Central beach, Plettenberg Bay – a stress-free zone on the south coast of Africa

Hey there beach lovers, today I want to show you around Central beach, which is the main hangout for family holiday makers in the top tourist town on the south coast of Africa, called Plettenberg Bay. Holiday time is busy exploding onto the beaches here in the seep south right now, and in a few days this beach will be packed with tourists for a few weeks. So get your ice-creams ready and take a walk with me along the edge of paradise by the sea.

Historically this beach used to be a whaling station, if we go back over a hundred years or so. There’s no sign of that today, except for the whales themselves, who still come here annually to give birth in our winters, July until October, more or less. Instead we now have the statuesque structure of the Beacon Island hotel, or time share resort. The seven floor building stands out on the skyline like a monument to tourism and fun in the sun.

This hotel is built on an odd little outcrop of rock at the sea shore, which is surrounded by sea sand, the Indian ocean and also the mouth of the Piesang river. In English that would translate as the Banana river. The vernacular here in South Africa is called Afrikaans, which is a hybrid version of Dutch, coming from the original European sailors who settled here in the Cape in the late seventeenth century.

The river flows down the valley and into the sea right here at Central beach and thus the town was built on its banks over time, since its early days as a whaling station. The Danish had some involvement in those early days of whaling, back when that was a popular industry over a hundred years ago. Thankfully those days are over.

Now a beautiful holiday time share resort takes pride of place on the little rocky island at Central beach. And up the hill from the beach lies the epic little tourist town of Plettenberg Bay. This is such an awesome holiday resort by the sea. You can even walk around barefoot, and topless for guys, right into the main road and the shops. No one worries too much, since you’re basically at the beach.

This is such a carefree mood and atmosphere, and the town has basically only one main road, which is less than a mile long – that’s it. It’s such a small town yet it is like a diamond, quality above quantity. All the amenities are available and there is a little industrial area up the hill on the main highway, where you can find motor mechanics workshops, etc if you need them, so you never really need to leave the little town too often.

And who would want to leave when you’re in paradise by the sea, with pleasant weather all year long? That said, the town is mushrooming like crazy over the past two years, as people relocate here to make this their home. It’s like the USA citizens fleeing the sinking ship and going to live in the Caribbean or Central America. Here people who can afford it are leaving the cities and the dry austere northern parts of the country to come and take shelter on the south coast of Africa.

And during the end of year school holidays those who can’t leave their city homes and careers also flock here to bask in the sun at Central beach for a few weeks. You can also hire a tour boat which launches from this beach, as does the NSRI sea rescue boat when there is a need out at sea sometimes. The boats carry visitors into the bay in order to observe the whales when they’re here in winter or to ferry tourists around the nearby Robberg peninsula to see the seal colony.

Surfers also catch the occasional little wave that breaks beside the Beacon island, where the time share resort is built. Besides that, the town is well maintained and is the home of millionaires from all over the world. Mostly it’s Dutch and German (and some British) expats who retire here, smart travelers who choose make the lifestyle choice of situating themselves in paradise where the climate is awesome and the exchange rate is highly favorable for them.

Today you can see how empty the beach is throughout the year during the off season period. Just wait until the holiday makers arrive though, as they are doing now. This beach will pack out, since it’s actually quite small. Their are much larger and longer stretches of white sandy beach on either side of Central, but this beach is the most popular among those with young families.

If you prefer a bit more space to yourself then you can always head to the flanking beaches to relax on the sand or swim while lifeguards keep an eye out for you, but if you want to be in the center of the social scene, then Central beach is the one for you. There are restaurants on the beach front as well as at the Beacon Isle hotel where you can go enjoy a decent meal at your leisure.

There’s no real night life or dance clubs as such, and it’s more a family resort to bring the kids. Or a place to come and enjoy the amazing outdoor nature experiences. In other words it’s really chilled and laid back, if you prefer that compared to the glitz of the cities. I personally highly recommend this particular town of Plettenberg Bay as a tourist destination and especially this Central beach, so be sure to add it to your travel itinerary when you’re next making a tour of the world’s best beach towns. You might even like it so much that you move in and join the other expats who have made this little part of paradise into their home.

(photos my own)

Disclosure: Posts on TravelFeed may contain affiliate links. See affiliate disclosure.