Mossel Bay is a busy holiday town and port located on the Garden Route in the Western Cape that lies at the foot of Cape St Blaize. The bay itself is quite extensive and the blue shadow of the Outeniqua mountains can be seen as a backdrop. Found halfway between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, the closest towns are Swellendam, Oudtshoorn, Plettenberg Bay and Knysna. The area is synonymous with the Mossgas project, where offshore gas fields are mined and the gas is then converted into petroleum.
Despite being more industrialized than many other towns along the Garden Route, Mossel Bay has stunning scenery that attracts plenty of holidaymakers and tourists each year. According to the Guiness Book of World Records, it is also said to have the mildest climate of any place around the globe, second only to Hawaii. To top it off, there are long stretches of beach, warm Indian Ocean and championship golf courses in the vicinity. The waves are said to be some of the best along the coast when it comes to surfing.
There is a significant history to be found in Mossel Bay, which can be seen in a number of old houses, including about 200 stone homes that were built by Cornish stonemasons a hundred years ago. The town is famous for its oysters and mussels, from which the town derived its name in 1601. A claim to fame is South Africa’s very first post office was established here in 1500, when a man named Pedro de Ataide left a letter in a shoe under a milkwood tree. The ancient post office is now a national monument and mail is still sorted here. If you are interested in property around here then Mossel Bay is well worth considering. |
