Catch your Breath in Kalk Bay

Kalk Bay is one of those places where you can finally catch your breath ...

Kalk Bay

This won­der­ful his­toric har­bour vil­lage, en route to Cape Point, has everything you could pos­sibly want from a day out by the sea. Well, everything except warm water. Which is just as well, because you might be less inclined to explore all those amaz­ing antique, art and bric-a-brac shops, out­stand­ing res­taur­ants, ice cream par­lours and funky bars that line its main thor­ough­fare. By far the best way to arrive is by train, a most exquis­ite jour­ney from Muizenberg (park at the Olive Station), tak­ing in breath­tak­ing views of the wind­ing coast­line, while all the while keep­ing an eye out for passing whales.

Turn right out­side the sta­tion and imme­di­ately right again through a short under­pass, and you will soon arrive at The Brass Bell, a fam­ous pub and res­taur­ant beau­ti­fully loc­ated out to sea, an abso­lute must for any vis­itor to Kalk Bay. Few tra­di­tional pub-like atmo­spheres can boast an excel­lent view of frol­ick­ing seals, or indeed, give the impres­sion that your fish 'n chips might get dragged out of the sea at any moment. The kids will love it. Outside, there is a little craft stall, selling a fine selec­tion of mar­vel­lously invent­ive can­dle­stick hold­ers, jew­ellery and sculp­tures made from shells and drift­wood; I bought a chunky brace­let made from twis­ted strands of cop­per and a ring made from an old sil­ver t-spoon.

Kalk Bay

Immediately oppos­ite the sta­tion is bric ’a’ brac heaven – antique jew­ellery, books, china-ware, thimbles, lace – you name it, there’s many a good hour to be had pot­ter­ing about the vari­ous shops, and alley­ways that line the Main Road. Keep an eye out for the majestic Kalk Bay Theatre, a 78-seater theatre/restaurant, which plays host to, amongst many other things, Theatresports — South Africa’s longest run­ning and best known impro­visa­tion show (Tuesdays), where two teams of act­ors com­pete against one another in a series of hil­ari­ous impro­vised games, judged by the audience.

Take a stroll around the har­bour, with its pic­tur­esque light­house and flo­tilla of brightly painted wooden boats. The fish­er­men off­load their catch at about 1pm – when you can buy your sup­per straight from the boat. My favour­ite water­ing hole, and some­where for which I would gladly go out of my way, is Cape to Cuba, a highly evoc­at­ive homage to Latin tem­pera­ment, every dis­tressed inch drip­ping with melted wax and revolu­tion­ary chic. Take a good look round. This is as much a bar and res­taur­ant as it is an extraordin­ary work of art (Salvador Dali meets ‘The Godfather’), with unsur­passed views of the har­bour and the dis­tant Holland Mountains to boot. Choose your favour­ite from their great cock­tail menu. Mine’s a Mojito, one of the best I've ever tasted!

Related Pages:
Kalk Bay Accommodation
Kalk Bay Attractions
Kalk Bay Photographs
The False Bay Coastal Suburbs