St Francis Bay () is a holiday town in

Sarah Baartman District Municipality The Sarah Baartman District Municipality (; ), formerly the Cacadu District Municipality, is situated in the western part of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, covering an area of 58,242 square kilometres. The area of the district municip ...

in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, roughly one hour’s drive from

Gqeberha Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipa ...

History

Early History

The town's earliest European history of the area can be traced back to 1488 when

Bartolomeu Dias Bartolomeu Dias ( – 29 May 1500) was a Portuguese mariner and explorer. In 1488, he became the first European navigator to round the Cape Agulhas, southern tip of Africa and to demonstrate that the most effective southward route for ships lies ...

named the bay ''Golfo dos Pastores'', although the bay was also known as ''Golfo dos Vaqueiros''. The town's current name is derived from the Portuguese ''Bahia de Sâo Francisco'' given in 1575 by Manuel Perestrelo to what is today St Francis Bay and

Jeffreys Bay Jeffreys Bay (, nicknamed J-bay) is a town of 27,107 inhabitants as of the 2011 census in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Kouga municipality and is famous amongst surfers as a surf capital due to the right-han ...

Recent History

On 11 November 2012 a

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

destroyed 76 homes in St Francis Bay, almost all of them

thatched roof Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

ed.

Architecture

The building style of the village section of St Francis Bay includes white painted houses with black roofs (mostly thatch) on the canals or around the golf course, or a Mediterranean building style in Santareme and Port St Francis. The

Kromme River Krom River or Kromme River () is a river in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. The river flows into the Indian Ocean through an estuary on the north side of St Francis Bay, west of Port Elizabeth. The Krom river flows in an ESE directio ...

is navigable for 14 km upstream, and is linked to the St Francis canal system.

Tourism

Whales can be spotted in the Bay from May to late October and dolphins can be seen daily on their way back and forth between the bays of Cape St Francis and

Jeffrey’s Bay Jeffreys Bay (, nicknamed J-bay) is a town of 27,107 inhabitants as of the 2011 census in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Kouga Local Municipality, Kouga municipality and is famous amongst surfers as a surf cap ...

. The

Cape clawless otter The African clawless otter (''Aonyx capensis''), also known as the Cape clawless otter or groot otter, is the second-largest freshwater otter species. It inhabits permanent water bodies in savannah and lowland forest areas through most of sub-Sa ...

is ever present, frolicking in the waves and rock pools around Port St Francis and at Otters Landing. Bird life is abundant with over 200 species recorded in the area including the rare

African oystercatcher The African oystercatcher or African black oystercatcher (''Haematopus moquini'') is a large charismatic wader resident to the mainland coasts and offshore islands of southern Africa. This oystercatcher has a population of over 6,000 adults, whi ...

and

fish eagle A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ern, mostly in reference to the white-tailed eagle) is any of the birds of prey in the subfamily Haliaeetinae of the bird of prey family Accipitridae. Ten extant species exist, currently described w ...

. Port St Francis includes a commercial and recreational harbour, built to host the squid industry freezing vessels, as well as a small harbour resort village. It lies in a sheltered nook of the bay and provides safe anchorage for the boats, pleasure craft, and oceangoing yachts. St Francis Field is an airpark close to the Port that caters for those who wish to fly in. Cape St Francis, a rustic fishing village, sits adjacent to St Francis Bay and is popular for surfing at Seal Point, its beautiful stretch of beach and the historic lighthouse, built in 1878. Walking trails winding along the rocky coast, through the Irma Booysen Floral Reserve, and along the Cape St Francis point, links it to the village of St Francis Bay. Cape St Francis is 8 km from Thyspunt, which was a preferred site for South Africa's next nuclear power station. A township known as Sea Visa is where most of the black Africans and coloured people live.

Climate

References

External links

*
Residents Association

St Francis Bay

St Francis Bay Webcam
Populated places in the Kouga Local Municipality Populated coastal places in South Africa Surfing locations in South Africa {{EasternCape-geo-stub