Description of the attraction
Just an hour's drive (120 km) from Cape Town on the highway to Langebahn is the West Coast National Park. Its 28,000 hectares of land are home to thousands of seabirds that fly to nest on protected islands and pristine golden beaches. This place is suitable for relaxing with family or friends.
The West Coast National Park was established in 1985 with the aim of preserving the Langeban Lagoon and the surrounding area, including the Saldanha Bay Islands. The area in which the park is located, stretching from Iserfontein to Langebahn, is extremely rich in fossils. It is home to salt marshes and wetlands, coastal dune fields and calcareous soils. Saldanha Bay Island's nesting seabird populations inhabit its granite cliffs and sandy coastal shores.
One day is not enough to get to know the park, here you can spend a weekend or a few days in beautiful hotel rooms. These days, you can enjoy a relaxing break on the beach in Kraalbaai with family or friends. You can also go water skiing, snorkeling, diving, fishing or boating. At night, you can admire the scenery on the high seas by kayak. The Langeban Lagoon shore is also ideal for avid kiteboarders.
From August to September, during the spring bloom, you can visit the Postberg with its unique multi-colored tapestry of diverse blooming endemics. In the park, you can see over two hundred turtles, ostriches, flamingos, gazelles, zebras, scorpions, and if you're lucky, even snakes. From August to November, you can watch southern whales at Tsaarsbank. Throughout the year, the West Coast National Park offers bird watching in a variety of habitats. The park is one of the favorite bird watchers in South Africa.
Conveniently located at the southern end of the lagoon, Geelbek Center offers visitors refreshing drinks, souvenirs and information on the park's cultural history. The center's restaurant, housed in a building dating from 1744, serves traditional dishes. The restaurant also offers the best local wines. Conferences and weddings are often held here.
There are stables in the center of Geelbek - here you can ride a horse along specially prepared routes 30 km long. These trails are also suitable for cyclists and mountain bikers.
