Cape Town Beaches : Kommetjie & Noordhoek

Описание: Kommetjie (Afrikaans for "small basin", approximately pronounced cawma-key) is a suburb of Cape Town, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It lies about halfway down the west coast of the Cape Peninsula, at the southern end of the long wide beach that runs northwards towards Chapman's Peak and Noordhoek.

The village is situated around a small, natural and rocky inlet that resembles a basin. There is some evidence that this basin was used as a fish trap by prehistoric peoples. The area is a popular spot for surfing, since powerful waves from the Atlantic Ocean rise up over rocky reefs formed by hard sandstones of the Table Mountain Group. Wherever the bottom is rocky, the shallower waters are thick with giant kelp forests.
Kommetjie is famous for its excellent crayfishing despite recent changes in fishing quotas which have seen a drastic reduction in the daily catch allowed.

Noordhoek is located below Chapman's Peak on the west coast of the Cape Peninsula, approximately thirty-five kilometres to the south of the city itself. The name "Noordhoek" was taken from Dutch and literally means "north corner". It is best known for its picturesque shoreline and its long, wide, sandy beach, which stretches south to the neighbouring village of Kommetjie. Near the southern end of this beach is the wreck of the steamship "Kakapo", which ran aground about a century ago when the captain mistook Chapmans' Peak for the Cape of Good Hope and put the helm over to port.

It can be accessed either from the spectacular scenic coastal road, Chapman's Peak Drive, which leads out of Hout Bay or via the mountain road Ou Kaapse Weg which cuts through the beautiful Silvermine Nature reserve - now part of the Table Mountain National Park. Noordhoek is a small scattered community of nice houses, often with sea views and has a large horse population as riding on the long sandy beach is a great attraction. Many artists live in Noordhoek.