About Mossel Bay

Mossel Bay sits on the Cape south coast at the western gateway to the Garden Route, and its identity is tied to the Post Office Tree, a milkwood under which a Portuguese sailor left letters for passing ships around 1500, a tradition the town still marks as one of the oldest surviving forms of postal exchange in the world. The Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex commemorates the Portuguese navigator's 1488 landing here, the first recorded European landfall on the South African coast. The town's economy has long combined fishing and tourism with heavy industry, anchored by the PetroSA gas-to-liquids refinery that draws on offshore gas fields near the bay. Santos Beach and the Point give the town its holiday character, while the neighbouring resort village of Hartenbos, part of greater Mossel Bay, hosts much of the area's festival and community life.

Mossel Bay's events calendar leans into motoring, culture and music this season. Motor enthusiasts can head to Santos Beach Auto Extremo in early September before Xtreme AutoFest 2026 revs up at De Bakke in late October. German-style celebrations arrive with Heuwelsrust Oktoberfest Hartenbos on 3 October, and theatre fans can catch Punt in die Wind Kunste-Week | Phantom Of The Opra as the arts week begins. December closes the year on a musical note with An evening with Amira Willighagen at Pinnacle Point Clubhouse.