Getting there and when to go

The alarm in Cape Town went off at six. It is now just after eleven, and behind you lie Swellendam, Riversdale and a lot of wheat. The fuel gauge reads half. Mossel Bay lies 385 to 400 kilometres east of Cape Town, a good four hours of driving on the N2. Add the stops and you arrive in the early afternoon with time left for the Point.

The flight

You fly nonstop to Cape Town: from London, and from several European hubs including Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich (August 2026, schedules change with the season). Around eleven and a half hours, almost always overnight, leaving in the evening and landing mid morning. From North America, Australia or Asia you connect through Johannesburg or a Gulf hub.

There is no direct flight from Europe to Mossel Bay. The nearest airport, George, takes domestic flights only: FlySafair, Airlink and CemAir come in from Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban (August 2026). Cape Town to George takes about 55 minutes. Airlink flies daily, and between them the airlines run roughly 20 flights a week. If you are travelling via Johannesburg anyway, that saves you the long drive and lands you half an hour from the door.

There is no jet lag to speak of. South Africa sits on UTC plus two and keeps no daylight saving: two hours ahead of the UK in the northern winter, one hour in summer. You land tired, but not out of step.

Flight from Europe

11.5 hoursnonstop, overnight

Cape Town to Mossel Bay

385 to 400 kma good four hours on the N2

George Airport

40 to 50 kma good half hour

Time difference

1 to 2 hoursno daylight saving in South Africa

Traffic

on the leftautomatic gearbox recommended

From Cape Town on the N2

From the airport you head east, past Somerset West and up over Sir Lowry’s Pass. Then Grabouw, a second pass, Caledon. Past Swellendam, about halfway, the country opens out flat: Riversdale, Albertinia, the bridge over the Gouritz. There are no toll plazas before George. The only one on the Garden Route sits in Tsitsikamma, east of Plettenberg Bay at the Bloukrans bridge, and you only meet it if you carry on towards Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha).

Allow four to four and a half hours without a break. Swellendam is the place for coffee, Riversdale for fuel. Just before Mossel Bay there is an Engen 1-Stop on the N2, and in Voorbaai the Shell at the Truckport. Between Mossel Bay and George the N2 runs as a dual carriageway, so the last stretch is quick.

Route 62: the long way through the Little Karoo

The second road is no shortcut. Take the N1 and the tunnel at Paarl to Worcester, then the R62: Robertson, Montagu, Barrydale, Calitzdorp, Oudtshoorn. From there the R328 brings you to the coast over the Robinson Pass, which begins 35 kilometres short of Mossel Bay. That is 420 to 450 kilometres and five and a half to six and a half hours of driving, and with wine estates, ostrich farms and the Cango Caves on the way it fills a whole day. If you have time, sleep in Montagu or Oudtshoorn and split the run. More on Route 62 and Oudtshoorn.

George Airport: the short version

George Airport lies 40 to 50 kilometres east of Mossel Bay depending on the route, and the drive on the N2 takes a good half hour. Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt have desks there (August 2026), and Avis and Europcar also have branches in Mossel Bay. For long stay visitors, and for anyone who only wants the Garden Route, George is the better entry point than Cape Town. Land, collect the car, be on the beach by lunchtime. And once you have driven the run from Cape Town, you can drop the car here for the flight home; one way rentals are normal, and the surcharge comes with the booking. What the town itself is good for is under George.

Without a car: coaches and the Baz Bus

Intercape runs from Cape Town to Mossel Bay, and the coach does not stop in the centre but at the Shell Truckport in Voorbaai, on the corner of Gericke Road and Louis Fourie Road, right on the N2. Allow five and a half to six and a half hours. Other lines including Greyhound also list the route, and the 2026 timetables are best checked with the operator. Fares are on intercape.co.za and depend on the day and how early you book. The Truckport is a few kilometres from the centre: Uber and Bolt operate in Mossel Bay, or your guest house collects you.

Backpackers have the Baz Bus. It runs Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Hermanus, Swellendam, Mossel Bay and on through George and Knysna to Port Elizabeth, picking you up at your hostel and dropping you at the next one. Arrival in Mossel Bay is in the early afternoon (August 2026). You can hop off along the way as often as you like and carry on with a later bus; the fare is on bazbus.com.

Renting a car: what to watch

• Traffic drives on the left and the cars are right hand drive. Take an automatic, and your hand stays on the wheel where it belongs.
• A licence in English with a photograph is accepted. If yours is in another language, bring an International Driving Permit as well; desks ask for it, and without it the handover can fail.
• The deposit goes on a credit card. Debit cards are often refused, so check when you book.
• Fuel stations have attendants. Five to ten rand is the usual tip, more if they clean the windscreen.
• The limit on the N2 is 120, in towns 60. Speed cameras like to sit just past the town sign.
• Do not drive the N2 after dark. People and animals cross the road, and stretches of it have no lighting.
• When the power goes off, every traffic light goes dark. Then each junction runs on order of arrival, and everybody sticks to it.

Our tipDo not drive the four hours straight off the overnight flight. One night in Cape Town, or a stop in Hermanus or Swellendam, and you reach Mossel Bay awake. Fly in via George and the problem disappears: landing, rental car, half an hour, beach.

Which months are worth it

Since 1992 Mossel Bay has advertised itself as having, according to the Guinness Book, the second mildest climate in the world. That is hard to verify. The numbers are friendly all the same. Summer days reach around 25 degrees, winter days around 20, with nights around 10. Rain falls across the whole year, 375 to 530 millimetres depending on the source, and a good deal of it at night. The sea is 17 degrees in August and 22 in January.

December to February is high summer and high season. The South African school holidays run from 12 December 2026 to 12 January 2027, and Hartenbos alone counts around 100,000 visitors from inland in those weeks (August 2026). Full beaches, high prices, water at 20 to 22 degrees. Then there is the wind: easterly and southeasterly blow for days at a time in summer, and ahead of a cold front the berg wind pushes hot dry air down off the mountains.

March to May are the quiet months, and the driest. May brings only 15 millimetres. The sea holds at 19 to 21 degrees, the air at 23 during the day, and the wind eases. Easter holidays in 2026: 28 March to 7 April, and after that the town is yours. The whales are not in yet, and the European visitors are slowly leaving.

June to August is winter, and the whale season starts. Days of 20 to 21 degrees, nights of 10 to 11, with 30 to 40 millimetres of rain a month, much of it overnight. Between the fronts sit clear, windless days, the best of the year for the St Blaize Trail. The winter holidays from 27 June to 20 July 2026 bring families from inland; before and after that it is quiet, and rooms cost less than in summer.

September to November belongs to the whales. The season runs to November, the densest weeks are July to October, with southern rights in the bay and humpbacks on the way back from November. Spring holidays run from 24 September to 5 October 2026. November is the wettest month at 55 millimetres, and the wind picks up again. In return the water warms.

How many nights?

One night covers the Point with its tidal pool and the Dias Museum, provided you arrive around midday and drive on the next morning. Two nights give you one full day. The St Blaize Trail at the lighthouse in the morning, the boat to Seal Island at midday, fish at the harbour in the evening. From three nights the detour over the Robinson Pass to Oudtshoorn pays off, and anyone taking a holiday flat in January or July usually stays for weeks. The Garden Route will not have moved. Knysna lies a good hour further on, Plettenberg Bay just under two.