Mossel Bay
A working harbour town at the Garden Route's western start — shark cage diving, beaches, and the mildest climate in the country.
Trip Role
Ideal stay
Best for
Our take
The sunniest town on the Garden Route, and the shark-diving capital of its western half.
The sunniest town on the Garden Route, and the shark-diving capital of its western half.
- Trip Role
- Overnight
- Ideal Stay
- 1-2 days
- Best For
- Shark diving and a sunny Garden Route base
- Go If
- You want shark diving, beaches, and the warmest Garden Route stop.
Why go
Mossel Bay is where the Garden Route begins in earnest — a real working harbour, shark cage diving at Seal Island, long beaches, and the Diaz Museum commemorating the first European landfall. Sunnier and warmer than the rest of the route.
What we love
Shark cage diving and the harbour-side restaurants at dusk.
What to know
2.5h from George airport; a car is essential. Claims one of the mildest climates in the world (rare frost).
What's here
Best things nearby
George
The Garden Route's transport hub and unofficial capital — the airport town most travellers pass through and few linger in.
Knysna
The Garden Route's lagoon-and-headland town — the Knysna Heads, oysters, and the route's most-visited base.
Swellendam
South Africa's third-oldest town — Cape Dutch history at the N2/R62 crossroads, with a nature reserve on the doorstep.
Wilderness
A small Garden Route town set on a lagoon and national park — beach, forest, and a slow pace.
More town in Western Cape
Franschhoek
A food-led valley of Huguenot heritage — tasting rooms that double as lunch destinations, and the wine tram.
Gansbaai
The great white shark cage-diving capital — a working fishing harbour on the Whale Coast near Hermanus.
George
The Garden Route's transport hub and unofficial capital — the airport town most travellers pass through and few linger in.
Hermanus
The world's best land-based whale-watching town — southern right whales metres from a cliff path, June to November.
Knysna
The Garden Route's lagoon-and-headland town — the Knysna Heads, oysters, and the route's most-visited base.
Langebaan
A lagoon town on the West Coast — kitesurfing, a blue-water lagoon, and the West Coast National Park.