Hout Bay is a fishing harbour wedged into a bowl of mountains on the Atlantic side of the Cape Peninsula, and it keeps a stubborn, salty independence from the city just over the ridge. The name is Dutch for wood: early settlers cut the forests that once stood in the valley for timber, long before the suburbs, and today the slopes of the Sentinel, a rock peak that guards the mouth of the bay, are covered in fynbos and houses with fine views. Constantia, about seven kilometres away over the pass, is the nearest big suburb.
The harbour is where things happen. Fishing boats unload crayfish and snoek, a long, silvery fish that locals braai and eat with apricot jam, and fish and chips are served on the quay to people watching the seals that hang about the wharf in hope of scraps. Boats leave from the jetty for Duiker Island, a rocky islet crowded with Cape fur seals, which you smell before you see. A weekend market in a converted warehouse offers local food, music and crafts.
For a rider, Hout Bay is the hinge of the best coastal loop in the country. From the harbour, you go south on Chapman's Peak Drive, one of the world's great roads, or climb over Constantia Nek into the wine country. The road in from Cape Town goes over the shoulder of the mountain with great views of the bay, and on a clear day the whole waterfront lies below like a map. Summer brings southeasterly winds that whip down the slopes, and in winter cold fronts bring rain and big swell, so check conditions, and be careful with sand and wet patches on the road by the beach.
There is no problem finding fuel, food or a coffee, with petrol stations on the main road and many cafés along the waterfront. Sunsets from the harbour wall, with the mountains turning pink, are very fine, and local restaurants serve seafood with a glass of Cape wine. Weekends in summer are busy, so go early to find parking and enjoy the road before the traffic builds.