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Cape Agulhas (; , "Cape of Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of Africa and the beginning of the traditional dividing line between the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean oceans according to the International Hydrographic Organization. It is approximately half a degree of latitude, or , farther south than the Cape of Good Hope. Limits of Oceans and Seas . International Hydrographic Organization Special Publication No. 23, 1953.
Historically, the cape has been known to sailors as a major hazard on the traditional clipper route. It is sometimes regarded as one of the great capes. It was most commonly known in English as Cape L'Agulhas until the 20th century. The town of L'Agulhas is near the cape.
South of Cape Agulhas the warm Agulhas Current, that flows south along the east coast of Africa, retroflects back into the Indian Ocean. While retroflecting, it pinches off large ocean eddies (Agulhas rings) that drift into the South Atlantic Ocean and take enormous amounts of heat and salt into the neighbouring ocean. This mechanism constitutes one of the key elements in the global conveyor belt circulation of heat and salt.
Cape Agulhas has a gradually curving coastline with rocky and sand beaches. A survey marker and a new marker depicting the African continent are located at the most Southern tip of Africa. The waters of the Agulhas Bank off the coast are quite shallow and are renowned as one of the best fishing grounds in South Africa.
The rocks that form Cape Agulhas belong to the Table Mountain Group, often loosely termed the Table Mountain sandstone. They are closely linked to the geological formations that are exposed in the spectacular cliffs of Table Mountain, Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope.
These hazards have combined to make the cape notorious among sailors. The coast here is littered with wrecks: Arniston (1815), Geortyrder (1849), Elise (1879), Cooranga (1964), Gwendola (1968), Federal Lakes (1975), and Gouritz (1981), but these are just a few of the vessels lost in the proximity of the "Cape of Needles". Marine Casualty Database Southern African Coast (copy at the Internet Archive), from NCS Cape Town Owing to the hazards and following the loss of several vessels, notably the Arniston, a lighthouse was built in 1848. The lighthouse now plays host to a museum and a small rustic restaurant.
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