Mossel Bay & Surrounding Accommodation

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South Africa

Mossel Bay & Surrounding Accommodation

Mountains, whales and an old Milkwood!

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Map of Mossel Bay & Surrounding Accommodation

The town is built on a hill overlooking the Bay of Mussels and the Outeniqua Mountains. Boat cruises are available for dolphin and whale watchers and in addition, cruises are also available to Seal Island. The island is home to more than 2000 cape fur seals. Santos, the town's main beach, is very sheltered and it makes for safe swimming.

During their annual migration (July - October) a fair number of whales can be seen in the bay. Dolphins also visit Mossel Bay and sometimes up to a hundred can be seen moving through the bay in search of food.

Mossel Bay has a very comfortable climate and tourists can enjoy sailing, fishing, surfing in the bay. A very popular beach is known as the "Poort" because it is between two rocky ridges at Cape St Blaise.

Camping sites and caravan parks are available near the beach. Hikers can walk the Cape St Blaise hiking trail, which follows the coast from Bat's cave to Dana bay.

Mossel Bay was the first landfall for Bartholomew Dias after he was blown off-course by strong winds and unknowingly rounded The Cape of Good Hope in 1488. Early sailors, on their way to the east, used to place their mail in the trunk of a large milkwood tree, so that the mail could be collected by the ships returning from the east. Other sources indicate that mail was placed in an old boot under the tree. Maybe the mail was first placed in the boot and then in the trunk. Vasco da Gama, and after him other portuguese sailors, used to go ashore in Mossel Bay to replenish their water supplies from a small spring near the coast. You can still visit this spring and see numerous artifacts in the Bartholomew Dias Museum Complex. If you are interested in shells, you can visit the Shell Museum. It has a first-rate collection of shells as well as live mollusks and fish in aquariums.

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Explore in pictures...

Last light at beach in Mossel Bay

Cape St Blaize Lighthouse Complex, east of the Mossel Bay harbour

Flora of the Mossel Bay coastline

Santos Beach in Mossel Bay is a popular spot for both locals and tourists

Beach access just to the east of the Mossel Bay Harbour

Situated directly under the Lighthouse at Mossel Bay, is the site of one of South Africa’s oldest archaeological excavations. The Cave has revealed deposits dating from about 200,000 years ago to the pre-colonial period

Craggy coastline near the Cape St Blaize Lighthouse Complex, Mossel Bay

Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex, Mossel Bay

Replica caravel at the Bartolomeu Dias Museum. Build in Portugal at a cost of R1 million in 1988. Paid for by the Portugese community and the South African Government, it took 3 months to reach Mossel Bay verse 6 months for the original

Information plaque explaining the Caravel exhibit at the Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex, Mossel Bay

Inside exhibit at the Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex, Mossel Bay

Sundown at the Cape St Blaize Lighthouse Complex, Mossel bay

Mossel Bay War Memorial at Cape St. Blaize. In the background one can see The Cave and the Lighthouse Complex

The Mossel Bay harbour, looking north towards the Klein Brak River and the Outeniqua Ranges beyond

Aerial view of Mossel Bay harbour and the Cape St Blaize Peninsula - the landing point for the first Europeans to South Africa. Bartolomeu Dias and his crew arrived on 3 February 1488

The Santos Beach Pavilion was completed in 1906 by the builder WJR Swart, and it became a popular meeting place - particularly in the 1920s and 1930s. It was the site of Mossel Bay's official reception for Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, when he visited in 1925

Santos Beach with the Pavilion in the distance

Santos Beach, Mossel Bay

Diaz Beach, Mossel Bay

Happy campers at Hartenbos, a suburb to the north of Mossel Bay

Beach at Hartenbos, Mossel Bay

Unspoiled beach at Boggomsbaai, 20kms south of Mossel Bay

Swimming beach at Vleesbaai, south of Mossel Bay

Gourits (often referred to as Gouritsmond) is a small coastal town situated at the mouth (mond) of the Gouritsrivier, just south of Vleesbaai. It's a popular fishing spot known locally as "Die Mond"

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