West Coast Travel Guide

South Africa's sunny West Coast offers a wealth of exciting sights, excursions, and activities to visitors, and is the ideal place for those who plan on renting a car and road tripping in the country. The destination encompasses a wide range of geographical regions, and its relatively compact size means that they can all be explored in a single holiday.

The spectacular Atlantic coastline offers excellent water sport opportunities at Blaauwberg and Langebaan, and tranquil seaside towns such as Paternoster, Saldanha Bay, and Yzerfontein, all of which are famous for their Mediterranean atmosphere and fresh seafood.

The Swartland, the wheat and wine-producing region of the West Coast, is home to the charming town of Darling. Further inland, the Cederberg is a nature-lovers paradise, a world-famous ecotourism destination replete with national parks and camping sites, rock-climbing adventures and hiking trails.

The West Coast is also known as Namaqualand, where every year in spring (September), the landscape is over-run by gorgeous wildflowers. The Namaqualand Daisies, as they are commonly known, were featured in BBC's series and are a deservedly world-famous tourist attraction.

Visitors from all over the globe gawk at the incredible fields of colour. Apart from this splendidly colourful annual display, the West Coast is largely arid, with little shade on offer. Luckily, the freezing cold ocean promises refreshment.