South Africa's premier tourist location Cape Town sports many activities for tourists. Cape Town Bucket List's seal snorkelling in Hout Bay rate as one of the Top Ten. I went to check it out to give you the lowdown on what to expect.
Key Considerations
- Easily accessible in {affiliatelink alias=CapeTown}Cape Town{/affiliatelink} by Uber or Red Bus
- Weather dependent activity (All year round)
- All equipment supplied
- Some physical activity involved
- GoPro video camera rental available
Houtbay harbour is the destination when you plan to do some seal watching in South Africa. Weather permitting the harbour hosts thousands of tourists on glass-bottom boats for seal viewing at Duiker Island. My activity for the day was slightly different and more adventurous than the standard mass tourist glass-bottom boat. I was going to snorkel with the seals. In mid-winter!
As soon as you arrive at Cape Town Bucket List tours site, you will experience the professionalism that is evident already at booking. The tour starts with a safety briefing, where the question of sharks inevitably pops up. Although great white shat specialise in eating seals they do not feed at the dive site you will visit. The briefing includes some necessary information about seals. Duiker island hosts 8,000-9,000 seals on the island and can go up to 15,000 during the breeding season.
About the Cape Fur Seal
The seal snorkel is one of the most amazing experiences I have been able to take part in. The staff provide you with snorkelling gear that keeps even the coldest ocean temperatures at bay. I felt at comfortable staying in the water with these amazing creatures for a substantial amount of time. Although you will not be allowed to interact with the seals by touching them, the young pups are highly curious and will swim up to you and discover on their own.
The moms will keep their distance and an eye on the pups, the more aggressive bulls mainly stay on the island and bask in the sun. A guide will join you in the water and give safety tips as you go and also provide some information on where to swim to get the best view. Our dive had fantastic visibility as you will note in the video I took of the activity. Don't have an action cam, no problem you can hire one from Cape Town Bucket List. The video was taken on a hired cam. Overall this is a fantastic activity for tourists with a slightly more adventurous outlook on life.
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