Mossel Bay

Mossel Bay is a harbour town on the Southern Cape of South Africa, around 400km east of Cape Town.

Mossel Bay is on the Garden Route, a popular stretch of the south eastern coast of South Africa. The name comes from the rich and diverse vegetation found here and the numerous lagoons and lakes dotted along the coast.

Mossel Bay is also the spot where the first European set foot in South Africa. The town commemorates this event with the Bartholomew Dias Museum complex in Market Street, which also houses a Maritime Museum and a life-sized replica of the caravel in which Dias sailed.

Other attractions include a Cultural Museum, Shell Museum and Aquarium, an ethno-botanical garden with its Braille Trail and the famous Post Office Tree in which Dias hid a letter to his compatriot Joao da Silva.

There is a wide selection of small stores and retail chains here. Most of the malls are open air.

There are 60km of white sand beaches here. For sports enthusiasts, there is abseiling, scuba diving, shark-cage diving, quad bikes, sailing and mountain biking.

Experience a game drive to see lion, leopard rhino, buffalo & elephant.

Take a boat trip to Seal Island to see whales and dolphins.

Dining options range from traditional game lodge feasts to seafood and the famous wild coastal oysters.

Mossel Bay's harbour can only accommodate smaller cruise ships. Larger ships will anchor offshore and tender passengers to the harbour.

Taxis are usually available.