
Saldanha Bay and the Langebaan Lagoon on South Africa’s West Coast was formed as few as 9,000 years ago when the Atlantic Ocean breached the barrier dunes along the coast. Langebaan Lagoon – 15km long, between 1 and 4km wide and up to 6m deep – is still marine in nature, not receiving any fresh water from inflowing rivers, and subject to the oceanic tides. The lagoon with its crystal clear water is renowned as a refuge for wading birds, many of which migrate here in our summer months – with more than 70,000 counted at times! – and a staggering array of marine life, and was proclaimed a marine nature reserve in 1973. It attained the status of a national park in 1985 and, following the incorporation of more land adjacent to the lagoon from 1987 onwards the name was changed from Langebaan National Park to West Coast National Park in 1988. In the same year the Park was given recognition as a wetland of international importance in terms of the Ramsar convention.
Today, the Park covers 400km² of which the lagoon accounts for 56km². Aside from the 30km of pristine Atlantic coastline (known as Sixteen Mile Beach) and a few offshore islands the rest is undulating sandy terrain broken by a few limestone and granite outcrops and covered by a rich variety of Fynbos vegetation communities and South Africa’s most extensive salt marshes. All this is inhabited by at least 54 land mammal species, over 300 bird species, more than 30 kinds of reptiles and 8 kinds of amphibians, not to mention the several hundred species of marine creatures. The Park is a stronghold for the Black Harrier (an endangered species) and African Oystercatcher and hosts the largest breeding colony of Kelp Gull in South Africa. Most of the Park’s preciously little 280mm average annual rainfall occurs in winter, when daytime temperatures average 19ºC. In summer, temperatures may soar above 40ºC but averages around 28ºC.
Angulate Tortoise
Southern Black Korhaan
Cape Spurfowl
White-backed Mousebird
Cape Spurfowl
Grey-winged Francolin
Black Harrier (photo by Joubert)
Ostrich pair
Sea Lavender (Limonium species)
White-throated Canary
Steppe, or Common, Buzzard
Steenbok
Female Yellow Canary
Black-shouldered Kite
Wattled Starling
Eland
Ostrich pair
Common Starlings
Steenbok
Bontebok
Ostrich male
A view of iconic Table Mountain all the way from the West Coast National Park
The Park’s focal point is the Geelbek Manor, a restored farmhouse in Cape Dutch style complete with its outbuildings that date back to 1860. The farm was settled much longer before then though and around the 1750’s was the northernmost point of Dutch influence under the Dutch East India Company’s occupation of the Cape of Good Hope, marked to this day by the VOC logo on a stone beacon erected by their representatives that can be seen at Geelbek. The homestead now houses a top-notch restaurant, while the stables have been converted into a dormitory and educational facility for visiting school groups. A replica of a set of fossilized footprints found in the area, dated to 117,000 years ago and dubbed “Eve’s footprints”, can be seen in the small information centre next to the restaurant (the original footprints are to be seen in the National Museum in Cape Town).
The VOC (Dutch East India Company) marker near Geelbek
Sunrise at Geelbek in the West Coast National Park
Geelbek Manor
The historic Geelbek Manor, now a restaurant
The historic Geelbek Manor, now a restaurant
Sunset at Geelbek in the West Coast National Park
Geelbek’s stables have been converted to dormitories and educational facilities
Replica of “Eve’s Footprints” in the information centre at Geelbek
Barn Owl
Barn Swallow
Bontebok
Cape Hare
Cape Spurfowl (photo by Joubert)
Cape Weaver (photo by Joubert)
Clicking Stream Frog
Eland
Marbled Leaf-toed Gecko
Marbled Leaf-toed Gecko
Sunrise over the plain at Geelbek
Mole Snake (photo by Joubert)
Pied Crows
Rock Kestrel
Rock Kestrel
Rock Martin
African Sacred Ibis
Speckled Pigeon
Spider webs
The two birdwatching hides at Geelbek is rated among the best in the country, and with good reason. At low tide the mud flats in front of the hides attract thousands of wading birds after invertebrate prey, and the walk ways leading to both allow a closer view of the community of plants and invertebrates in the extensive salt marshes.
The southern of the two hides at Geelbek
The northern of the two hides at Geelbek
Salt marsh in the West Coast National Park, dominated by Glasswort Samphire
Salt marsh in the West Coast National Park, dominated by Glasswort Samphire
Salt marsh in the West Coast National Park, dominated by Glasswort Samphire
Glasswort Samphire
African Oystercatcher
Kittlitz’s Plover
Lesser Flamingoes (photo by Joubert)
Shore Crab (photo by Joubert)
Greater Flamingo (photo by Joubert)
Sanderling
Kittlitz’s Plover
Common Whimbrel
The mud flats exposed at Geelbek on the low tide
Greater Flamingoes
Grey Plover
Kelp Gull
Greater Flamingoes
Cape Teal
Little Stint
Three-banded Plover
Female Southern Double-collared Sunbird
Flock of Ruddy Turnstones (photo by Joubert)
Congregation of hundreds of birds at Geelbek
Pied Avocets
Curlew Sandpipers
Egyptian Goose (photo by Joubert)
White-fronted Plover
Little Stint
Kittlitz’s Plover
Common Whimbrel
Little Egret
Greater Flamingo in flight
Greater Flamingo
Sanderling
Common Ringed Plover
Common Whimbrels
Common Greenshanks
Curlew Sandpiper
Wattled Starling
Kittlitz’s Plover
Greater Flamingoes
Pied Avocets
Common Ringed Plover
Grey Plover
Driving between the town of Langebaan and Geelbek visitors should not miss the turnoff to the Seeberg (Sea Mountain) viewpoint. From atop the massive granite boulder you can see almost every corner of the lagoon and most of the national park. In the little house built on the boulder – at one point actually inhabited – is a fascinating display on the history of the area.
Steenbok
Southern Black Korhaan
Karoo Scrub Robin
Seeberg viewpoint
The viewpoint and information room at Seeberg
The view from Seeberg towards Postberg on the opposite side of the Langebaan Lagoon
The view southwards from atop Seeberg
Rock Dassies (or Hyraxes)
Black Girdled Lizard
Common Starling (photo by Joubert)
Grey-winged Francolin
Steenbok
Below Seeberg, on the shores of the lagoon, is another bird-watching hide from where the multitude of waterbirds can be watched from close quarters.
Seeberg Hide looks like a ship at a distance
A portion of the view from the Seeberg Birdhide
Salt marsh in the West Coast National Park, dominated by Glasswort Samphire
Cape Fur Seal swimming in the Langebaan Lagoon
Curlew Sandpipers
Common Ringed Plovers
Caspian Tern
Kittlitz’s Plover
Immature Kittlitz’s Plover
White-fronted Plover
Medusa’s Head Euphorbia
Suspect this is a kind of Erica
White-throated Swallows
Seeberg seen from the hide of the same name
While there’s no shortage of salt water in the West Coast National Park, fresh water is a rare commodity. One of the few sources is the Abrahamskraal waterhole, where the excellent birdwatching hide allows visitors to see a whole different community of birds and animals.
The hide at Abrahamskraal waterhole in West Coast National Park
The Abrahamskraal waterhole in West Coast National Park
African Stonechat
African Swamphen
Black-winged Stilt
Cape Shoveler
Cape Teal
Common Greenshank
Eland
Kelp Gull (photo by Joubert)
Little Grebe
African Spoonbill
White-throated Swallow
Yellow-billed Ducks
Yellow-billed Duck
On the western shore of the lagoon is the beautiful beaches of Kraalbaai and Preekstoel, complete with white sand and yachts and houseboats bobbing on the crystal clear water.
Kraalbaai on the Langebaan Lagoon
The white beaches and clear water of the Langebaan Lagoon
The beach at Preekstoel
Preekstoel (Pulpit)
The beach at Preekstoel
a Hartlaub’s Gull in the crystal clear water of the Langebaan Lagoon
Cape Bulbul
Cape Bunting
Cape Robin-Chat
Karoo Prinia
Karoo Scrub Robin
Female Namaqua Sunbird
Tsaarsbank is a rocky beach on the Atlantic Ocean that faces out towards Vondeling Island, which is jam-packed with a colony of Cape Fur Seals and a myriad of seabirds – they even make themselves at home inside and on top of the abandoned buildings dating back to the times when whaling was a major industry in Saldanha.
Atlantic Ocean at Tsaarsbank
Vondeling Island teems with seals and seabirds
Crowned Cormorant
Ruddy Turnstone
Kelp Gulls facing the waves
Shells accumulating on the beach at Tsaarsbank
Seashells on the seashore
Shells accumulating on the beach at Tsaarsbank
Mussel shells and a dead crab that was deposited on the beach at Tsaarsbank
Crowned Cormorants
Young Cape Fur Seal on the beach at Tsaarsbank
African Oystercatcher
Unidentified shrub at West Coast National Park
African Oystercatcher
A seal skull on the beach at Tsaarsbank
A mummified seal carcass on the beach at Tsaarsbank
Immature Kelp Gull
Hartlaub’s Gull
White-necked Raven
Exposed sand dunes at the back of Tsaarsbank
Unfortunately for us, the Postberg section of the Park is only open to visitors in August and September at the peak of the spring flower season, so we will have to return then to explore that area beyond the glimpses we had from the road leading to Tsaarsbank.

Bontebok grazing in the Postberg section of the West Coast National Park
During our visit to the West Coast National Park in December ’22 we stayed in the Van Breda Cottage just behind the Geelbek Manor. The historic cottage sleeps six people in three bedrooms, with a bathroom, fully equipped kitchen and spacious lounge. The wide stoep has a built-in braai and a lovely view towards the lagoon. Other accommodation options available in the Park include the Abrahamskraal Cottage, situated among the fynbos to the south of Geelbek, Jo-Anne’s Beach House, located beautifully with a view of the lagoon on the narrow spit of land between the lagoon and the ocean in the west of the Park, and the 2-bed Steytler Cottage at the Geelbek Manor. Remember that DeWetsWild can assist you with bookings if you are planning a visit to the West Coast National Park – either in the Park itself or at the Port Owen Marina in nearby Velddrif. Visitors to the Park can enjoy various adventure activities provided by operators in the surrounding towns, enjoy hiking or mountain bike trails, diving and swimming in the lagoon or at the beaches, or sightseeing along the excellent tar and gravel road network. Picnic sites with braai (South African barbeque) facilities are available at Tsaarsbank and Preekstoel.
Van Breda Cottage in the West Coast National Park, December 2022
Van Breda Cottage in the West Coast National Park, December 2022
Abrahamskraal Cottage
Steytler Cottage
While the West Coast National Park has no shop and only the one restaurant at Geelbek, the holiday town of Langebaan just outside the northern entrance gate into the Park has all the amenities visitors might require. The West Coast National Park is easily accessible from Cape Town, less than an hours drive away along the R27 highway.

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