Chapman's Peak Drive: The Most Beautiful Pass In The World
Chapman's Peak Drive has always grabbed headlines and drawn crowds for its unique and breathtaking topography. Stretching from Hout Bay to Noordhoek, the mountain pass is flanked by an impenetrable wall of rock on one side and a near-vertical cliff on the other that plunges 100 metres to the Atlantic Ocean.
Viewpoints along the way offer spellbinding views of Sentinel Peak, the vibrant village and fishing harbour of Hout Bay, endless seascapes and, at the other end, the awesome stretch of Noordhoek's dazzling white-sand beach.
History
Chapman's Peak is named after John Chapman (the captain's mate of an English ship that sailed into what is now Hout Bay in 1607), who was sent ashore to find provisions. He recorded the bay as Chapman's Chaunce, little knowing it would one day be the location of one of the world's most famous roads!
It truly is a marvel of engineering, having been carved out of the mountain face by convict labourers over the course of seven years - a dream project to link Hout Bay with Noordhoek initiated by Sir Nicolas Fredrick de Waal (the Cape's first administrator), fresh off the success of his De Waal Drive linking the city with the southern suburbs.
Highlights