Short boat cruises from Hout Bay harbour around Duiker Island, home to thousands of Cape fur seals. Boats circle the island and come back; nobody lands, and swimming with the seals is not part of it.
Duiker Island is a low granite slab a few hundred metres off Hout Bay, and it carries thousands of Cape fur seals along with cormorants and gulls. It is not a breeding colony. Most of the animals hauled out there are young males, waiting out the years until they are big enough to hold a territory somewhere else.
The trip is short and simple. Boats leave the harbour, run out past the Sentinel, circle the island slowly while the seals swim around the hull, and come back. Forty to forty-five minutes, all of it from the deck, because landing on the island is illegal. The fleet runs from a glass-bottomed launch to a large catamaran.
Getting into the water with them is no longer offered. Rabies was found in the Cape fur seal population and the operators who ran in-water seal snorkelling have withdrawn it, moving snorkelling to kelp and reef sites instead. Sailings are weather permitting, and on a crossing this short it is swell rather than wind that stops one.
Highlights
- Forty to forty-five minutes from Hout Bay harbour and back
- Thousands of Cape fur seals, plus cormorants and gulls
- Viewed from the boat, because landing on the island is illegal
- Glass-bottomed launches and catamarans among the fleet
- Swimming and snorkelling with the seals is no longer offered
- Several departures through the day
Tips
Tickets can be bought online ahead of time or at the harbour kiosk on the day, depending on the boat.