The Cape of Storms. The Fairest Cape. The Cape of Good Hope. Whatever you decide to call it, the seas around Cape Town have been tempting and terrifying seafarers for centuries.
With frigid waters and rolling swells to the west, and toothy predators patrolling the seas to the east it's a wonder that Capetonians and tourists venture into the sea at all! Yet Cape Town's rugged Peninsula offers a myriad of aquatic activities for the adventurous at heart. With bays and beaches, cliffs and caverns, the coast of the Cape offers a watery playground like no other. Pluck up some courage, take a deep breath and prepare to get wet.
See the Cape
Your best bet is to start at the bottom. Of Cape Point, that is. The southern tip of the Cape Peninsula is one of South Africa's most dramatic corners, prone to gusting winds and colossal waves. Climbing the steps to the Cape Point lighthouse offers wonderful views over False Bay, but you have to be out on the water to really appreciate why explorer Sir Francis Drake called this rocky promontory "the most stately thing and the fairest Cape we saw in the whole circumference of the world."
"This boat travels at speeds in excess of 100km/h" read the sign on the side of the Simon's Town Boat Company's high-speed semi-rigid inflatable. With two growling 175hp engines on the back it's no surprise that this beast of a boat will have you skimming across the white caps and at the Point in under half an hour.
Once there, it's a jaw-dropping view that awaits you, with the rocky cliffs tumbling into a washing machine of foam; the lonely lighthouse at the ready to guard wayward ships from the deadly Bellow's Rock. Photos taken and breath taken away, it's a white-knuckle ride back to the Simon's Town harbour via the penguin colony at Boulder's Beach. Fairest Cape or Cape of Storms? You'll have to decide for yourself.
The Simon's Town Boat Company is also the permit holder for boat-based whale-watching on the western side of False Bay, allowing you to get up close and personal with these giant visitors. In peak whale season (July – October) there are dozens of whales in False Bay and a boat-trip is the perfect way to feel the motion of their ocean.
Seal capers
If you have a need for speed and don't want to leave the boat, book yourself on a high-speed jaunt across to the 'real' Seal Island for a close up view of the largest seal colony in the country, home to over 75 000 Cape Fur Seals. Just watch out which way the wind is blowing and get ready to grab your nose: "We call that scent 'Seal No. 5'," says skipper David Hurwitz, of the unmistakeable seal island pong.
Flying fins
Nasal attacks aside, winter is far and away the best time to visit Seal Island as it's when the feared Great White Sharks turn into flying fish with spectacular displays of aerial hunting. Surging towards the surface, these four-metre hunting machines burst out of the ocean to play a game of airborne cat-and-mouse in pursuit of unwary seals.
Apex Predators runs shark-viewing and cage-diving trips from Simon's Town to Seal Island allowing you to see almost every angle of this awesome predator. The company offers cage-diving on both their morning and afternoon half-day trips, but the early-morning expedition is the best time to see a Great White in flight.
Get hooked
It's good to have a sturdy pair of sea legs if you're out on the water, especially if you're being a predator yourself on a fishing excursion with Hooked on Africa. From full-day tuna-fishing trips into the deep waters off Cape Point to half-day in-shore excursions reeling in the hard-fighting Snoek or Cape Yellowtail, a few hours with rod and reel in hand will make an Ernest Hemingway big-game fisherman out of even the most unadventurous city slicker.
If a day on the line isn't for you, perhaps the back-line is more your scene. Dude.
Easy rider
Any self-respecting Capetonian (or visitor to the Cape) should try their hand at riding a wave at least once in their life. And with any luck, you'll be hooked on the sport.
Of course hanging-ten with the wave-riders of Muizenberg doesn't always come easily, so you might want to get some professional help. The beachfront is lined with surf shops offering boards for sale and rent, as well as lessons for the uninitiated.
Roxy's Surf School has started a revolution in young girls taking to their boards and has become one of the coolest places in Cape Town to learn to surf. A few steps away, Surf Shack has become a Muizenberg institution and the easy-going manner of David Chudleigh (aka Big Dave) will have you carving up the surf in no time.
And whatever you do, don't procrastinate. Autumn is the perfect time to learn, with regular off-shore winds keeping the surf glassy and smooth. With a set rolling in, the rest is up to you. Wait for the break, paddle like hell, leap to your feet and scream your lungs out all the way to shore. Just another perfect day in the waters of the fairest Cape in all the world.
SIGN ME UP
To book any of these adrenalin-pumping activities, get in touch with:
- Simon's Town Boat Company: 083 257 7760 or www.boatcompany.co.za
- Apex Predators: 082 364 2738 or www.apexpredators.com
- Hooked on Africa: 021 790 5332 or www.hookedonafrica.co.za
- Surf Shack: 021 788 9286 or www.surfshack.co.za
- Originally published in Indwe magazine, the in-flight mag of SA Express, March 2009
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