Boating Destination: Stilbaai
Ever popular Stilbaai on the Garden Route offers visitors a multitude of activities whether it’s on land, at sea or on the river.
The little seaside village of Stilbaai or Still Bay lies just off the N2 between Mossel Bay and Riversdale on an estuary where the Goukou River meets the Indian Ocean. Essentially a retirement village and holiday resort, the town has grown in popularity, due mainly to her tranquil and inviting setting away from the madding crowd.
Stilbaai enjoys a pollution-free, safe and peaceful setting with long stretches of white sandy beach, a temperate climate and a river navigable for some 15 km. The town lies along and around the banks of the Goukou River, with a magnificent estuary and safe and beautiful beaches on either side of the river mouth. One of these, Lappiesbaai Beach, has been awarded Blue Flag status and is the only beach to claim this mark of distinction between Hermanus and Jeffrey’s Bay.
The village is therefore very attractive to visitors seeking safe bathing, angling, wind surfing, kite surfing, sailing, canoeing and other pleasures on the water. Stilbaai has a rich marine life in the river estuary and a remarkably large variety of bird life attracted to the abundance of indigenous fauna and flora – Stilbaai has no fewer than three Nature Reserves including Pauline Bohnen, Rein’s and Geelkrans and is on the flower route.
A highlight of a visit to Stilbaai is the Noordkapper Hiking trail which follows the coastline to Jongensfontein, one of the two villages (the other is Melkhoutfontein) just outside Stilbaai,home to the descendants of the original fishermen of the area still involved in fishing and the building industry today.
