Dias Museum Complex

Bartolomeu Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa in 1488 and made landfall at this bay, the first European contact on this coast. Five hundred years later Portugal built a full-size replica of a caravel of the period and sailed it from Lisbon to Mossel Bay, arriving in February 1988; the ship was then housed in a purpose-built hall and is the centre of the museum. You go aboard, and the useful thing is the scale - the vessel is small enough that the voyages become harder to imagine rather than easier, which is the honest reaction. The complex also holds the Post Office Tree where sailors left letters from 1500, a shell museum and aquarium, a granary, and a maritime collection. It sits on the shore in central Mossel Bay, and the Cape St Blaize lighthouse and cliff walk are nearby.

The main sights

• The caravel replica - a full-size 1488-type ship sailed from Lisbon in 1988, boardable.
• The scale - a vessel small enough to make the voyages harder to picture.
• The Post Office Tree - the milkwood used as a message drop from 1500, in the same grounds.
• The maritime collection - shells, aquarium and local seafaring history.

When to go

All year. Two hours. Closed on some public holidays.

Before you go

The ship hall is enclosed and the vessel cannot be seen on water. Some displays are dated. Mossel Bay is an industrial harbour town as well as a resort. Hours are shorter at weekends.

Nearby

The Cape St Blaize cliff walk is close; the Garden Route runs east.