Visiting West Coast National Park, South Africa? This Guide Has Everything You Need!
A place rich with crystal clear waters, eland, wetlands, and white sand beaches; West Coast National Park South Africa, is one of the most mesmerizing places in the country that radiates color and vibrancy during the spring season.
This national park is known for its amazing diversity and extremely rich bird population, and in fact, the marine life is so versatile given the vibrant coastal wetlands. So, if you want to know more about this diverse place, let’s get into details!
The park is located only a hundred kilometers northwest of Cape Town and stretches from multiple villages.
For instance, it stretches from Yzerfontein, a seaside village, to Langebaan, which is in the south.
In addition, it’s in the east of Hopefield and west of the Atlantic Ocean. In simpler words, what’s not perfect about this location?
Click on the picture below to see a link on Google maps to West Coast National Park.
West Coast National Park
The Best Places To Visit
Kraalbaai
If you are a water person, this is the dreamiest place for you to visit.
It has turquoise water stretches and has a section of Langebaan Lagoon, which is perfect for fishing, kayaking, waterskiing, kitesurfing, boating, and SUPing.
In fact, you will love taking a dip and swimming in the clear waters.
Take a look at the following breathtaking video as well of Langebaan Lagoon:
On the other hand, you can just enjoy the white sand beach for sunbathing and don’t forget to take a stroll along the jetty when the sun starts going down.
Last but not least, you can always pack some lunch because Kraalbaai is perfect for lazy beach picnics.
Postberg
Ranging from game-viewing to flower-viewing, there is something for everyone because the place hosts the annual spring flower exhibition.
The entire place blooms into Sporries and Daisies, and we haven’t seen anyone who doesn’t like the vibrancy of these flowers.
Postberg has an exceptional flower section, but you’ve to visit early in the morning (weekends would be better).
In addition, you can enjoy a little picnic amidst the gorgeous blooms.
Preekstoel
It wouldn’t be wrong to call this place heaven on earth because it’s a secret beach that has the most mesmerizing and secluded beach patches, along with aquamarine waters and breathtaking rock formations.
Honestly, there is no place more pristine than this, and you won’t be able to hold yourself from dipping your toes in the exquisite waters.
In addition, you can enjoy sunbathing or just enjoy the rugged cliffs.
Tsaarsbank
This might be called a rougher side of West Coast National Park, but nothing beats the crashing and mirror-like water waves coming from the Atlantic Ocean.
There are stunning beach stretches, and you can even collect some seashells.
In addition, it’s one the best places to enjoy a “lekker braai”, but you will have to stand in the queue (or you could wait for your turn while enjoying a little family picnic).
Topping it all, if you visit during August and September, you might be able to see some southern right whales.
Just Enjoy The Wildlife
When it comes down to the West Coast National Park, South Africa, it’s home to around 250 unique bird species, mammals, and reptiles.
In addition, there are seasons for whales, and you will actually fall in love with the diverse fauna of this place.
It would be quite easy to spot some zebras, gemsbok, scary cobras, bontebok, and tortoise.
Drifting In Houseboats
If you’ve always wanted to hang out at an extravagant houseboat, you can do it while being in West Coast National Park.
There is a Kraalbai Houseboat where the houseboats are permanently anchored, and you can swim around the lagoon and braais.
In addition, you will have a clear view of the park. As far as the houseboat is concerned, they have full-range kitchens with an oven, fridge, and stove.
Also, the houseboats have fully-equipped bathrooms.
Langebaan Lagoon
Ranging from gigantic boulders to asphalt-hued cliffs and clear turquoise waters, Langebaan Lagoon is the dreamiest place out there, and you will surely enjoy the soft and sandy beaches.
There is an array of watersports available and braai facilities with stunning scenery.
As far as the activities are concerned, there is angling, kayaking, waterskiing, kitesurfing, swimming, boating, and snorkeling – yes, it’s all the water-related activities, but it will be absolutely worth it!
Eve’s Trail
If you’ve got the stamina to hike, Eve’s Trail is a 2.5-day hike, and you can enjoy the nature-loving surroundings.
The surroundings are breathtaking, and when you are tired and hungry, you can stop down at the Duinepose chalets to have some food.
On the other hand, if this hike is too long for you, you can opt for Steenbok and Bakoor trails.
Have a look at another video below where this family hikes around Langebaan Lagoon.
Shipwreck Hike
If you have a knack for adventure and wanderlust, we are sure you’d love to see the shipwrecks.
So, pack the bags to go beyond Tsaarsbank, and you will be able to check out the remains of a Croatian carrier, which was once 74,000 tons but was wrecked at this location back in 1978.
The Best Time To Visit
Truth be told, this is the West Coast which means the weather can be a bit unpredictable.
For instance, there are southerly wings during summers, but the winters bring some northerly winds, which can be extremely chilly.
During the summer season, the temperature ranges from 18-degrees Celsius to 28-degrees Celsius, while winters get 7-degrees Celsius to 15-degrees Celsius – to be honest, the summer season is quite amazing as the sea winds calm down the summer heat!
The Best Place To Stay
Houseboats : if you like to live around the lagoon waters, nothing will be better than living on the houseboats because they are fully equipped with the bathroom and kitchen stuff.
Abrahamskraal Cottage: this is a self-catering cottage around the waterhole with two single couches and four beds. The kitchen is fully equipped, and the living area has a fireplace, so you can snuggle up at night with some hot chocolate.
Steytler Cottage: again, this is a self-catering place with a double-bed room and a double sleeper couch installed in the living room. The kitchen has a fireplace, stove, and microwave, so you can cook your midnight snacks.
My Final Conclusion.
So, are you ready to enjoy the pristine beauty of the West Coast National Park in South Africa?
I hope that I could learn everything you need to learn from this park, but if you have any extra questions, please feel free to ask them below or join me on my social media channels below or Facebook group 🙂
Who am I? Well, the least you can say is that I am quite crazy about Africa, its nature, its climate, its culture, and more.
As a young woman in my twenties, I had already traveled to several African countries by traveling along in an overlander on my own and mostly camping ( or glamping ) and just fell in love with the diversity of it all.
So much, so that at the age of 26, I went back to university to study biology, which, unfortunately, I couldn’t finish because of health reasons (yes, I got sick from a tropical disease, oh cynicism). But this did not stop my dream of traveling back to Africa several times, and I still do.
My dream was back then to leave Europe and go study animal behavior, especially the elephants (sure, that’s every girl’s dream haha), but I am also very much intrigued by hyenas and other “ugly African animals“.
So, I “kind of” have a little bit of a scientific approach to my articles, when I write about African birds, for example. And most of all: the passion.
But life goes on, you move from one side of the country to the other, you get sick again and top it off with lower back problems, and before you know it, you are over 50 hahaha!
Now, I still travel to Africa, but take it a bit “easier” than the good old camping days, and stay in comfortable, yet affordable accommodations, together with my husband Wouter.
These are some of the countries I have traveled to: Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Tunisia, and a little bit of Lesotho LOL .
While clearly not being African territory, but Spanish, I also visited Gran Canaria and Tenerife, and location-wise, I consider them “African”, because of their climate and nature, sue me :-p
The last trip I took was to South Africa in the year 2023, and it sure got the fevers for Africa back! From the Barberton mountains to the Drakensberg and the Southcoast, one month wasn’t enough at all to see the whole country, so we’ll be back! At ease and with a little bit more luxury than in my younger days haha!
4 thoughts on “Visiting West Coast National Park, South Africa? This Guide Has Everything You Need!”
Although I have visited South Africa on numerous occasions, I have never hear of the West Coast National Park, so this was a very pleasant surprise to come across. It looks absolutely amazing and with so many diverse places to visit, I will certainly bookmark this post and place it on my bucket list for my next visit to South Africa.
What is you recommendation as to the best place to stay to explore the West Coast National Park and surrounding areas? Would staying in a place like Langebaan be good? Do you have a minimum recommended time that one should stay in the area? Thank you for your ideas.
Visiting South Africa would be a dream vacation. I did not realize that South Africa afforded so many opportunities to enjoy such spendid ocean related activities. West Coasr National Park seems like a very special place indeed and well worth the investment. It seems that the temperature in the summer would be terrific because of the cool breezes and even in the winter the temperature is very nice. I t would be so nice to relax on the houseboat and just enjoy all the features of the park which are varied and diverse so that you could do a different activity each day. Thank you for opening up my eyes to such a fantastic place to visit!
Although I have visited South Africa on numerous occasions, I have never hear of the West Coast National Park, so this was a very pleasant surprise to come across. It looks absolutely amazing and with so many diverse places to visit, I will certainly bookmark this post and place it on my bucket list for my next visit to South Africa.
What is you recommendation as to the best place to stay to explore the West Coast National Park and surrounding areas? Would staying in a place like Langebaan be good? Do you have a minimum recommended time that one should stay in the area? Thank you for your ideas.
Hi Line!
Thank you for your positive comment and yes, this park sure is a revelation haha!
I have used the houseboats to stay in this national park for 4 days, it was a wonderful experience!
I will write reviews soon on all the places to stay, please bookmark my website for updates 😉
I wish you happy travels!
kind regards,
lizzy
Visiting South Africa would be a dream vacation. I did not realize that South Africa afforded so many opportunities to enjoy such spendid ocean related activities. West Coasr National Park seems like a very special place indeed and well worth the investment. It seems that the temperature in the summer would be terrific because of the cool breezes and even in the winter the temperature is very nice. I t would be so nice to relax on the houseboat and just enjoy all the features of the park which are varied and diverse so that you could do a different activity each day. Thank you for opening up my eyes to such a fantastic place to visit!
hey there!
Thank you so much for your compliments and positive comment and I wish you happy travels!
Kind regards,
Lizzy