Wildlife Charter

Five hours on False Bay with the engines doing as little as possible. The bay is a working ecosystem, not a backdrop: Cape fur seals in their thousands at Seal Island, African penguins off Boulders, dolphins in pods that can run to hundreds, and seabirds working the bait. This charter goes where the bay is alive.

What it's like

We run out of Simon's Town and read the water as we go. Most days take in Seal Island, where the fur seals haul out in numbers you can smell before you see, and the Boulders shoreline, where the penguins fish in open water metres from the boat. Between the two, the skipper follows whatever the bay is doing that week: birds working a bait ball, a pod of common dolphins moving through, seals porpoising alongside.

There is no fixed route, deliberately. A wildlife day is decided by the animals, and the skipper's job is to put you where they are without crowding them.

The whales, honestly

Close-approach whale watching is a licensed activity in South Africa, and we do not hold that permit. So we do not approach whales, full stop.

What happens instead: if whales surface near us, we stand off, cut the engines and let them decide. Southern rights in particular are curious, and a quiet boat is sometimes exactly what they come to look at. Whale season runs June to December, peaking through September and October, and in those months the bay is full of them.

No sightings are guaranteed, ever. Not whales, not dolphins, not anything. Anyone promising you animals is selling you something. What we promise is a skipper who knows where the bay has been alive that week, and a boat quiet enough not to ruin it.

What decides the day

Sea state and light. A calm morning makes everything easier to find and better to watch, which is why we favour morning departures and why the weather call, made 48 hours ahead, is honest rather than optimistic. If we cancel, full refund or a new date, your choice.

Who it suits

Families, visitors with one day in the bay, and photographers, who get the light and a skipper who will hold a position for as long as it is working. No experience needed and no licence: nobody is fishing on this one.

What's included

• Skipper and crew for five hours
• Fuel, safety equipment, life jackets
• Water aboard

From R7,900 for the boat.

Bring

Binoculars if you have them, a camera, sunscreen, and a warmer layer than you think you need. It is colder on the water than on the shore, in every month.