cape town pelagics trip reports

Tours by Style

1-day pelagic trips.

Come with us and ply the oceans for such great birds as albatrosses, shearwaters, petrels, prions, storm petrels, tropicbirds, noddies, and more! Our 1-day Cape pelagic seabird trip is extremely popular, and rightly so. Indeed, Cape Town pelagics are among the most famous seabirding trips on the planet. But from time to time we also help arrange some of the other world-famous pelagics or we simply include these as part of our set-departure tours, e.g. New Zealand, Australia , Cape Hatteras off the renowned Outer Banks of North Carolina, San Diego, and Monterrey Bay in California, the Dry Tortugas in Florida, and across the world. Some of the South American pelagic trips are absolutely incredible, e.g. the seabird trips off Lima, Peru (fancy a Peruvian Diving Petrel or some of the species occurring closer to the shore, such as Humboldt Penguin or Inca Tern ?). And then of course there’s Alaska, with it’s two puffin species, all the other alcids, and altogether phenomenal seabirding opportunities. Please see details of our main Alaska tour , and then we also get out to more remote parts of this vast state on the extension.

Pelagic birding trips encompass a very specialized type of birding. They are greatly loved by experienced birders (well, at least those who don’t suffer from seasickness). Pelagics are an easy way of getting a bunch of life-birds, and the chance of seeing a rarity or two on a pelagic trip is high. Suddenly a “mega” can appear out of nowhere while we’re miles offshore, sometimes in response to chumming. A pelagic birding day is a very exciting thing to embark on!

But beginner birdwatchers are often afraid of pelagic boat trips. The thought of going out on a small boat in search of seabirds, braving possible seasickness or enduring cold and wet conditions rightly worries many would-be pelagic-goers. We include a pelagic seabird day trip (or occasionally two) on quite a number of our birding tours across the world, but of course they’re not compulsory; if you opt out you can either stay back at the lodge relaxing and watching or photographing birds, or you will be taken on conventional (terrestrial) birding while the rest of the group is out at sea.

If you want to get a feel for what a seabirding trip is like then please take a look at the Cape Town pelagic trip footage on our video gallery . These Cape pelagics usually depart from Simonstown or Hout Bay and sail past the scenically spectacular Cape Point and nearby Cape of Good Hope into the open ocean. Very exciting!

Please note that pelagic trips can be postponed or canceled completely if sea conditions are too rough and waves are too high because of wind. Safety always comes first, and we won’t go out if the skipper decides that the seas are going to be too rough.

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Tour Operator – Cape Town Pelagics

More about the tour operator:.

See up to 10000 seabirds of 25 species on Cape Town Pelagics‘ seabird trips from Cape Town and Durban. Cape Town Pelagics is run on a non-profit basis and over the last 8 years, we’ve donated over R 115, 000 to Albatross research and conservation. One of the projects we’ve supported recently has been Birdlife International’s Save the Albatross Campaign, of which the Albatross Taskforce is a part.

We’re glad that through our pelagic trips we’ve been able to play our small role in helping to save Albatrosses, not only by direct donations, but also by raising awareness (for example for the Leap School Bird Club) and providing an opportunity for people to see Albatrosses and becoming inspired for conservation. We also take out Albatross researchers for free on research trips. See trip schedules and reports on our website and blog.

Through our sister company, Birding Africa, we can also organise any of your land-based birding needs, such as accommodation, transport and expert guides.

Operating Areas:

Western Cape

Contact details:

Email: [email protected]

For more information, visit: www.capetownpelagics.com

Location details:

Simon's Town Harbour

+27(0)11 789 1122

[email protected] or [email protected]

Isdell House, 17 Hume Road, Dunkeld West Johannesburg 2196

News from African birding trips & pelagics, and natural history observations from tour guides & participants.

Birding Africa
Cape Town Pelagics
Cape Birding Route
350 Bird Photo Challenge

6 Cape Town Pelagics trip reports in August!

6 trip reports from the Cape Town Pelagics trips in August are linked below.

August trip reports: New trip report : thousands of birds, including European Storm-Petrel , led by Cape Town Pelagics guide Dalton Gibbs on 20 August. See the full report here . New trip report : Indian and Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross and Bryde’s Whale with Cape Town Pelagics guide Dalton Gibbs on 7 August. See the full report here . New trip report : Southern Right Whales and Humpbacked Whales with Cape Town Pelagics guide Barie Rose on 2 August. See the full report here . New trip report : 7 species of Albatross , Southern Fulmar and a white morph Southern Giant Petrel with Cape Town Pelagics guide Barrie Rose on 7 August. See the full report here . New trip report : Southern Giant Petrel , Common Dolphins and Humpbacked Whales on the Cape Town Pelagics trip of 10 July, led by Barrie Rose. See the full report here . New trip report : 6 Albatross species , including Wandering Albatross and Northern Royal Albatross on the Cape Town Pelagics trip of 30 July, led by Barrie Rose. See the full report here .

Some client comments in August 2011:

“I have been on one out of Newport, Oregon and another out of Texas organized by the American Ornithologists Union. The one in Newport was also excellent both in terms of birding and service quality. Cape Town Pelagics was similar if not better in terms of service and far exceeding in terms of bird diversity and numbers. Yes, because everything about the trip was great, and the birding itself is surely world-class.” AD.

“Just to thank you for the excellent assistance and help for our trip; we have great pelagics with 8 sp of albatrosses and several (many!) thousands of seabirds! I will strongly recommend your pelagics to my friends here in Spain.” GL.

For those interested in joining the 6 trips in September, we have space on the following: 03 September, 2 boats scheduled – 2 places still available – trip most likely to depart on Sunday 04 September with weather conditions looking excellent! 10 September – fully booked 17 September – 3 places still available 24 September, 2 boats scheduled – only 1 place left! To book, please email Amanda on [email protected]

Albatrosses behind a trawler on a Cape Town Pelagics trip

PELAGIC BIRDING CAPE TOWN

Birding has been an all-consuming interest for Patrick Cardwell since boyhood days spent in a wildlife-rich environment. When he isn’t snapping photos in the field, training local bird guides, or supporting seabird-related conservation initiatives, he runs Avian Leisure, a birding and wildlife safari company out of Cape Town established in 1998, with his wife, Marie-Louise. In this epic post, Patrick depicts just how dynamic the pelagic birding is off Cape Point in South Africa. This may be the most awesome pelagic you’ll ever experience…

For me it was the publication in 1984 of Peter Harrison’s ground-breaking identification guide to ‘ Seabirds ’ that opened up the off-shore world of pelagic birding right on Cape Town’s door step. I remember way back in that same year commissioning the services of an active sport fishing boat to head out into the ‘deep’, 30 miles beyond the lighthouse at Cape Point itself, in search of a working trawler, in the hope of adding a suite of pelagic sightings to my expanding ‘life list’ of Southern African birds.

It was a Benguela Nino year, and pelagic seabirds were in super-abundance in the south eastern Atlantic, with the total of species by variety and number exceeding all expectations for the birders on the inaugural trip as we pitched and wallowed about in the rolling swells on our way out to the trawling grounds.

To this day, the anticipation of a weather-dependent sea birding trip still holds great appeal for me, and with it the hope of sighting something new and exciting as the ‘mega-tick’ of the day. In many respects a pelagic trip off Cape Point is the marine equivalent of the classic African ‘safari’ game drive. You have some idea of where you are going for the day, and what you are most likely to see, but in reality you are open to the forces of nature, along with a generous dose of ‘good luck’.

This is the exciting adrenaline appeal bit that drip feeds the desire to return over and over again to the trawling grounds for another seasonal sift through the thousands of seabirds orbiting in tireless flight, in the hope of seeing something new.

This desire also triggered my decision to move to Simon’s Town, a charming old naval base with a coastal village atmosphere, some 45 minutes from the centre of Cape Town, to be right on the doorstep of the main pelagic departure point in False Bay. Here one is close to the scenically impressive Cape of Good Hope National Park as well as the Boulder’s Coastal Park, home to hundreds of breeding African Penguins.

African Penguin braying

Aside from the diversity of birdlife and resident mammals of the Cape Peninsula, the bay itself supports thousands of Cape Fur Seals , a healthy population of Great White Sharks , several species of dolphin and whale, as well as countless thousands of seabirds attracted by shoals of bait fish within this marine protected area.

A typical pelagic trip with one of the registered pelagic charter operators starts with a sunrise safety and orientation briefing on the jetty, followed by a short scenic cruise to Cape Point, with stops en route to view rafts of African Penguins heading out to sea, and various terns and cormorants roosting on the offshore granite boulders along the rugged shoreline. Here and there the occasional Cape Gannet can be seen plunge-diving in the distance, while Kelp Gulls in loose groups fly past on their way out to the trawling grounds. In fact, it is a source of fascination to me as to why a relatively small minority of the resident population take the time and trouble to fly so far out to sea on the off-chance of securing a scrap within the melee of squabbling seabirds, when the vast majority of Kelp Gulls loaf about the local landfill sites in keeping with their kind all over the world.

After the mandatory safety stop inside of Cape Point, to radio through our intended course for the day and approximate return time, we round the precipitous headland to take in the impressive and steadily unfolding view of the south western tip of the African continent in the early morning light. It is indeed an awesome and wonderfully spectacular sight, so aptly described by Sir Francis Drake on his epic voyage in 1580, as by for the’ Fairest Cape in all the World’.

Soon we are well on our way to the south west with the trawling grounds and, hopefully, an active stern trawler or pole fishing boat in mind, as the rugged landscape steadily recedes and eventually fades from view below the distant horizon. Around this time the first of many pelagic seabird sightings for the day arcs into view, usually in the form of a White-chinned Petrel as it careens across the bow, followed by intermittent sightings of Sooty Shearwater , flap-gliding on silvery-white wings low across the wave crests, often in association with wavering flight lines of black and white Cape Gannets and hundreds of low flying Cape Cormorants, heading steadily northwards along the outer reefs of the Atlantic coastline.

White-chinned Petrel

This inshore marine environment is rich in anchovy and sardine during the warm summer months, making it an ideal fishing ground for Swift Tern and Sandwich Tern operating on a solitary basis, while loose flocks of Common Tern flutter and swoop over shoals of bait fish forced to the surface by predatory game fish. Such activity hardly goes unnoticed by piratical and falcon-like Parasitic Jaegers and the larger, more thickset and not as common Pomarine Jaegers , readily on the lookout for a kleptoparasitic feeding opportunity along the outermost reefs.

Soon afterwards a confident shout heralds the sighting of the first albatross of the day… This is usually a Shy Albatross as it sweeps in slow and graceful flight over the wake before veering away on motionless wings giving all the opportunity to see the characteristic axillary ‘thumb-print’ on the mainly white underwing.

Shy Albatross

This is always an encouraging sign and marks the start of a steady uplift in seabird sightings as an increasing number of albatross across the age class spectrum wheel around us in seemingly effortless flight, along with a steadily expanding entourage of petrels and shearwaters as we make our way up the wake of the first of several trawler options available to us on a good birding day.

Dominant in number, on almost a year round basis, are the ubiquitous White-chinned Petrels , with the possibility of a much sought after Spectacled Petrel ( conspicillata) , endemic to Tristan da Cunha, loafing within the roosting rafts of gregarious seabirds, affording all on board close up sighting and photographic opportunities of this striking seabird.

Spectacled Petrel

By now the first Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross , with its distinctive white head and neck, has usually been ‘ticked’ off as it sailed past on well arched wings, followed by several sightings of immature and adult Black-browed Albatross and Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross weaving and flapping their way through the feeding frenzy of seabirds strung out along the wake in mind-numbing numbers.

Black-browed Albatross

Here and there boldly patterned Pintado Petrels in their highly distinctive black and white chequered plumage weave and glide by on stiff set wings, interspersed with brisk bursts of shallow wing beats, as they veer away from us, while intermittent Great Shearwaters , with their distinctive dark caps and conspicuous white sub-terminal tail bands, glide by to vanish beyond the next wave crest.

Pintado Petrel

By now the action around us is usually frenetic with hundreds, if not thousands of pelagic seabirds in view, as the skipper does his best to keep up with the trawler and position the boat with good viewing and photographic light always in mind as he works up and down the wake in search of new sightings.

Yet it is the retrieval of the net that triggers the greatest seabird response as, almost on cue, the otter doors clang on the gantry signalling the next retrieve, and with it the birds converge on the bulging net as it breaks surface surrounded by porpoising Cape Fur Seals and plunge-diving gannets taking immediate advantage of whatever spillage occurs.

Pelagic Scene off Cape Point: Trawl being retrieved

This is the best time for close-up photography, so engrossed are the squabbling birds with their feeding priorities as they slow their pace to alight on the surface as scraps and by-catch drifts back along the wake triggering a competitive feeding frenzy.

Subantarctic Skua

Close by, opportunistic Subantarctic Skuas in klepto-parasitic mode snatch scraps away, while both the larger more bull-necked Northern and Southern Giant Petrels muscle their way through the foraging crowd clustered around the surfacing net.

Here and there during the summer months tern-like Sabine’s Gulls join in to plunge and dip delicately after scraps and every so often the occasional Arctic Tern puts in a transient appearance before veering away from the madding crowd …

Sabine’s Gull

Further back along the more open and less crowded sections of the wake, loose flocks of Wilson’s and European Storm Petrels patter across the surface and flutter about in zigzagging flight as they pick up minute food items streaming back along the slick line adding their presence to the regular crowd of habitual trawler followers. Other summer specials occasionally encountered are Manx Shearwaters cutting across the line of travel along with the far more numerous and gregarious Cory’s Shearwaters , and, infrequently, a Flesh-footed Shearwater for the more astute observer ‘sifting’ through the mass of seabirds orbiting the boat.

Cory’s Shearwater

But it is the winter months that bring out the best when stormy seas and gusting south westerly winds usher in careening Pterodroma gadfly-petrels with Soft-plumaged Petrels and Great-winged Petrels soaring and towering high above the wind-swept wave crests in fast and dynamic flight. Such conditions at this time of year could also usher in the chance appearance of a majestic white-backed Northern or Southern Royal Albatross and, for the very lucky, a Wandering Albatross as the ultimate mega-sighting of the day …

Yet it is not all about the larger birds as an occasional gull-like Antarctic (Southern) Fulmar may well come gliding past on stiffly set wings or even a far more exciting Gray Petrel wheeling through the thick of the feeding flock or roosting unobtrusively on the surface in the company of White-chinned Petrels and Sooty Shearwaters at this very special time of year.

Sooty Shearwater

Seabirding is not without its identification challenges even with good photographic images for later reference purposes, with the Prions proving the most difficult to identify at sea. Generally, it is the Antarctic Prion ( desolata ) that occurs sporadically off Cape Point in the winter months, although other species of Prion have also been reported from time to time. Also present in good El Nino years are the occasional and much sought after Blue Petrel with its distinctive black sub-terminal tail band with white trailing edge, a unique diagnostic feature amongst petrels.

Wilson’s Storm Petrel

Within the storm petrel collective, Black-bellied Storm Petrel migrate northwards through the trawling grounds during the September to October period. Larger than the Wilson’s Storm Petrel , as the dominant storm petrel species throughout the year, the Black-bellied Storm Petrel’s bounding and distinctive contour hugging flight pattern makes it relatively easy to identify as it zigzags its way up the wake before vanishing in a flash behind a windswept wave.

As with any ‘game drive’ a trip to the ‘deep’ is not without other surprises such as the occasional sighting of an enormous sunfish basking on the surface or a breaching thresher shark with its long whip-like tail or a giant leatherback turtle loafing contentedly in calm sea conditions or an exuberant school of Dusky or Common Dolphin sporting about the boat. Add to this regular sightings of Humpback and Southern Right Whale, inside and outside the bay, as well as year round sightings of Bryde’s Whale and occasional summer reports of Orca in pursuit of dolphin off Cape Point, and you have some idea as to what to expect in the way of the ‘unexpected’.

Heading back to Simon’s Town, usually with a following sea making for a comfortable return run to Cape Point, is not without interest as the boat draws in close to Partridge Point for sightings of the endemic Bank Cormorant with adjacent Cape Cormorants for comparison purposes.

Bank and Cape Cormorants

Closer to harbour returning ‘rafts’ of penguins can be seen making their way back to Boulder’s Beach for the night while African Black Oystercatchers , White-breasted Cormorants , and Hartlaub’s Gulls , along with a few solitary Crowned Cormorants can be found loitering around the mooring buoys near the town jetty.

African Black Oystercatcher

All in all, a pelagic trip off Cape Town is a memorable and unforgettable experience, certainly a ‘must do’ for any dedicated birder visiting South Africa.

Aside from sea birding, the Cape Peninsula and indigenous ‘fynbos’ habitat of this smallest of all the floral kingdoms in the world is rich in Cape endemics, such as Cape Sugarbird and Orange-breasted Sunbird , with a suite of typical semi-arid Karoo birds in reserve should the pelagic trip be cancelled due to adverse weather or sea conditions at the time.

For more on pelagic birding, details relating to local charter operators and accommodation options in Simon’s Town, and general birding information in Cape Town and beyond, contact us below.

Patrick and Marie-Louise Cardwell PO Box 74, Simons Town 7995 South Africa Ph/Fax: +27 21 786 1414 Mobile: +27 83 272 2455 Skype: mlcardwell Email: [email protected]

This website is maintained by Birding Africa. Please do not use any text, images or content from this site without permission. © Birding Africa 1997-2010 [email protected]

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Cape verde, azores, madeira, canary is., socotra island, tour reports, tour reports - all african countries.

PLEASE NOTE : this is a new trip report section and we are still uploading reports from our old site. Please email us for particular reports that might not reflect yet.

Atlantic Ocean Islands

Indian Ocean Islands

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South Africa

Tour Reports & Highlights

Angola Comprehensive – BA2302 : Aug / Sep 2023 – we logged a record 577 species! Open the link for the full species list.

Angola – BA2279 : August 2022 – 561 species. Top five birds were White-headed Robin-Chat, Margaret’s Batis, White-bellied Barbet, Eastern Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye, Bocage’s Weaver

Angola Comprehensive – BA2202 : September 2022 – 569 species. We spent 18 days visiting the key birding sites, recording all endemics.

Angola Comprehensive : August 2019 – 559 species. White-headed Robin-Chat

Angola : September 2018 – 550 species. Angola White-bellied Barbet

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Botswana Okavango : June – July 2019 – 209 bird, 34 mammal and 5 reptile species

Comoros : October 2018 – Mohéli Scops Owl, Comoro Blue Vanga

Seychelles, Mauritius & Reunion : October 2018

Ethiopia : April 2019 – 500 species

Ethiopia : March – April 2016 – 540 species – bird list & trip report

Ethiopia : April 2014 – 500+ bird species, including all Ethiopian & Eritrean endemics

Ethiopia : February 2013 – 515 species, located all the Ethiopian & Eritrean endemics

Gabon : Sep – Oct 2021 – Top 5 birds – African River Martin, Grey Ground Thrush, White-crested Tiger Heron, Vermiculated Fishing Owl, Black Guineafowl

Ghana : January 2022 – 430 species, including Yellow-headed Picathartes, Ghana’s star bird.

Eastern Kenya : May 2021

Liberia & Sierre Leone

Upper Guinea : 5 January 2023

Upper Guinea : 23 January 2023

Upper Guinea : January 2020 (our very 1st tour to the Upper Guinea region)

Madagascar & Masoala : November 2022 – All species vanga, mesite, ground roller and coua, three asities, and more…

Madagascar & Masoala : November 2017 – 189 species, all 5 species of ground roller, all 3 mesites, all species of vanga & all 10 couas

Malawi : October 2018. Top birds as voted for – White-winged Apalis, White-winged Babbling Starling, Thyolo Alethe, Shelley’s Sunbird, Souza’s Shrike, Pel’s Fishing Owl & Pennant-winged Nightjar.

Morocco : April 2015 – Top 5 birds: Northern Bald Ibis, Houbara Bustard, Tristram’s Warbler, Dupont’s Lark, Cream-coloured Courser

Namibia & Okavango : September 2019 – 307 bird species; 46 mammal species

Uganda: June 2021 – 560 species – Green-breasted Pitta

Uganda & Rwanda: Jun – Jul 2018 – Red-collared Mountain Babbler, African Green Broadbill, Green-breasted Pitta & Shoebill

São Tomé & Príncipe

Socotra Island : March 2024 – notched up all endemics within the first 48 hours

Socotra Island : December 2021 – 100+ species incl. the 11 strict endemics

Cape to Kruger : October 2023 – ebird species list & photos from tour participants

Cape to Kruger : February 2020

Cape to Kruger : October 2018

Cape to Kruger : February 2018

Tanzania : April 2022 – 460+ bird & 47 mammal species

Tanzania : 3 – 14 April 2018 – 420 bird & 53 mammal species

Tanzania : 16 – 27 April 2018 – 409 bird & 48 mammal species

Ultimate Zambia : Nov – Dec 2019 – Top 5 birds: African Pitta, Black-cheeked Lovebird, Chaplin’s Barbet, Bar-winged Weaver, Bamboo Warbler

Day Trips from Cape Town

– trip reports are ongoing. Here are a couple of samples, but please email us for the latest.

Trip Reports & Highlights

Kogelberg Biosphere : 13 June 2021 – 54 species – Cape Rockjumper, Ground Woodpecker Kogelberg Biosphere & West Coast : 9 & 10 May 2021 – 122 species – Cape Rockjumper, Ground Woodpecker, Southern Black Korhaan, Black Harrier Kogelberg Biosphere : 26 April 2021 – 55 species – Cape Rockjumper, Cape Siskin , Victorin’s Warbler