuba-diver-to-be had ONE mission: WIN THE GREEN LOLLIPOP. 🍭

And win she did!

Obviously, instructor Nicola did NOT “let” her win. She was simply out-signed and out-lollipopped by a 7-year-old professional negotiator. 🏆

Thanks for being such a good sport, Nicola! 💙 We think you may have just created your toughest sign-off competitor yet! 😂 She’s already practising her dive signs for Season 2: The Rematch — coming to a Sodwana Bay near you in December 2026! 🎬

Nicola… you’ve got a few months to prepare. 🍭

02/10/2026

Today we celebrate the woman who somehow manages to keep the instructors, swimmers, divers, parents, admin AND the general Water Orphans chaos under control! 🙌

You’re the voice behind the emails, the magic behind the admin, the calm in the chaos, an absolute superstar in the pool and, of course, doing it all with that special Water Orphans energy! 💙

May your birthday be filled with zero admin, no unanswered WhatsApps, obedient instructors, bottomless coffee and LOTS of cake! 🎂

Here’s to another year of making waves, creating memories and being absolutely awesome! 🎈

Happy Birthday! We hope you get spoiled rotten today because you deserve it! 🥳

01/10/2026

THE ULTIMATE KIT-UP SHOWDOWN! 🤿🥊

When a Divemaster decides to challenge the instructor to a “Who can kit up fastest?” battle… there’s only one thing to do:

🎬 LET THE GAMES BEGIN! 😂

The confidence was there.
The speed was there.
The determination was DEFINITELY there…

…but unfortunately for our brave DM, the instructor still had a few tricks up his wetsuit! 😎🏆

🥇 Instructor: 1
🥈 Divemaster: 0
😂 Egos: Slightly bruised

Next challenge? We’re thinking wetsuit, mask, fins, snorkel AND BCD blindfolded! 👀😂

01/10/2026

We are delighted to introduce you to the newest member of the Water Orphans pod - Caitlin van der Berg 💙

Cait describes herself as highly organised, calm and collected… 🤔 Which naturally makes us wonder… what on earth was she thinking when she decided to join our crazy, coffee-addicted pod?! ☕😂

Cait has been teaching swimming since 2018 and is a passionate, dedicated instructor who genuinely loves what she does. She is Swim Dynamics qualified, First Aid qualified, and is currently completing her PADI Swim Instructor qualification, so you can safely say she knows her way around a pool!

With the skills and experience to teach both children and adults, she loves helping swimmers develop their technique, build their confidence and, most importantly, discover just how much fun they can have in the water!

Cait is friendly, approachable and has a great sense of humour, which means she fits right in at Water Orphans, although we're not entirely sure how long her calm and collected personality will survive once she's fully exposed to the Water Orphans (organised!) chaos! 😂

When Cait is not teaching, she's busy mothering an entire herd of cats 🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈 because apparently looking after swimmers all day isn't enough responsibility 😹

We are absolutely thrilled to have Cait join the Water Orphans family and can't wait for our swimmers to meet her!

Welcome to the pod, Cait! We hope you're ready for all the splashing, laughing, swimming and general Water Orphans madness! 🐬

28/09/2026

WELCOME HOME, ORPHANS! 🐬

Water Orphans are back where they belong… UNDERWATER IN SODWANA BAY!

Not even the wet weather can spoil the fun! After all, when you’re already planning your next dive, a little rain is just part of the adventure!

Crystal-clear water, incredible marine life, happy divers and plenty of bubbles — this is what coming home feels like! 💙

📸 Check out the photos and see what we’ve been getting up to beneath the surface!

22/09/2026

WATER ORPHANS CALENDAR UPDATE! ☀️

When we finalised our 2026 calendar at the end of last year, we worked from the public school calendar that was available at the time. We unfortunately didn’t realise that the dates were still in draft form.

The school calendar was subsequently amended, with Term 3 now ending on 23 September and Term 4 starting on 6 October. We only became aware of the change earlier this week — so a big “oops!” from us! 🙈

After looking at the best way to accommodate our Water Orphans families, we have decided to align our dates with the amended school calendar.

🌴 Water Orphans will close on 23 September at 18:30
🏊‍♂️ Water Orphans will reopen on 5 October

We know this is very short notice, and we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience. Our hope is that by making this change, the majority of our swimmers can enjoy their full school holiday without having to miss swimming lessons and our wonderful instructors can enjoy an extra weekend to rest, recharge and come back ready for another term of swimming, learning and fun! 💪

Thank you, as always, for your understanding and support. We are incredibly grateful for our amazing Water Orphans community and hope everyone enjoys a safe, happy and relaxing holiday filled with sunshine, family, friends and lots of fun! 💙

We can't wait to see all our swimmers back in the pool on 5 October! 🏊‍♀️🏊‍♂️

Send a message to learn more

20/09/2026

🤿 CERTIFIED DIVERS ALERT! 🤿

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to our newest PADI Open Water Divers! 👌

From nervous first breaths to confidently exploring beneath the surface — YOU DID IT! 💪

You learned the skills, conquered the nerves, got comfortable underwater and officially earned your place in the pod 🐬

Now the real adventure begins… because once you’ve discovered that you can breathe under water, it’s pretty difficult to stay on land! 💙

13/09/2026

🤿🚨 OPEN WATER WEEKEND 1: THEY HAVE OFFICIALLY BEEN INFECTED! 🚨🤿

Weekend One of our PADI Open Water Diver course is officially in the bag! 🎉

The confined sessions are DONE… which means our newest Water Orphans have:

🤿 Learned the skills
😂 Discovered that masks apparently have a mind of their own
🫧 Produced enough bubbles to keep the pool aerated for the week
😎 And, most importantly… grown their scuba confidence levels 👀

The pool has done its job. The skills are looking good. The excitement levels are getting slightly out of hand… Which can only mean ONE thing:

MIRACLE WATERS — WE’RE COMING FOR YOU! 🤿

Next weekend we swap pool bubbles to proper dive bubbles… the adventure is just getting started! 💙

Watch this space, our newest Open Water divers are coming for their fins! 🐠🤙