The town is also popular with Capetonians wishing to live away from the city bowl's more hectic pace. It's a popular retirement choice and has a down to earth rustic atmosphere about it. The town offers a good selection of accommodation, restaurants, coffee shops and convenience stores.

"Seal" Island boat trips
From the town's small fishing harbour you can take a boat trip, with commentary, to Seal Island which is 10 minutes away, the full trip takes about 40 minutes. Although locals know it as Seal Island its real name is actually "Duiker Island" (Cormorant Island). It is home to thousands of young male seals. On board you will be given commentary on what you see and snacks are also available. In season (late July to early November) one can also get some incredible whale sightings if you're lucky.

Hout Bay Harbour
The town's harbour is a functioning small-boat fishing harbour. The docks are very accessible and visitors can watch fishing boats unload their catch on returning from the ocean. The harbour is also home to very popular informal seafood outlets, which source their ingredients fresh from the local fishing fleet. It's a good place to sample some Snoek (type of fish), one of Cape Town's favourite dishes.

Hout Bay Beach
While the inlet of Hout Bay is awesome in its beauty, the beach's location next to the small fishing harbour is not ideal. The beach's close proximity to the harbour means that on occasion you may find fish scales, from the day's processed catch, floating in the water.

Walking along the beach is however quite pleasant. Surfers and associated sport addicts also frequent the beach. For more on other Cape Town beaches, click here.

World of Birds
Another attraction worth a visit in Hout Bay is World of Birds. The facility covers 3,5ha of land and houses over 3000 birds and 400 small animals in walk-through aviaries. Wandering through these at your own pace or joining a guided tour is a very educational experience.

Chapman's Peak Drive
The coastal road linking Hout Bay and Noordhoek to the south, called Chapman's Peak Drive, is a very popular tourist attraction in South Africa. It is cut into the mountainside and rises high above the beautiful Hout Bay providing visitors with exceptional views. The viewing point at the highest point of the pass and the views it provide feature in countless photographs of tourists and professional photographers alike.

It is also a perfect vantage point for whale-watching in season. The height of the vantage point helps one to see someway below the surface (on clear days) making it possible to see much more of a whale even if it's not surfacing.