Money well spent.
Snorkeling with seals in Cape Town was 'money put to good use'. We are not fans of snorkeling, all of our previous snorkeling experiences until this were only disappointments.
Seal island (or Duiker island) is more like a rock in the ocean, short boat ride from Hout Bay harbour, where the Cape Fur Seals feel safe to chill with their pups. There are hundreds or maybe thousands of them on the rock and around! And the sharks are nowhere to be seen in this bay as it is surrounded by shallow kelp forests, so no need to be stressed about them at all.
Seals are super cute and curious animals. Once they see something new in the water they come to check it out real close. We came after a break in visitors, so they came up close and personal. One dove right between Roman's legs, while he was filming them, his audio reaction recorded on camera makes us laugh everytime we watch. It's just unbelievable how friendly they are and how they know how to interact with people keeping a safe distance. They look so funny with wide open eyes under the water, probably 5 times bigger than on dry land.
We took a morning tour, which I think is the best one, because seals are well rested after night and ready to play. Boats, if weather allows, come here all day, so I think after some time seals become tired of them, passive and less playfull.
You can find many tours from Hout bay, we took one from Ocean Animals, which we were really happy about, they met us with the coffee in their office, provided us all the equipment, briefed about safety, were always in the water with us watching if we are safe and warmed us up with hot chocolate and cookies on the way back.
Water even during summer is extremely cold, so tour organizers provide you with a thick wetsuit, gloves (smartphones in water is a no-go), shoes, hoods, but if you have your own wetsuit, bring it. I felt very comfortable with my 3/4 mm wetsuit under the given one and stayed in the water till the moment we had to leave, while some people came back on the boat earlier as they got really cold.
If you don't like to snorkel, or you are afraid of cold water, or you still can't believe that there are no sharks (there have been zero sightings in as long as anyone can remember) , you can go on the boat and watch them from there. Or most probably you will see one at Hout's bay harbour somewhere from a distance. Once you're in the water, don't exert yourself at trying to follow them around, better to stay calm and wait - they will come to you.
Although this experience was exciting it was heartbreaking at the same time. We saw some seals swimming with plastics around their necks already grown into their skin and we saw young pup floating dead... To hear it, read it or to see on tv is one, but once you see it in reality, with your own eyes you get a completely different perspective. The impact we have on our planet can not be overstated.