Cape Peninsula


The Cape Peninsula of South Africa is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. On the northern end is Table Mountain, overlooking Table Bay and the City Bowl of Cape Town, South Africa. The peninsula is 52 km long from Mouille point in the north to Cape Point in the south. The Peninsula has been an island on and off for the past 5 million years, as sea levels fell and rose with the ice age and interglacial global warming cycles of, particularly, the Pleistocene. The last time that the Peninsula was an island was about 1.5 million years ago. Soon afterwards it was joined to the mainland by the emergence from the sea of the sandy area now known as the Cape Flats. The towns and villages of the Cape Peninsula and Cape Flats, and the undeveloped land of the rest of the peninsula now form part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The Cape Peninsula is bounded to the north by Table Bay, to the west by the open Atlantic Ocean, and to the east by False Bay in the south and the Cape Flats in the north.
The peninsula is mostly the mountainous remnant of very old durable sandstone formations with low dip, deposited unconformably on an ancient underlying granite peneplain. The climate is of the Mediterranean type, with predominantly winter rainfall and mild temperatures, and the natural vegetation is exceptionally diverse, with an unusually large number of endemic plant species for an area of this size, many of which are endangered, and threatened by human activity and encroachment, but are to some extent protected on the large part of the peninsula which is in Table Mountain National Park. The coastal waters include a major seaport in Table Bay, and a marine protected area in the two adjacent but significantly different marine ecoregions, which meet at Cape Point. Most of the lower lying coastal land of the central and northern peninsula has been developed as first agricultural, and later urban areas. The rocky uplands have historically avoided development because of difficult access, poor soils and steep slopes, and more recently have been legally protected as being of high ecological importance, but are threatened by illegal land invasion and informal settlement.

Physical geography

The Cape Peninsula is 52 km long from Mouille point in the north to Cape Point in the south, with an area of about 470 km2, and it displays more topographical variety than other similar sized areas in southern Africa, and consequently spectacular scenery. There are diverse low-nutrient soils, large rocky outcrops, scree slopes, a mainly rocky coastline with embayed beaches, and considerable local variation in climatic conditions.
The sedimentary rocks of the Cape Supergroup, of which parts of the Graafwater and Peninsula Formations remain, were uplifted between 280 and 21S million years ago, and were largely eroded away during the Mesozoic. The region was geologically stable during the Tertiary, which has led to slow denudation of the durable sandstones. Erosion rate and drainage has been influenced by fault lines and fractures, leaving remnant steep-sided massifs like Table Mountain surrounded by flatter slopes of deposits of the eroded material overlaying the older rocks,
There are two internationally notable landmarks, Table Mountain and Cape Point, at opposite ends of the Peninsula Mountain Chain, with the Cape Flats and False Bay to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The landscape is dominated by sandstone plateaux and ridges, which generally drop steeply at their margins to the surrounding debris slopes, interrupted by a major gap at the Fish Hoek–Noordhoek valley. In the south much of the area is a low sandstone plateau with sand dunes. Maximum altitude is 1113 m on Table Mountain.

Mountains

Mountains and peaks:
  • Baboon hill,
  • Belle Ombre 725 m,
  • Blinkwater Peak 989 m, above Camp's Bay,
  • Blokhuiskop 417 m,
  • Bokkop 410 m,
  • Bonteberg 237 m, hill south of Scarborough,
  • Brakkloofrant 305 m,
  • Cave Peak 445 m,
  • Chapman's Peak 592 m, south of Hout Bay
  • Cleft Peak 833 m,
  • Constantiaberg 900 m, to the south of Constantia Nek on the eastern route to Hout Bay valley,
  • Corridor Buttress 750 m,
  • Dassenberg, in Noordhoek valley,
  • Dassiekop 640 m,
  • Devil's Peak 1,000 m, peak to the east of the City Bowl
  • Eagles Nest 417 m,
  • Else Peak ,, a small peak between Simon's Town and Fish Hoek,
  • Fernwood Peak 1,003 m,
  • Fountain Peak 1,051 m,
  • Grootkop 857 m,
  • Grootkop 390 m, northeast of Scarborough
  • Higher Steenberg Peak 537 m,
  • Judas Peak, southernmost peak in the chain of peaks known as the 12 Apostles on the west side of the peninsula,
  • Judas Peak,, the peak above the cliffs to the immediate south of Smitswinkel Bay,
  • Junction Peak 919 m,
  • Kalkbaaiberg 516 m,, the peak above Kalk Bay
  • Kapteinspiek 414 m, to the west of Hout Bay, east of Karbonkelberg,
  • Karbonkelberg 653 m, above Duiker Point, west of Hout Bay,
  • Klaassenskop 742 m,
  • Klaasjagersberg 560 m,
  • Klassenkop 902 m,
  • Klein Blouberg,
  • Klein-Tuinkop 492 m,
  • Langeberg,
  • Lion's Head 669 m, peak to the west of the City Bowl,
  • Little Lions Head 436 m, peak between Llandudno and Hout Bay valley,
  • Lower Chapman's Peak 500 m,
  • Low Steenberg 463 m,
  • Maiden Peak 372 m,
  • Matrooskop,, a small local peak inshore of Buffels Bay,
  • Minor Peak 856 m, peak on the north flank of Devil's Peak
  • Muizenberg 507 m,, the peak to the west of Muizenberg suburb, and the northernmost peak directly overlooking the west side of False Bay,
  • Noordhoek Lower 494 m,
  • Noordhoek Peak ,
  • North Peak 477 m,
  • Paulsberg,, highest peak overlooking the south side of Smitswinkel Bay,
  • Platkop 371 m,
  • Reserve Peak 844 m,
  • Ridge Peak 507 m,
  • Rooihoogte 275 m,
  • Rooikrans 193 m,
  • Saint James Peak 422 m,
  • Saint Michael Peak 917 m,
  • Sentinel 331 m, peak on west side of Hout Bay,
  • Signal Hill 340 m, ridge north of Lion's Head, separating the City Bowl from the Atlantic Seaboard,
  • Simonsberg 564 m,, the peak above Simon's Town,
  • Skildersgatkop,
  • Skoorsteenkop 523 m,
  • Skoorsteenberg Sub 540 m,
  • Slangolie Buttress 780 m,
  • Spitskop 447 m,
  • Steenbergkoppie 290 m,
  • Suther Peak 614 m,
  • Swartkop ,, the highest point on the Southern Peninsula,
  • Table Mountain, , highest point on the Cape Peninsula
  • Trappies Kop, , the hill above Kalk Bay,
  • Twelve Apostles a group of several peaks and buttresses along the west coast south of Table Mountain
  • Vasco da Gama Peak 250 m,, the highest point nearest the mouth of False Bay on the Cape Peninsula,
  • Vlakkenberg 560 m,
  • Vlooiberg 377 m,
  • Wolfkop 393 m,
Passes :
  • Kloof Nek, pass between City Bowl and Camps Bay, col between table mountain and Lion's Head,
  • Constantia Nek, pass between Southern Suburbs and Hout Bay valley,
  • , pass between Southern Suburbs and Fish Hoek valley,
  • ,
  • pass between Llandudno and Hout Bay valley, col between Judas Peak and Little Lion's Head,
Valleys and gorges:
  • Disa gorge
  • Fish Hoek–Noordhoek valley
  • Hout Bay valley
  • Platteklip gorge
  • Skeleton gorge

    Coastline

If using the river drainage to define the extent of the peninsula, the coastline extends from the mouth of the Salt River in Table Bay to the mouth of Sandvlei at Muizenberg.

West coast

  • Salt River mouth,
  • Table Bay,, the northern boundary of the Cape Peninsula
  • Granger Bay, harbour mouth
  • Mouille Point,,
  • Green Point lighthouse
  • Three-Anchor Bay,
  • Rocklands Beach,
  • Sea Point,
  • Bantry Bay, a small rocky bay.,
  • Clifton Bay, which has four sandy beaches separated by rocky outcrops extending to the water's edge;,
  • *Clifton First Beach,
  • *Clifton Second Beach,
  • *Clifton Third Beach,
  • *Clifton Fourth Beach,
  • Camps Bay,
  • *Glen Beach,
  • *Camps Bay Beach,
  • Bakoven Bay,
  • Koeëlbaai, a narrow beach of wave-rounded boulders
  • Oudekraal
  • Sandy Bay,
  • *Sandy Bay beach
  • Oude Schip, a low rocky promontory at the north of Leeugat bay.
  • Die Middelmas, a cluster of large exposed granite rocks a short distance southwest of the point at Oude Schip.
  • Leeugat,, also known as Maori Bay, for the wreck of the SS Maori, a rocky bay to the west of Karbonkelberg, between Duiker Point and Oude Schip,
  • Duiker Point, a rocky promontory at the foot of Karbonkelberg, marking the south of Leeugat Bay.
  • Duiker Island, a low granite islet used by a breeding colony of Cape fur seals.
  • Hout Bay,
  • *York Point
  • *Hout Bay harbour mouth
  • *Hout Bay beach,
  • Blockhouse Point
  • Die Josie
  • Chapman's Point, Major promontory between Hout Bay and Chapmans Bay at the foot of Chapman's Peak,
  • Chapman's Bay,
  • *Noordhoek Beach,
  • Klein Slangkoppunt,
  • Slangkoppunt,
  • Witsandsbaai,
  • *Witsands Beach,
  • Schuster's Bay,, a small bay at Scarborough
  • *Schuster's Bay beach,,
  • Olifantsbospunt,
  • Hoek van Bobbejaan,
  • Cape of Good Hope,
  • Diaz Beach,
  • Cape Point,, the south-westernmost point of the bay, marked by the current lighthouse and the original lighthouse,

    False Bay coast

Landmarks of the False Bay coastline:
  • Rooikrans,, a cliff area with a small sea cave,
  • Buffels Bay,, a small bay on the west side of False Bay, with a small craft slipway,
  • Bordjiesrif,
  • Hell's Gate,
  • Batsata Rock,, an exposed inshore granite rock below Judas Peak near the northern boundary of the Paulsberg restricted zone, and the southern limit of Smitswinkel Bay,
  • Smitswinkel Bay,, a small bay on the west side of False Bay, with a few coastal houses,
  • Partridge Point, a granite corestone promontory with several large exposed inshore rocks extending about a hundred metres into the bay on the north side of Smitswinkel Bay,
  • Finlay's Point,, a smaller granite corestone promontory north of Partridge Point,
  • Castle Rocks, a larger granite corestone promontory, comprising a massive and fairly high outcrop at the end of a small, low isthmus, with several large inshore exposed rocks south of Miller's Point,
  • Rumbly Bay,, a small cove with a small craft slipway on the south side of Miller's Point,
  • Millers Point,, a fairly large but low granite corestone promontory, with a small craft slipway on the northwest side, and several exposed and drying rocks extending to seaward,
  • Rocklands Point,, a minor granite promontory north of Miller's Point, with a few exposed inshore rocks
  • Oatlands Point,, a minor granite promontory with a large and several smaller inshore exposed rocks and a shoreline navigation beacon,
  • Fishermans Beach, a short, sandy beach north of Oatlands Point,
  • Froggy Pond,, a small cove with a small sandy beach north of Fishermans Beach separated by a low rocky promontory,
  • Windmill Beach,, a small sandy beach partly enclosed by massive granite boulders, with two small coves,
  • Simon's Bay,, the largest bay on the west side of False Bay, very well protected from the prevailing south westerly swell, but fairly exposed to wind and waves from the south-east,
  • *Boulders Beach, Seaforth,, a sandy beach between large scattered granite boulders,
  • *Simon's Town Naval Base harbour,, a man-made harbour with breakwater and sea-walls enclosing the naval dockyard,
  • *Long Beach,, a sandy beach on the west side of Simon's Bay, usually in the lee of the harbour for south easterly winds,
  • *Mackerel Bay,, a small sandy beach north of Simon's Town,
  • *Elsebaai,, a small bay in the north part of Simon's Bay,
  • **Glencairn beach
  • Fish Hoek bay,, the northernmost minor bay of the west side of False Bay with a sandy beach open to the sea,
  • *Fish Hoek beach,, a sandy beach on the east side of the Fish Hoek–Noordhoek gap, a low-lying break in the mountain range of the peninsula between False Bay and the Atlantic coast.
  • Kalk Bay,
  • Kalk Bay harbour,, a small commercial fishing harbour in Kalk bay, completely enclosing the tiny sandy beach,