Langebaan, Saldanha and Vredenburg

Located just over a hundred kilometers from Cape Town, is the Langebaan lagoon, one of the oldest and least discovered tourist destinations on the West Coast of South Africa. The area is rich in natural beauty and interesting places, from the industrial town of Saldanha, to hidden gems, like the hamlet of Church Haven at the southern end of the vast natural lagoon, the bustling holiday town of Langebaan and north to Saint Helena Bay and the fishing village of Veldrif at the mouth of the Berg River.

Langebaan

Langebaan has grown considerably over the few last years, and new developments such as holiday apartments and self catering establishments are constantly being added. There are many guest houses, hotels and a caravan park / camping site to choose from.

The popular holiday resort, the Greek Island themed Club Mykonos includes a casino. In and around Langebaan there are a good variety of restaurants, one of the more well known of these is the open air Strandloper Restaurant which offers a fish buffet with crayfish and mussels al fresco on the beach.

Saldanha

The harbour town of Saldanha lies to the north of Langebaan. In the seventies, the former fishing harbour was upgraded into one of the largest seaports in South Africa, to accommodate the export of iron ore which is brought in by rail from Sishen, hundreds of kilometres away in the arid northern Cape, on trains that are often well over a kilometre in length.

Other industrial plants in the area are the Saldanha Steel production plant which  was opened in the mid-nineties.

Vredenburg

The town of Vredenburg was built around a spring of fresh water (a scarce and precious resource in these parts), after a bitter dispute between two local farmers over ownership of the spring, the area became know as Twisfontein (Quarrel Fountain), then Prosesfontein (Lawsuit Fountain) - NB! a "fountain" is the Afrikaans term for "spring". It was only after a church and town were established on the site that the name Vredenburg (Town of Peace) was chosen.

Vredenburg is the major business centre of the region with most major chain stores, banks and restaurants represented.

Accommodation

The area has a huge variety of holiday accommodation options ranging from beachfront self catering homes, caravan park and camping sites to timeshare apartments, hotels, b&b, guest houses and the casino at Club Mykonos. For details we recommend the Langebaan Tourism website (see lower down on this page).

Some of the attractions are:

• Club Mykonos Resort and Casino
• Art galleries
• West Coast National Park
• Bowls
• Golf courses
• West Coast Fossil Park
• Wild flower viewing in spring

Useful Telephone numbers:

Langebaan Information
Tel: +27 22 772 1515
Fax: +27 22 772 1531
Email: lbninfo@mweb.co.za

Useful Websites:

Langebaan Tourism Board: www.langebaaninfo.com
West Coast Tourism: www.capewestcoast.org
Strandloper Restaurant: www.strandloper.com