Cape Correntes

It sits at the southern entry of the Mozambique Channel.•23°55′36″S 35°31′48″E / 23.92667°S 35.53000°E / -23.92667; 35.53000 Cape Correntes was historically regarded as one of the most terrifying obstacles facing sailing ships in the Indian Ocean.

Medieval dhows of the Kilwa Sultanate rarely (if ever) sailed below it, thereby making Cape Correntes the southern boundary of the Swahili Coast and cultural zone.

[2] In the 16th century, Portuguese ships on the 'India Run' that charted an entry into the Mozambique Channel too near to the coast often had difficulty surpassing Cape Correntes, and were sometimes pushed backwards by the fast contrary current and complicated winds (most famously, Vasco da Gama, in January, 1498, the first European captain to attempt to surpass it from below, was forced backwards to Inharrime).

Sailing in the other direction was even more dangerous, as the velocity of the current at the cape could easily throw a ship headlong into the numerous shoals and protruding rocks that characterize this stretch of coast.

The peculiar terrors of Cape Correntes were alleviated with the development of reliable instruments to measure longitude, allowing ships to avoid sailing near the headland, and chart a more comfortable course through the middle of the Mozambique Channel.