The West Coast and Langebaan

A Sixteen Kilometre Turquoise Lagoon That Looks Tropical And Is Fed By The Cold Atlantic, Protected As The West Coast National Park, With Wading Birds In Tens Of Thousands, The Postberg Flower Reserve Open Only In Spring, World Class Kitesurfing On The Shallow Water And Fishing Villages Along The Coast That Still Smoke Snoek In The Open · Langebaan, Western Cape

An hour and a half north of Cape Town the Atlantic cuts inland into a sixteen-kilometre lagoon that is an improbable turquoise, shallow, and - because it is fed by the cold Benguela current rather than by a river - clear. Langebaan sits on it, the West Coast National Park protects most of it, and the combination of shallow flat water and reliable wind has made it one of the better kitesurfing places in the world. The park holds wading birds in tens of thousands on the mudflats, and the Postberg section, which is closed for most of the year, opens in spring for a flower display that people drive from Cape Town for. North of the lagoon the West Coast proper is fishing villages where snoek is still smoked in the open, crayfish is the local meal and the architecture is whitewashed and low. It is malaria-free, windy almost always, and the easiest wild coast to reach from Cape Town, and the easiest to underestimate.

On the Langebaan lagoon 120 km north of Cape Town, with the West Coast National Park and Postberg around it, Langebaan, Western Cape, South Africa

The West Coast National Park keeps daylight hours with a SANParks conservation fee, and POSTBERG IS OPEN ONLY IN SPRING - roughly August to September, for the flowers, and closed the rest of the year, which catches visitors out constantly. The flowers depend on winter rain as Namaqualand's do and open to the sun, so a cloudy day shows little. Langebaan town, the lagoon beaches and the kitesurfing launches are open ground at any hour. The bird hides in the park are self-guided. Kitesurfing schools and board hire run through the windy season and book ahead in summer. The fishing villages north - Paternoster, St Helena Bay - keep their own hours and the restaurants book out at weekends. The park gate closes before dusk. It is an hour and a half from Cape Town on the R27 and is MALARIA-FREE.

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