Stay, Taste and Explore Gordon's Bay

Gordon’s Bay offers sunny, white sandy beaches lined with quaint seaside restaurants or shady milkwood trees. It has an authentic, relaxing South African atmosphere and the most spectacular sunsets! Our beachfront has some charming shops, the most famous of which is Bikini Beach Books – a maze of an extraordinary selection of books – a heaven from book lovers and the ice- cream shop is always a favourite! To book your seaside accommodation simply click HERE.

There is a wide variety of reasonably-priced restaurants with fare ranging from South African to Mediterranean, even Indian, and superb seafood restaurants. Breakfast menus are diverse, generous and well-priced. Ooskus and Trawlers Fish ‘n Chips shops are excellent and enjoyed also by Muslim visitors. Tea and coffee shops are popular with locals and visitors and there is a friendly atmosphere in the village so when visiting Gordon’s Bay, you can feel free in your most comfortable wardrobe.

Things to do in and around Gordon’s Bay:
There is a wide variety of activities which range from the delightfully lazy to the interesting and beautiful to the adventurous and thrilling. Some are in Gordon’s Bay and many are a drive away, so it is recommended that you have your own transport and local car hire companies, transfer services, the local shuttle service and Uber can assist.

Clarence Drive from Gordon’s Bay to Gansbaai

Clarence Drive (R44), the Whale Route, voted as one of the most beautiful drives in the world, should be an obligatory drive for all visitors to Gordon’s Bay. Grey rocky crags on the mountains mountains tower above and below the white waves crash against rocks as the magnificent blue sea stretches to the horizon

Stop occasionally at the Whale Look –Out Points and take photos or, from July to November, look out for whales.
Pass the Steenbras River Walk (Crystal Pools ) – more about that later – Dappat se Gat, apparently a fugitive’s hideout, now a pretty little beach -great for a picnic (not swimming), Kogelberg Beach where you can enjoy a walk on the wild beach or a hike just across the road, the villages of Rooi Els, Pringle Bay then an distance of bleak beauty the then Betty’s Bay where you can see wild penguins at Stony Point and the excellent Harold Porter Botanical Gardens.

The shops enroute are also great for buying art and souvenirs. The village of Kleinmond has a delightful restored shopping/restaurant precinct. Note: Don’t speed through the villages – traps! Apparently, there are wild horses on the beaches near Kleinmond.
For golfers Kleinmond boasts an excellent 9-hole golf course.
A little further along the Whale route is the famous Arabella Golf Estate. Further, at the intersection, you can turn right to Hermanus and on to Gansbaai where there is shark cage diving and whale viewing cruises or left and return via Sir Lowry’s Pass to Gordon’s Bay, although the route just travelled is so spectacular, it is worth turning around and seeing it from the other direction, perhaps with the setting sun as a background.

Just as you return into the village via the Whale route see a “Cape Town Water Works” sign at the first road on the right and follow this spectacular road through the Cape Fynbos (indigenous vegetation) to the entrance of the Steenbras Dam where there is the fabulous False Bay Lookout Point. See the Lions International donation of a granite ‘direction finder’ for your interest. This is particularly spectacular at sunset or at night when you can see the lights of the villages across False Bay, and even as far as the lighthouse on Robben Island!
Hiking in Gordon’s Bay. You can enjoy wonderful walks in Gordons Bay – naturally along the beach, all the way from Bikini Beach cul de sac to Harbor island if you wish (not past the dunes at night), the Monica Miles Whale Walk from Faure Road to the Whale Look-Out Point.
There is also a River Walk through Gordon’s Bay village walking east from the road behind the Spar. The Danie Miller Hiking Trail winds along the mountain behind the last row of houses in Suikerbossie Road. It is recommended that you drive to either end of the starting points and walk along the trail a while and walk back to your car. On the Suikerbossie side the first 20m is not so attractive – don’t let this put you off. The gentle walk along the path in amongst the natural fauna is quite spiritual. Rotary International has pinned name plaques on rocks and trees for interest. Perhaps take a seat and ponder the ants, birds, flowers clouds and magnificent ocean views – wonderful for the soul! Each week there is a different colour of flowers on display, especially magnificent in spring. If you are particularly energetic you may like to walk up to the painted GB sign on the mountainside.

Wining and dining in the area of Gordon’s Bay:

The area boasts some exceptional wine farms:

Lourensford with its South African Art Gallery, spa and night markets;
Morgenster also with olive groves;
Waterkloof and Idiom with their exceptional modern architecture and restaurants;
Journeys End where you can enjoy horse-riding through vineyards; and the historic Vergelegen, the oldest wine homestead in the region, boasting a fine restaurant, magnificent gardens and camphor trees so large and old they have been proclaimed a national heritage.