Duiker Island or Duikereiland (''

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

''), also known as Seal Island (not to be confused with the nearby Seal Island), is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

off

Hout Bay Hout Bay ( af, Houtbaai, meaning "Wood Bay") is a harbour town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated in a valley on the Atlantic seaboard of the Cape Peninsula, twenty kilometres south of Cape Town. The name "Hout Bay" can ...

near

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It is 77 by 95 metres in size, with an area of about 0.4

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

. The island is renowned for its marine wildlife, including the Cape fur seals and marine bird species such as the common cormorants and kelp gulls. It is visited regularly by tourists and photographers by

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

via

Mariner's Wharf Mariner's Wharf is a prominent landmark and tourist attraction in Hout Bay, South Africa. Situated between the beach and the adjacent harbor entrance, it was originally built in 1979 as workshops, storage and offices by Stanley Dorman for his fi ...

in Hout Bay harbour. On 13 October 2012, a small vessel carrying tourists to Duiker Island capsized. The incident resulted in the deaths of two men while three women survived by finding air pockets beneath the up-turned vessel. ''Cape Town boat capsizes: Peter Hyett dies in Hout Bay''
(

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

, 15 October 2012)

References

{{Cape Town, natural Geography of Cape Town Uninhabited islands of South Africa Tourist attractions in Cape Town Atlantic islands of South Africa