From the adrenaline rush of shark diving to long soulful beach walks, South Africa’s Gansbaai caters for a diversity in nature.
Take a scenic drive from Cape Town along the stunning R44 coastal road, past Gordon’s Bay to Kleinmond; say a quick hello to Whale Watching capital Hermanus and slide past Stanford and after a three hour drive you will arrive at Gansbaai, still one of the unspoiled gems in the Western Cape’s Overberg.
Gansbaai is seen as the great white shark capital of the world – but Gansbaai still retains its fishing village charm and small town friendliness.
History has that in 1881, one Johannes Cornelius Wessels, as an 18 year old walked across the dunes from Stanford, and he thought the fishing was so good that he decided to settle here permanently; soon other families followed founding the settlement of Gansbaai.
In reality the Gansbaai area has a far more colourful history. Remains have been excavated showing modern man living in the area more than 70,000 years ago at the Klipgat caves. The earliest evidence of the presence of "Khoi" (original indigenous population of the Western Cape) people has been documented as far back as the 1600’s. Until the arrival of the first white settlers in the Cape at the end of the 18th century, the Khoi people thrived on Danger Point Peninsula.
Gansbaai’s Danger Point was the place where the famous HMS Birkenhead was wrecked in 1852. The Birkenhead became famous because it was the first shipwreck where the "women-and-children-first" rule was applied. All women and children were saved, most of the men perished.
The waters off Gansbaai are the best place in the world for Great White Shark Cage Diving. The great white shark spotting has made Gansbaai into a popular destination for adventure and nature tourists, especially for people looking to dive with sharks, this is probably the best location in the world, but please do some research on what is a good shark cage dive operator; .
Just a short boat trip from Gansbaai is the notorious Shark Alley. It is a narrow channel in the sea between and Dyer Island and Geyser Rock which is home to up to 60 000 Cape Fur Seals. Hence the waters around the island are teeming with great white sharks. For them is like a “eat as much as you can “buffet.
Gansbaai is the place where Shark Dive Operators bring you for your Shark Cage Dives to see the Great Whites. As the sea around these islands have become the feeding ground of the endangered great white shark it is the world's most favourable site for watching these predators in action and one of the only places where you can do the best shark cage diving in the world.
Gansbaai is still a quaint working town and taking a stroll around while the residents go about their business is still an option here. The surrounding area is known for its vast mountainous landscapes covered with unspoilt fynbos (rare Cape scrubland vegetation) and is perfect for hikes into nature or taking long walks on unspoiled beaches to calm the soul.
There is an annual Crayfish Festival over Easter, a veritable feast for sea food lovers. The annual "Fees van die Ganse" (festival of the geese) attracts more than 10 000 visitors to the Gansbaai area in July; one of the highlights of this festival is the winter fynbos wildflower show. The first Shark festival was a succes as well this year.
The drive from Cape Town to Gansbaai is a scenic drive of slightly over two hours. because of the popularity booking your Shark Cage Diving is absolutely recommended to do before arrival.
Molo Says: CapeTownMagazine.com has personally selected the best
Shark Cage Dive operators for you to enjoy.
You can phone our Central Reservations number +27(0)78-686 7505 when in Cape Town for the best shark cage dive operators. Save the number in your phone; you can phone us for any tours in Cape Town & Surrounds that you'd like to do.
