Cape Town Pelagics

Southern Royal & Shy Albatross fish squabble_Andrew Jenkins

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24 Years of seabirding trips off Cape Town

Join one of our deep sea pelagic trips in search of albatrosses and other seabird specials with our experienced guides. Over the last 24 years in operation we’ve shown our guests a huge number of southern African rarities! On a typical trip we travel 25 to 40 nautical miles from Simon’s Town harbour, passing the cliffs of Cape Point, and heading south-west off the continental shelf in search of trawlers. We use high speed recreational speedboats equipped with AIS tracking systems to locate fishing vessels. You’re likely to see at least 3 and possibly as many as 7 albatross species, and many other pelagics birds — see the seasonality table for more info. Cetaceans are frequently seen in the coastal waters.

We donate all proceeds to research and conservation

Cape Town Pelagics is unique: we donate all profits to seabird research and conservation, including Birdife International’s Save the Albatross Fund. We’ve raised over R115 000 for conservation, so by booking a trip with us, you’ll make a difference to the seabirds you will see.

Please e-mail us for the cost of a trip and further information. Please check our trip calendar for our 2024 / 2025 trip schedules.

If you have a group we might be able to arrange a trip for you outside of our scheduled dates, please e-mail for details.

Reviews

Our guide Vincent Ward was top notch, really knows his stuff and communicated very clearly to everyone on board…
My third trip with Cape Town Pelagics and probably the best which is saying a lot as the first 2 were fantastic. I’d give it a 9/10, just missing a big Albatross !

Darran R - UK
The entire trip was a highlight. We made contact with a trawler – there were so many birds & we had such superb views! Dalton was excellent, very engaging & went out of his way, both to impart his knowledge & make sure that everyone had got onto their target birds. As a Northern Hemisphere-based birder it was wonderful to see some of ‘our’ breeding birds in the mêlée with all those great Southern Hemisphere species.

Keith B - Gibraltar
It was my first pelagics trip and the highlight was to see birds like albatrosses, prions and petrels, which added to my lifers by 13. It was fascinating seeing the birds behind the trawlers. Garret was great. He certainly knows the subject and is very quick to pick up the specials. It far exceeded my expectations!

Mark Y - SA
The trip with Vince and Alan was wonderful. Both very experienced and passionate about birds and guests. To spot different kinds of Albatross in that big cluster was a real challenge for us. We’re amazed by the huge numbers of birds on the open sea. For us it was definitely a highlight of our South African tour.

Chris & Tamara H - Germany
We were extremely lucky – close up of whales doing their thing with their tails; beautiful sunrise views across False Bay to Gordons Bay; three lifers; finding a trawler AND the trawler pulling its net while we were there. David was excellent – spotted birds early and the skipper was very careful in missing ‘potholes’ on way out, his birding knowledge is excellent too.

Mike K - SA
It was amazing to see the multitude of birds at the trawler, almost within touching distance, having only ever seen some of them at a massive distance through a telescope. Vanessa was professional, kind, and passionate about birding. I learnt a lot, and greatly appreciate all the help she offered for someone who was a complete novice at seabirds. The trip was worth every cent!

Cilliers P - SA
It was my very first pelagic trip, so the whole trip was a highlight! David is a splendid guide, extremely knowledgeable. It was a bit long for me, but then again, I can go birding for hours – there is so much to see and distance to cover that it would be a skimp to make it any shorter. The trip exceeded my expectations!

Sunette S - SA