Cape Cross Seal Reserve: Namibia’s Skeleton Coast Seal Colony

Cape Cross Seal Reserve: Namibia’s Skeleton Coast Seal Colony: History & Culture

Discover Cape Cross Seal Reserve: Namibia’s Skeleton Coast Seal Colony

Cape Cross Seal Reserve lies on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast in the Erongo Region, about 120 km north of Swakopmund on the C34 coastal road. Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) calls it the world’s largest breeding colony of Cape fur seals. The reserve also marks the spot where a Portuguese navigator put up a stone cross in 1486. Most people come for the seals and stay for the history. It is also a good stop on the way to the Messum Crater, the Brandberg and Skeleton Coast Park.

Why visit Cape Cross

The main draw is the Cape fur seal colony. MEFT says up to 210,000 seals gather here in the November to December breeding season. Gondwana describes Cape Cross as the largest of the 23 Cape fur seal colonies along the coasts of Namibia and South Africa and gives a peak of up to 150,000. The sources don’t agree on the exact number, but either way this is one of the biggest wildlife gatherings on the Southern African coast, and you can watch it from a few metres away.

The reserve also has a lot of history for its size. Early European exploration, a guano and sealing settlement from the late 1800s and a protected area covering 60 km² all fit into one short visit.

Getting to Cape Cross Seal Reserve

• From Swakopmund: about 120 km north on the C34 coastal road, according to Gondwana.
• From Henties Bay: the town’s tourism site puts the seal colony about 70 km north of Henties Bay.
• At the turnoff: the entrance gate is 3 km from the turnoff, and reception is 1 km past the gate.
• Nearest airport: Walvis Bay International Airport (WVB), about 15 km east of Walvis Bay town centre. Airlink flies from there to Cape Town and Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, and FlyNamibia flies to Cape Town.

Motorcycles are not allowed in the reserve, so you will need a car to get to the colony.

What to see at the reserve

The seal colony and walkway

A walkway with information signs runs along the colony, so you can watch the seals up close without disturbing them. Expect a lot of noise and a strong smell. Both are part of the experience.

The self-guided route

Gondwana describes a self-guided driving route with six points of interest. It adds some context to the visit beyond the seal platform.

The padrão replicas

In January 1486, the Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão landed at Cape Cross and put up a stone cross, called a padrão, to claim the land for Portugal. The original cross was taken to Berlin in 1893. Two replica crosses stand at the site today.

Cape Cross Lodge museum

The museum at nearby Cape Cross Lodge has indoor and outdoor displays about the guano miners, sealers and settlers who once lived here, as well as displays on the area’s wildlife.

History: from Diogo Cão to guano mining

After Cão’s landing, Cape Cross stayed remote until the late 1800s. Then guano was dug and exported from the area, and Cape fur seals were harvested. According to MEFT, about 100 workers lived at the settlement, which had a police station, a customs office and a post office. A railway was built across the salt pan to move the guano.

MEFT records that the reserve was proclaimed in 1968 and covers 60 km². Today its job is to protect the breeding colony, and it serves as a gateway to the Messum Crater and the Brandberg to the east and Skeleton Coast Park to the north.

Best time to visit

Go in November and December if you can. That is the breeding season, when pups are born and seal numbers peak. The reserve is open every day of the year, so you can see seals at any time. The breeding season is when the colony is at its biggest and most active.

Visitor information

• Opening hours: daily, 10:00 to 17:00.
• Facilities: toilets and drinking water. The park also has picnic areas, five campsites with fireplaces, and wind shields.
• Pets: not allowed. There are kennels at the gate.
• Motorcycles: not allowed.
• Angling: not allowed inside the reserve.
• Closures: the bird platforms in the southern section are closed.
• Currency: the Namibian dollar (NAD).

Where to stay and eat near Cape Cross

Staying near the reserve

Cape Cross Lodge is the closest place to stay. It has ocean-facing rooms, a seaside self-catering cottage and a campsite. Each campsite has its own light, a 220V plug, a wash basin and a braai, and there is a central ablution block. The lodge restaurant has an à la carte menu of seafood and game, with indoor and outdoor seating. It is the only place to eat near the reserve. Inside the reserve itself there are only picnic areas.

MEFT also lists the Mile 72 and Mile 108 campsites in the National West Coast Recreation Area, south of the reserve.

Henties Bay

Henties Bay is about 70 km south and has more places to stay, mainly self-catering. Options include sea-view apartments, beachfront houses and holiday chalets, several with indoor braai areas. For a meal in town, Fishy Corner serves fresh seafood, and it also has steaks and pasta for people who don’t eat fish.

Things to do nearby

• Shore angling on the beaches at Henties Bay (angling is not allowed inside the reserve).
• 4×4 desert routes.
• Desert golf.
• Paragliding on the coastal dunes.
• Photographing the Zeila, Chamanel and Winston shipwrecks.
• Floating in the Namibian Dead Sea at the old Strathmore tin mine.
• Spitzkoppe, about 100 km from Henties Bay.
• Day trips to Swakopmund, 76 km south of Henties Bay.
• The Messum Crater and the Brandberg inland, and Skeleton Coast Park to the north.

Events in the area

The reserve holds no events of its own. Its big seasonal attraction is the November to December breeding season. Henties Bay, the nearest town, has a busier calendar:

• Henties Bay Festival (August): an angling competition for the heaviest edible fish, a grammadoelas potjiekos competition and a rubber-duck race.
• December: a Christmas Market, the Angling Bonanza and Touchies.

If you plan a December trip, you can see the seals at their peak and join in the Henties Bay holiday season in the same visit.

Photo: Giles Laurent, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.