Bartolomeu Dias originally named Danger Point Ponte de Sao Brandao when he landed there on May 16, 1488.

[4] More than 140 ships have been wrecked and thousands of lives lost between Danger Point and Cape Infanta, to the east of Gansbaai.

A barely visible rock (now aptly named Birkenhead Rock) 1.679 kilometres (1.043 mi) from Danger Point, was fatal for the troopship carrying young Welsh and Scottish soldiers and their officers and family on their way to Eastern Cape to fight the Xhosa.

The Birkenhead became famous because it was the first shipwreck where the "women and children first" protocol was applied.

The octagonal structure is 18.3 m (60 ft) tall and emits three beams of light every forty seconds.