In 1841, Herman Melville set out to sea from the city on the whaling ship Acushnet, returning after an 18-month voyage to eventually write Moby Dick, the tale of Captain Ahab's obsessive search for the great white whale.

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Tiger sharks and the occasional great white and whale shark can be seen farther out to sea.

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There is the best land based whale watching anywhere, and plenty of opportunities to get out on the water, including diving with Great White sharks, something people come from all around the world to do and can easily be done as a day activity in Cape Town (though cage diving remains controversial).

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