Cape Agulhas is a spectacular small coastal village. It’s a 2hour 30 minute drive from Cape Town. That’s without a single stop. It is a bit far but, worth seeing. It is the southern most place in Africa. This means that when you get to this stunning spot the whole African continent is at the back of you. The coastline is surrounded by rock formations and I can see why shipwrecks occurred. The waves were splashing wildly against the jagged rocks when I visited this past Saturday.

How far is Cape Agulhas from Cape Town

Like I said before it’s 2 hours 30 minutes drive from Cape Town without stopping. Although there are lovely spots along the way to stop at. Places like Gordons Bay which is a coastal village with a bookstore close to one of the beaches. Cape Aghulas is 139 miles  (223 kilometers)  from Cape Town.

What’s the fastest route to Cape Aghulas

The fastest route is via the N2 highway and R316. It’s the route I chose. This way leaves Cape Town via the coastline where I live and has scenic views at Sir Lowry’s Pass. Bot River, Somerset West, and Caledon these places are full of great places to have lunch and their are lovely wine estates as well.  Strand and Gordon’s Bay are smaller beach communities which I have visited a few times. But when I visited Cape Agulhas I chose to skip the stops in between as I wanted to visit just for the day and get back in time for the Covid curfew time.

What’s the best way to get there

Drive up if you don’t have a car rent one. It’s best especially since there’s places you might want to spot at along the way.

What can I do at Cape Aghulhas

There’s several splendid things you can do at Cape Aghulhas:

Take a photo at the southernmost tip of Africa. There was a small socially distanced line when I got there. Still I recommend it.

When I visited the lighthouse was closed so I couldn’t climb up the steps. There’s 71 in total. Once it does reopen I do want to go back and climb those stairs. Cape Aghulas National Park where the lighthouse is stationed is part of South Africa’s National Parks (SAN Parks) this means you cannot take drone shots of the park. So the lighthouse provides all the vistors to the park with spectacular arial views when it is open.

Visit the Japanese shipwreck, just past the southernmost point.

Hike between the fynbos (plants and flowers) : Hike one of the many picturesque routes in the area:Two Oceans , Rasperpun or Grootberg trail in Napier .

Ride a mountain bike through the park. I saw a cyclist when I went to Cape Agulhas and he looked like he was having lots of fun.

You can swim at the rocky beach or do what I did and go swimming at Struisbaai which has a soft sandy beach. It is very close by and have lunch at the Sea Shack which serves delicious, freshly caught seafood.

Relax at Black Oyster Catcher Winery for more info, visit: https://blackoystercatcher.co.za/about/ I never went but, I have read many great reviews and I will be visiting one day.

Have a picnic at the beach or a braai (barbecue). There are picnic spots and braai spots at the beaches outside of the nature reserve. You cannot light a fire inside of the reserve but, you can picnic. Just remember to throw your dirt in the bins which are clearly visible.

Go book shopping in the main road there’s a little book shop which I past by before getting to the reserve. It’s in a white house with big glass sliding doors.

Catch your own lunch and go fishing, I saw a few people fisihing. Cape Aghulhas is know as a wonderful fishing spot.

Visit one of the many resturants in the main road which is conveniently close to the nature reserve.

Check out the art piece of the African continent.

There’s an art gallery just before Cape Agulhas Nature Reserve with interesting pieces on display

Have your photo taken at the kudu horns sculpture at the side of the SAN Parks information centre.

To book accommodation at any SAN Parks you can contact Cape Town Tourism on +27 (0) 86 132 2223. Cape Aghulas Reserve has a number of places you can stay over at offered by SAN Parks.

You can also do a quick search on booking.com where you will find a number of private rooms to stay over at. The rooms start at R500($34.37) for two people sharing and the most expensive place I found was R4,000(R276) to rent a whole house. The houses to rent usually allow a bigger group of people to stay over which means you can split the costs.

You can also stay at Struisbaai which is very close by. It’s only 11 minutes away from Cape Aghulas. And I found a caravan park which is basically at the beach. If you want to find out more follow the link: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/facility/struisbaai-caravan-park

Another spot close by is Arniston which is also a sleepy seaside village I visited a few years ago.

Thank you for reading and please feel free to ask me any questions.

Safe travels

Nikki xx