The ideal holiday destination
Are you tired of the hustle and bustle, daily routine and the rat-race of city
life? Break away for a few days of peace and quietness, come to Vleesbaai
seaside village! Situated at the western end of the well known Garden Route,
with untouched nature- and sea surroundings and many kilometers of safe beach
for walking and/or jogging and a very safe beach for swimming. Vlees Bay is very
popular amongst fishermen and shell-collectors. If you stroll down the beach you
can see many heaps of shells, presumably left by the earlier inhabitants. Vis
Bay, situated between the estuary and Fransmanhoek, is a small bay close by. Vis
Bay's name was given to it by a crew of Dutch sailors that used to go fish there
frequently.
Fransmanshoek is a rock that juts out of the sea, towards the north of Vis
Bay. Fransmanshoek (Frenchman) got it's name from the wreck of the French ship,
the "La Fortune" that stranded there in 1763. According to legend the beach is
haunted because many of the sailors of the "La Fortune" that lost their lives,
were buried in sandy graves on the shore.
Vlees Bay was named in 1601 by a Dutch commander and the name originated from
the days when Portuguese and Dutch sailors traded goods with the local
inhabitants, most probably the "Khoihoi", for meat and cattle. "Vlees" or "Vleis"
is the Afrikaans / Dutch word for meat.
A fishing paradise for rock and surf fisherman and a well known 4x4 route
over the dunes. Our town faces northerly and easterly to the sea and therefore
we have lovely sun and moon rising scenes over the ocean. We have very moderate
weather and therefore a visit to Vleesbaai can be very pleasant throughout the
year. The very well known Southern Right Whales with their calves are regular
visitors to our bay from June/July to October/November each year and can be seen
from most of the houses with or without a pair of binoculars. Shoals of dolphins
are regularly hunting in the bay or surfing the waves for fun.
A shop in town stocks daily necessities, from bread and milk to petrol and is
within walking distance from all the houses. For the adventurer there are many
tourist attractions within a radius of 3 to 100km like Fransmanshoek, Stilbaai,
Reins Nature- and Game Reserve with Restaurant, The Poort Wine Cellars, Ostrich
and Crocodile farms, Knysna, George with world standard golf courses like
Fancourt and others, Aloe factories at Albertinia, Bungi-jumping on the Gourits
bridge and many more!
Vleesbaai is only a half-hour's drive from Mosselbay with a lot of tourist
attractions making a visit worth while. There are many restaurants (specially
for seafood), a Casino, a Golf Course where you can see the sea from every tee,
3 Museums, the famous Posttree, deep-sea fishing, lots of shopping centres and
much more to see and experience.
For offshore visitors to Vleesbaai and the Garden Route, the George Airport is
only a 45 minute drive away where you can rent a car and enjoy an unforgettable
holiday to the garden Route and the Southern Cape.