LANGEBAAN

A panoramic view of Langebaan – taken from Postberg Nature Reserve

Before we get to the fun things to do in Langebaan – here is a bit of history on the town itself:

Langebaan, known as the jewel of the West Coast, is just over 120km from Cape Town and is situated next to the beautiful Langebaan Lagoon.

The Langebaan lagoon is a large salt water lagoon – no river runs into it and this is one of only three lagoons world-wide not fed by fresh water

The town is fortunate to enjoy almost year-round sunshine – the winters are never very cold and summer has long sunny days. The southeasterly wind in summer months make Langebaan a popular and world-class town for especially windsurfing and kite-surfing.

Even though the town of Langebaan officially existed for just over 100 years, humans inhabited this area for much longer (consisting of farmers and fishermen)

History told us that the town originated on a farm called De Stompe Hoek that was first called Geytenbergsfontein.

LANGEBAAN – THE NAME?

There are various interpretations as to how Langebaan got its name. The most popular explanation is that the Dutch seafarers who entered the lagoon to repair and clean their ships, named it after the long strip of calm water formed by the lagoon.

The long white beaches of Langebaan
Cargo vessels entering the bay of Saldanha, with the lagoon off to the left

Schaapen Island, close to the beach of Langebaan, was used as a stop-over to do repairs to ships. It was also used as a place of grazing for sheep that were returned to Cape Town by the VOC (The Dutch East India Company) … this makes Langebaan one of the oldest towns in South Africa with a history dating back to more than 400 years.

Today, Langebaan is a popular weekend and holiday destination (and for us, a hometown 😄). It is a place where you can enjoy the sun, sea and surf and it offers a wide variety of fun stuff to do …

The beaches with its soft and pure white sand are just perfect for all sorts of entertainment

Shark Bay, on the edge of Langebaan, has a stunning beach and is in close proximity to the West Coast National Park. The name (Shark Bay) is quite scary, but don’t worry – it comes from its numerous and harmless sand-sharks (and not the greater and whiter variety 😉). The shallow blue water makes this the perfect beach to fish and kite-surf.

The turquoise water of Shark Bay
Sunset at Shark Bay
Secluded beach at Shark Bay

In spring time, Langebaan changes into a colourful carpet of flowers. It is absolutely worth it to visit Langebaan in August and September to view this beautiful site. You can also see a previous post (POSTBERG NATURE RESERVE) when we’ve visited this area during spring time.

Wild spring flowers at Shark Bay

To take long walks on the beach alongside the lagoon, is one of our favourite things to do here in Langebaan. Whether it is early in the morning or late in the afternoon, it is an absolute tranquil time and there are few things better to do, than this!

Take a stroll on the beach at Langebaan lagoon

So, without further ado, herewith our list of:

10 Fun things to do in Langebaan:

  • Kayaking on the Langebaan lagoon
  • Wind- and kite surfing
  • Fishing
  • Swimming & yachting – Langebaan beach & lagoon
  • Visit the West Coast National Park (and the Postberg Nature Reserve in August and September)
  • Visit Club Mykonos Casino – beautiful accommodation and abundance entertainment
  • Dining at the many restaurants in Langebaan
  • Shopping – the Laguna Mall is a favourite place to visit and you will find many small curio shops close to the lagoon, as well as coffee- and other speciality shops
  • Take a few road trips to neighbouring towns (within 15-60km) – like Paternoster, Jacobsbaai, Saldanha Bay, Yzerfontein & Darling … and a few camping spots (and other surprises)
  • And lastly … get back to some exercise … like playing golf. The golf course was created by the famous South African golf legend, Gary Player. There is also a fun Mashie golf course for families

Over the next couple of posts, we will tell you more (with plenty of photo’s) about these activities.

Sunset over the Langebaan lagoon