Ponta Do Ouro

Ponta do Ouro also know as Ponta d’Ouro

It is a town in the extreme South of Mozambique, lying on the Mozambican Channel, South of Maputo and just North of the border of  South Africa. The name is Portuguese for “tip of gold”, referring to a cape at the Southern part of the beach.

Shopping is extremely limited in Ponta d’Ouro. There is a petrol station, bank, pharmacy, hardware stores, bottle stores and other small shops in town. Fresh bread can be purchased at the local market (best eaten the same day), if left out for 2-3 days you might even have some rusks for your coffee!! Basic food items like vegetables and fruits can be purchased at this market as well. No luxurious items are available anywhere in Ponta d’Ouro. Accommodation is readily available. There are plenty of modern and comfortable resorts in d’Ouro on the beachfront and surrounding areas. Other resorts date from pre-war and  (although quite primitive with limited facilities) are very popular with tourists due to reasonable pricing and excellent location on the beachfront. It is commonly referred to as ‘Ponta’ by visiting South Africans.

Ponta do Ouro is about 15km away from the South African border and about 130km South of Maputo. With the new ring road connecting Maputo to Ponta do Ouro, the travel lasts about one hour.

You can see plenty of aquatic life ranging from Corals and tiny Gobis all the way to Sharks and even mighty Whales (in season) on a variety of reefs.

Pinnacles is one of the stunning dive sites, and has been the place to see some of the most beautiful sharks up close, during the months of October – May, Bull/Zambezi sharks, Hammerheads, Silver tips, Dusky, Black tips and Leopard sharks are frequently seen.

Each year between the months of July – November migrating Humpback whales travel along the spectacular Mozambican coastline, giving us the opportunity to spend many happy hours viewing them by boat. They are moving from their Antarctic summer feeding grounds, to the warmer waters closer to the equator to calve and breed. Humpbacks are probably the most popular whales among whale watchers. One reason is that their annual migration routes are well known. That means they can be quite reliably met at a certain place at a certain time. An even bigger reason is that Humpbacks are great acrobats, fantastic singers and even impressive hunters.