OCEAN SAFARI & Snorkeling
You haven't 'DONE Cape Town', until you've DISCOVERED its Ocean
Discover Cape Town’s wild ocean on a four-hour Ocean Safari, exploring 30 km of spectacular Atlantic coastline in a small group with expert marine guides. Your safari begins the moment we leave Hout Bay, searching for Fur seals, whales, sunfish and dolphins as we explore a coastline of towering cliffs, rugged granite islands, historic shipwrecks, hidden coves and Cape fur seal colonies.
This is a game drive at sea, taking you into an ocean wilderness that few visitors to Cape Town ever experience. Along the way, look out for endemic Heaviside’s dolphins, thousands of Cape fur seals and the extraordinary marine life that moves through these productive waters.
For those who want to go beneath the surface, add a fully equipped, guided kelp forest snorkel to your Ocean Safari. Enter the Great African Seaforest with your guide and explore towering kelp, rocky reefs and sheltered coves alive with endemic sharks, starfish, anemones, octopus and passing Fur seals.
With small groups, experienced guides and four hours dedicated to exploration, an Animal Ocean Safari is much more than a boat ride or a snorkeling trip. It is a journey into Cape Town’s wild ocean, above and below the surface.
"Viewing or Snorkeling we wil show you Cape Town's WILD SIDE"
OCEAN SAFARI
What can I expect on this Ocean Safari?
Your 4-hour Ocean Safari begins the moment we leave Hout Bay. We explore around 30 km of Cape Town’s wild Atlantic coastline, searching for marine wildlife and visiting seal colonies, shipwrecks, hidden coves, kelp forests and dramatic coastal landscapes. Along the way, we may encounter dolphins, whales, sunfish, African penguins, Cape fur seals and a wide variety of seabirds.
If you’ve chosen the Ocean Safari + Kelp Snorkel, we’ll find the best location for the day’s conditions and enter the Kelp forest with an experienced in-water guide. Snorkeling typically lasts 40 minutes, depending on sea conditions and your comfort in the water. All snorkeling equipment is provided and no previous snorkeling experience is required.
Every Ocean Safari is different. Our route and snorkeling location are adapted to the weather, swell, visibility and wildlife activity on the day, allowing our guides to make the most of the conditions.
Guests must be at least 10 years old, weigh less than 120 kg and be able to swim.
Can I snorkel in the Kelp Forest on the safari?
Yes! For confident swimmers there is the option to snorkel in the Kelp forest. Equipment included upon request. Sizes need to be provided. You will be snorkel between 10-40 mins conditions depending, topside viewing for the rest of the trip.
How do I view whales and dolphins ?
Animal Ocean is not a Whale-watching vessel, join Captain Jacks tours. As the only permitted operator in Hout Bay
On an Ocean Safari tour with Animal Ocean you may see Heaviside and Dusky dolphins, which are very common in Hout Bay. Humpback whales are abundant from November to February each year on Cape Town Atlantic seaboard. Animal Ocean follows the appropriate guidelines as a tour vessel and keeps 300m away from ceteacens.
What are the Ocean Safari experience highlights ?
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Kelp Forest Snorkel - Twice if you can handle the cold !
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Close-up viewing of Cape Fur seals in Hout bay harbor
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Chapmans Peak Drive Ocean Cliffs
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Duiker Island Seal colony - 5000 Fur seals
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Maori bay and the Bos 400 shipwreck
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Twelve Apostles Mountain range
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Strawberry Rocks Fur seal haul out rocks - 100 fur seals
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Wildlife spotting - Dolphins / Whales / Sunfish
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Learning from passionate ocean guides
Facilities
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Hot Showers
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Ocean Shop
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Changerooms
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Toilets
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Free WiFi
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Chill Area
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The Pelican Cafe and Coffee shop next door
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Great people, come hang out.
Do Fur seals bite?
A normal Cape Fur seal is not aggressive and is completely safe to snorkel with however some individuals can become ill due to rabies and show abnormal aggression. We do not snorkel at the seal colony for this reason.
Are there sharks?
Yes, it is possible to see four species of small endemic sharks in the kelp forest: the Pyjama shyshark, Dark catshark, Leopard shyshark, and Puffadder shyshark.
We are often asked about Great White sharks, but they have never been seen on our snorkeling trips. The cold Atlantic waters around Cape Town are not their preferred habitat. Duiker Island, in particular, is shallow, surrounded by kelp, and has few young seals—offering little incentive for a Great White shark to visit.
Species list from Animal Ocean Safari trips
The list below showcases both marine and terrestrial species we have encountered on our trips—whether flying above, at the surface, or underwater. Some species are frequently seen, while others are rare, one-time sightings, as indicated.
Common sightings >90%
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Cape Fur Seal
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Heavisides Dolphin
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Cape cormorant
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White Breasted cormorant
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Bank cormorant
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Hautlaubs Gull
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Kelp Gull
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West Coast rock lobster
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Red rock crab
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Cape urchin
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Spiney starfish
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Cape Bream
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Swift tern
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Common tern
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Sandwich tern
Fairly often < 50%
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Southern Elephant seal
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Pyjama catshark
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Leopard catshark
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Dark shyshark
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Hagfish
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Sunfish
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Giant petrel
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Sabines gull
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African penguin
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Humpback Whale
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Dusky dolphin
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Common dolphin
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Common Octopus
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Pied Crow
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Red-winged starling
Rare sightings <10%
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Orca
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Blue Shark
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Leatherback turtle
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One-finned Electric ray
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Southern Right whale
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Brydes whale
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Rock Hyrax
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Giant rocksucker fish
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Yellowtail Kingfish
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Atlantic bonito
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Black Eagle
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Booted Eagle
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Devil Ray
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Slender sunfish
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Snoek
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Kingklip
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Pied Kingfisher
WHAT IS OUR REFUND POLICY?
Full refund will be given if we cancel due to poor ocean conditions. Will only cancel when conditions are unsafe to go out. Trips are canceled 24 hours before arrival. Will cancel at short notice if the ocean is unexpectedly rough. Cancellations by the guest within 48 hours of departure and no-shows will not be given a refund. All cancellations prior to 48hrs incur a 10% administration fee.
HOW DOES PAYMENT WORK?
Please fill out the booking form with all the relevant details. Make sure your contact details are correct, we may need to cancel the trip or re-schedule. We take full payment when booking. Master Card and Visa credit cards are accepted through the online payment and booking system. At the Harbour cash and Credit Cards are accepted for Go pro payments. If the trip is canceled due to bad weather we will try reschedule the trip or refund you.