Great Place to Visit
Historically, Mossel Bay is a very important town. It was where c Dias first landed on South African soil, and it has popped up in the annals of our history over and over again.
The present-day settlement began in 1787, with the establishment of a granary and a port to service the Southern Cape. You may not be very familiar with Mossel Bay. This is because the N2 national road gives the centre of town a wide berth. This bypass was initially seen as a disaster for the town, but now it’s seen as a blessing. With no thundering traffic ploughing through the streets, Mossel Bay is peaceful, clean and unpolluted.
Mossel Bay Museum
Close your eyes and imagine yourself as Bartolomeu Dias back in 1488: you've sailed past the edge of the mapped world on a theory that you should be able to reach the East. Your crew eventually refuses to go any further and you're left planting a cross at what's now the Alexandria Coastal Reserve near Port Elizabeth (the Dias Cross in the reserve isn't the original — that's at Wits University).
Five hundred years later, a replica of your caravel is built, making the voyage in three months instead of six. It's certainly easier when you know you're not going to fall off the edge of the world. When you visit the replica of Dias' ship at the museum in Mossel Bay, you'll be astounded at how small it is. There are also guided tours available.
Mossel Bay lies on the southern coast of South Africa halfway between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, and is a sheltered coastal village, once...