Yzerfontein, or Ysterfontein, is a small harbour town with about 1200 inhabitants on the west coast of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

about 90 km north of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

. The name in

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans g ...

means "Iron Fountain".The town started out when the farm 'Yzerfontein' was bought by th
Katz-family
in the 1930s. Then they started dividing the farm into plots. The main sources of income are tourism (especially during the wildflower season from August to October), mining and fishing. Yzerfontein is known for its Sixteen Mile Beach, stretching north from the main beach of the town, to the

West Coast National Park The West Coast National Park lies north of Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The park is found inside of the Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve, part of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme. It is bordered by the At ...

, which borders the town.

Dassen Island Dassen Island is an uninhabited South African island in the Atlantic Ocean. It is situated about west of Yzerfontein and north of Cape Town. The flat and low-lying island measures about long northwest-southeast and wide, with an area of . It ...

, another nature reserve, is about 10 km offshore. Yzerfontein is the landing point for the ACE and WACS

submarine communications cable A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables laid beginning in the 1850s carried te ...

s. Outside of the town is the Darling Wind Farm. This is producing power and there are plans for expansion. The Yzerfontein salt pan is a coastal salt pan, just northeast of the town. It was formerly mined for salt, and is currently mined for

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and dr ...

. These days Yzerfontein is more modern. It has a new

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...

, coffee shop, pharmacy and many restaurants. Its harbour is busy when it is kreef season or snoek season.

References

External links

Information site for Yzerfontein
{{Authority control Populated places in the Swartland Local Municipality Populated places established in 1937