CAPE SWIMS

NELSON MANDELA BAY

General & Swimming Info | Facts & Distances | Records | Links

GENERAL INFORMATION

Nelson Mandela Bay, home to Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Despatch is the only metropolitan area that was allowed by the former president to bear his name. The city, previously named Port Elizabeth, is located 760km east of Cape Town and regarded as the "official" gateway to the scenic Eastern Cape Province and the world renowned Garden Route. The estimated population of Nelson Mandela Bay comprises over 1,5 million, making it South Africa's fifth largest city in terms of population and the second largest in terms of area.

Situated on the shores of the Indian Ocean, overlooking Algoa Bay, Nelson Mandela Bay is a top all year round holiday destination, offering world class beaches, hotels, restaurants and a natural beauty that is simply breathtaking. Warm, dry Summers and mild Winter temperatures, combined with the warm seawater temperature, protected beaches and invigorating sea breezes, contribute to the area being the "water sport capital of Africa". Here you will find some of the world's best sailing venues, first-rate scuba diving with colourful coral species, beautiful reefs and shipwrecks, near perfect conditions for wind-surfing, angling, snorkelling, kite-surfing, fly-fishing and canoeing.


NELSON MANDELA BAY SWIMMING

Despite it being SA's top water sport area, Nelson Mandela Bay is still a relatively unexplored open water swimming venue. This is however about to change, as more marathon swimmers are expressing an interest in crossing the bay. The crossing has been achieved on three occasions: Kyle Main swam from Hobie Beach to Bluewater Bay, in 4h. This was via the breakwater, totaling 18km. Chris Malan swam the same course in 2004, in a time of 4h32. During 2005's Vodacom Splash Festival over Easter, Philip Kuhn swam from the new port of Coega, straight across the Bay, to Hobie Beach in 4h40 - a distance of 22km.
The bay is also the venue for the annual Spec-Savers Iron Man South Africa, taking place in March.