• Province: Western Cape
• Garden Route
• Coordinates:34°03′S 23°22′E
• Area:39.7 km2
• Municipality: Bitou

Plettenberg Bay is a coastal town on the Garden Route of the Western Cape, about 520 km east of Cape Town along the N2. It lies between Keurbooms River and Robberg Peninsula, with the Tsitsikamma foothills inland. The town forms part of the Bitou municipal area and provides access to beaches, river estuaries, nature reserves and routes toward Knysna and Nature’s Valley.

History of Plettenberg Bay

There is evidence of human occupation dating back more than 100,000 years. Archaeological sites such as Nelson Bay Cave on the Robberg Peninsula and Matjies River Rock Shelter near Keurboomstrand show continuous use from the Middle Stone Age through the Later Stone Age. Stone tools, ornaments, and food remains associated with early hunter-gatherer communities have been found.

Bahia das Alagoas and shipwrecks

Portuguese explorers charted this area in the 15th and 16th centuries. When Bartholomew Dias found the sea route between Europe and Asia. He called what is now Plettenberg Bay “Bahia das Alagoas”, meaning “Bay of the Lagoons.” He named Robberg “Cabo Talhado”, meaning “Sharp Cape. Manuel da Perestrello arrived 90 years later and called it Bahia Formosa, meaning “Beautiful Bay”

The first Europeans in the area were shipwrecked sailors from the São Gonçalo, which sank on its way back from India. 100 sailors survived, and in Piesang Valley, they managed to build two boats using wood from the forests, with which they eventually managed to sail out. One of the boats reached Mozambique, while the other encountered a passing ship, the São Ignatius Loyola, which was on its way back to Portugal. Sadly, this ship did not reach Portugal because it wrecked in the Bay of Lisbon with much loss of life. They left a stone monument to the shipwreck on which was inscribed in Portuguese, “Here was lost the ship São Gonçalo in the year 1630”.

A stone marker left on Beacon Island by the survivors was later removed and is now housed in the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town.

The first Europeans to settle in the bay were stock farmers, hunters, and frontiersmen who travelled up from the Western Cape. The bay was given different names by Portuguese sailors, such as Baia de la Goa,  Angra das Alagoas (for the marshy lagoons), Baia São Catharina, and Baia Formosa. The Dutch also gave it various names, such as Content Bay,  Keurbooms Bay, and Pisang River Bay.

During the early 19th century, Plettenberg Bay functioned as an occasional anchorage and stopping place for ships, particularly during winter voyages along the coast. A woodcutter’s post was established in 1787 when Johann Jacob Jerling was commissioned by the Dutch East India Co. to build a timber storehouse. The first load was exported by De Meermin in August 1788. This building has been partially restored; it still stands today and has been made a National Monument.

Forestry

There were great forests in the area consisting of stinkwood, yellow wood, sneeze wood, ironwood, and other massive trees. Woodsmen would fell them manually and cut them into planks using hand saws.
The timber was transported by sea, with the logs being loaded aboard the ships by oxen. Logs were also transported to Cape Town by wagon.

Whaling

The Dutch East India Company started commercial whaling in South Africa at the start of the 18th Century and opened it up to investors. An English merchant, John Murray, started controlling the whaling industry in the area. Plettenberg Bay was one of six places identified nationally for whaling, and the industry flourished. In 1910, Captain Sinclair set up the whaling station on Beacon Island to harvest the placid Southern Right whales, but this operation ceased in 1916.

These whales would yield more oil and whalebone, which was an essential component of Victorian corsets. In the nineteenth century, a southern right whale would net around three times as much as a humpback whale. This led to a decline in the southern right population by the time whaling was halted.

Devastating fires

Because of the timber trade, Thomas Bain was commissioned to build Prince Alfred Pass and a 90 km road between Tsitsikamma and Humansdorp. The building was made easier by the Great Fire of 1869, which has gone down in the records as possibly the most devastating and terrifying event of the time. However, history was repeated in 2017, in what is now called the “Great Fire”; perfect weather conditions came together, creating a huge fire that swept through both Knysna and Plettenberg Bay in June of that year.

During the Apartheid era, Plettenberg Bay was predominantly a white area with informal settlements of Xhosa migrants around the edges of New Horizons and in the area of KwaNokuthula, which became a town. KwaNokuthula is home to a varied number of ethnic groups, and it is a Xhosa word meaning “place of peace”.

Joachim Ammema Baron van Plettenberg.

Van Plettenberg was born in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. He studied law at Utrecht and joined the service of the Dutch East India Company, which sent him to Batavia in 1764. In 1766, he was sent as an Independent Fiscal to the Cape, and he was promoted to Secunde and then to Governor in 1774. There was a war with the British during the time he was Governor, and reinforcements were sent from France. Van Plettenberg took great interest in exploring the colony, but there was some discontent about his administration, and an inquiry was held in Holland. He retired in 1785 and lived the rest of his days in Zwolle. He died in 1793.

The license plate prefix for Plettenberg Bay is CX, and the postcode is 6600

WEATHER IN PLETTENBERG BAY TODAY

Browse businesses and places to visit in Plettenberg Bay

 

Things to do and see in Plettenberg Bay

• Fountainshack trail
• Bloukrans pass
• The ship’s pot and anchor from the Jane can be seen on a farm near Keurbooms River. The ship’s bell, engraved with the name, was used by the church in  Piesang River
• Drive along Beachyhead Drive, discover one of the most scenic coastal roadways along the Garden Route.
• Plett ARTS Festival is held in June
• Urban Trail around Plett
• The Dutch Reformed Church at Wittedrif was built in 1843. There is a cannon from an unknown wreck on the property
• Some large iron cauldrons from the whaling industry can be seen on Beacon Island.
• Artefacts from the shipwrecked crew of the São Goncalo are kept in the municipal offices
• Stanley Island Wine and Olive Festival is usually held at Easter time, 073 201 8699. Take a scenic ferry ride across the Keurbooms Lagoon or cruise over in your own boat to this exclusive island venue.

For permits, fishing rules, shell collecting regulations and other practical outdoor information relevant to Plettenberg Bay see the Colourdots coastal and nature use guide

 

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Useful Numbers in Plettenberg Bay

 

Emergency Services

• Police: 044 501 1900
• Traffic department:044 501 3240 / 3251
• Fire: 0445013230 / 044 533 5000
• Ambulance: 10177
• Medical

• Closest hospital; Mediclinic -044 501 5100
• Community Health Centre-044 501 3700
• Pharmacy; Robberg Pharmacy-044 501 4630

Municipal & Utilities

• Municipality – 044 501 3174/5
• Water:044 501 3122
• Electricity:044 501 3000

Transport & Roads

• Traffic department:044 501 3240 / 3251

Community & Safety

• NSRI: 082 990 5975
• SPCA: PAWS Plett Animal Welfare Service-083 287

Local Contacts and Community Resources in xxx

• Home affairs: 081 070 0020
• Post office;044 533 1260
• Library:044 501 3128
• Local Newspaper Knysna Plett Herald 044 382 1185
• Tourism Plettenberg Bay 044 533 0965 

Schools in Plettenberg Bay

Plettenberg Bay Primary School-044 533 2126

Greenwood Bay College-044 533 2549
Formosa Primary School-044 533 1621
Bahia Formosa Primary School-044 533 1498
Plett Pre Primary School-044 533 2542
Plettenbergbaai Secondary School-044 533 0472
GBC Primary and High School-044 533 2549
Raphaeli Waldorf School-044 533 6157
Plettenberg Bay Christian School-044 533 2394
Phakamisani Primary School-044 533 3029
Murray High School-044 533 3193
Die Sterreweg-044 533 2639
Wittedrift High School-044 535 9731
Kwanokuthula Primary-044 533 1626
Kranshoek Primary School- 044 533 9357
Harkerville Ek Primary School-044 535 7703

Municipal facilities in Plettenberg Bay

• Piesang Community Town Hall: 044 501 3360 /078 144 0029
• New Horizon Community Hall:044 501 3000/0788201724
• Bicycle Shelter Community Hall:044 501 3000/078 646 2030
• Green Valley Community Hall:044 501 3452
• Kranshoek community hall:044 501 3314/078 164 6732
• Kranshoek sports field: 044 501 3314
• Plettenberg Bay rugby field:044 501 3328/081 436 6213
• New Horizon Sport field:044 501 3000/084 405 2005