Mossel Bay

#Mossel Bay Mossel Bay marks the place on the South African coast where Europeans first put foot on soil. Bartolomeu Dias landed here on 3 February 1488, in search of a trade route to India. Their small ships hugged the western coastline of Africa sailing south in search of the southern end of Africa in order to turn north. Alongside the coast of the current Namibia, a storm drove them away from the coast and due south. When the storm abated after four days, they turned eastwards again to try to find the coast. They could not find it and concluded that they must have passed the southern tip of Africa, so they turned due north and found the coastline at the present Mossel Bay.

The Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex in Mossel Bay is arguably the coastal town's most popular tourism attraction. While the complex's main focus is on honouring this great Portuguese explorer, it also covers other topics. It consists of a couple of separate museum buildings as well as the Old Post Office Tree Monument. The various small museums are the Maritime Museum, Shell Museum, Grain Silo and Culture Museum.

Mossel Bay features a small fishing and goods harbour. The harbour is home to a couple of operators who operate bay cruises, mostly to Seal Island off shore with opportunities to see penguins, dolphins and whales (in season)