Cape Agulhas

Cape Agulhas is the true southern tip of Africa, not the Cape of Good Hope, which most first-timers assume. It lies in Agulhas National Park next to the small town of L’Agulhas, southeast of Cape Town in the Overberg. The International Hydrographic Organization uses it as the starting point of the line between the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Come for the novelty of standing at the end of a continent, then stay for the lighthouse and the wild, low coast.

What to expect

The landscape is flat and rocky rather than dramatic, with fynbos running down to a reef-strewn shore. The lighthouse went up in 1848 after a run of wrecks, and now houses a museum and a small restaurant; visitors can climb to the lamp room for the view. From the lighthouse a wooden boardwalk follows the shore to the southernmost point, where an old stone cairn stands beside the Map of Africa monument unveiled in 2019.

Practical details

• L’Agulhas, the town next to the park, has basics including a pub and a bottle store.
• Parking is available near the tip, and entry to the monument area was free when it opened in 2019.
• Much of the coastline in the park has no roads, so walking is the way to see more of it.

Good to know

The name comes from the Portuguese Cabo das Agulhas, the Cape of Needles, reportedly because compass needles here pointed to true north around 1500. These waters are notorious: about 150 ships are thought to have sunk off Agulhas over the centuries. The rusting hull of the Japanese trawler Meisho Maru No. 38, which ran aground in 1982, is about a 20 minute walk along the shore from the tip marker.

Last updated 6 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, 2Summers, Sunday Times.