Places to stay Velddrif | Velddrif | Granny Mac's Guest House

Velddrif brings to mind the fishermen, bokkoms, Berg river, bird watching, beautiful mostly undisturbed beaches and beautiful flowers in flower season.

Things to do

Berg River - fishing & water sports

The Berg River are also famous for its fishing, having attracted fishermen
for generations. The fishing community soon turned fishing into a thriving industry, with many fishing trawlers coming in from the sea to dock in the Berg River at Laaiplek. Because Port Owen is near the mouth of the Berg River, Velddrif locals often launch their fishing boats and motorboats here to go out
to sea.

Berg River Canoe Marathon

A challenging 240 km race, the Berg River Canoe Marathon is one of the longest and toughest competitive paddling challenges in Africa, and offers participating men and women a canoeing experience like not other. Fast-flowing narrow channels littered with trees, extended lengths of tough, characer-testing flat water and the unrelenting rains characteristic of the Cape winter all combine to fully test your abilities. The river runs north from Paarl, all the way up to the little town of Piketberg, before heading west towards the ocean and drawing to a close in the West Coast town of Velddrif.

The South African Fisheries Museum / Laaiplek

The South African Fisheries Museum Velddrif is a tourist attraction in Velddrif on the West Coast. It opened in December 2009. It exhibits the colourful history of the fishing industry along this coast from the intrepid days of whaling and whalers to present-day pelagic and lobster fishing. This visitor’s experience is inextricably interwoven with the colourful local history and culture of the West Coast, presented in the museum by multi-media presentations and personally guided tours of this informative facility.

Cape Columbine Lighthouse / Paternoster

Situated on a prominent headland, approximately 5 kilometers from the popular little fishing village of Paternoster, on a massive granite boulder called Castle Rock a few hundred meters above the sea, is one of the last manned lighthouses built in South Africa. The Lighthouse was commissioned on the 1st October 1936 and was named after the barque Columbine, which was wrecked there on 31 March 1829. The town of Paternoster was even named after the heartfelt prayers of the shipwrecked Portuguese sailors and means Our Father. Today the lighthouse is the first one to be seen by ships coming from South America and Europe.

West Coast National Park / Langebaan

The West Coast National Park stretches from Yzerfontein up to the edge of Langebaan and surrounds most of the enormous Langebaan Lagoon. During summer, migratory waterbirds flock in thousands from as far away as northern Eurasia. In the middle of the lagoon is Schaapen Island, a bird sanctuary that is off limits, but you can paddle close to it and watch the garrulous marine birds. Eland and small animals are easily spotted but the star attraction is the spring wildflower spectacle, particularly in the Postberg section.

McClear Base / Aurora

McClear Base, outside Aurora, is the northernmost point on which all survey beacons in South Africa are based. In 1751, the French astronomer Abbe De la Caille, paid a vist to the area. Through trigonometrical measurements he tried to determine the shape of the Earth in the southern hemisphere. While he was busy with his survey he walked the distance between this point and Cape Town three times! On the farm Klipfontein, just outside the town, he erected the northern beacon. The western beacon is on Kasteelberg and the southern beacon is on the corner of Strand and Adderley streets in Cape Town.

Evita se Perron / Darling

The name EVITA SE PERRON was inspired by its location as the former Darling Station. Perron in Afrikaans means ‘station platform’ and Evita is also the name of South Africa’s most famous white woman …. Mrs Evita Bezuidenhout. Tannie Evita was known as the best cook in the old National Party; die beste kok in die ou Nasionale Party, and she has now moved on to become the Advisory Executive Chef at the ANC restaurant in Luthuli House.

Rocherpan Nature Reserve / Dwarskersbos

Rocherpan is a coastal nature reserve teeming with birds and colourful wildflowers. Two rivers, the Papkuils and the Sout, flow into the reserve. Although Rocherpan Nature Reserve was originally established because of the conservation value of this seasonal vlei and its importance for birds, the reserve also offers protection to several other species. It is one of only two locations where the critically endangered aquatic plant, the Cape horned pondweed, is known to survive.

Vasco Da Gama Monument / St Helena Bay

St Helena Bay was "discovered" by the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama on 7 Nov. 1497, during his pioneer voyage from Europe to India. He named the bay after Saint Helena, a devout, influential Christian and mother of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. It was on the shores of this bay that the first encounter between a European explorer and the indigenous Khoikhoi (nomadic herders of sheep and cattle) took place.

The Cultural Heritage Centre / Saldanha

Old photographs, artefacts and documents will provide great insight into the town and its multi layered history. The highlight is the curator Linda and her stories. She brings the past to life with tales of family sagas and war stories, the local heroes and the apartheid era. She describes everyday living as a worker in the fishing factory, and revives the horror of shipwrecks and fishermen lost at sea.

The old fish house / Yzerfontein

The Fish House is the oldest building in Yzerfontein. Historically, the house was used for the storage of salt that was scraped from the nearby saltpans. It was also used to dry fish, known as "bokkoms". Today the Fish House is home to the Yzerfontein Tourism Bureau. The house has white-washed walls and a thatched roof. During the winter storms, waves sometimes skirt against the lawn in front of the building. At the Fish House, there are a number of unique historical photos of Yzerfontein.

Sandveld Museum / Lamberts Bay

Lamberts Bay is named after Admiral Lambert of the British Navy who did a marine survey of the bay between 1826 and 1840. The museum houses 15 different exhibits eg. “Old” Lambert’s Bay, HMS Sybille Gunboat which ran aground in 1901, Photograph collection, Fish industry and fishing community, Book & Bible collection, Archaeological display, Horsemill and Farm implements and Clothes and embroidery from bygone days.

Mussel Point /Elands Bay

Mike Taylor's Midden (MTM) has been declared a provincial heritage site. MTM is the only open site with remains from the early pottery period (3000 and 2000 years before present) in the Elands By and Lamberts Bay areas.

It is probably the largest among the 13 megamiddens known to exist along the West Coast of South Africa. Megamiddens show that the pre-colonial San hunter-gatherers found ways to address the unique social and economic, environmental and demographic challenges of their time. This is a unique heritage resource which needs to be protected and preserved.