Cape Agulhas

Cape Agulhas

Cape Agulhas takes its name from the Portuguese word for "needle" after seafarers arrived on the shore and noticed that their compass pointed straight north with no deviation. It is renowned as the southernmost point in Africa and is officially where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. Offering a picturesque rocky landscape, there are numerous shipwrecks that have occured off the coast and attest to the stormy seas. Those who buy property here are guaranteed a blissful seaside life. One of the main attractions is the lighthouse, which is still in use today, despite the modern satellite navigation systems that ships now have in place. Pasella Spookdraai roete

Bredasdorp

Where Cape Agulhas is fast-becoming one of South Africa's premier tourist destinations,Bredasdorp is primarily an agricultural region and lies in a lush and fertile valley, producing mostly wool, wheat and dairy. The administrative centre of theOverberg, Bredasdorp is also home to the Heuningberg Nature Reserve, famous for its indigenous fynbos and lilies. With quite a close-knit community, theproperties for sale in the area are mostly farms and smallholdings.

Struisbaai

Struisbaai is a coastal village in theOverberg that boasts the longest stretch of white sand coastline in the Southern Hemisphere, extending an unbelievable 8km. The fishermen's cottages at Hotagterkliphave been declared national monuments and are often featured in the paintings of South African artists. The beautiful surrounding landscape and the ideal seaside lifestyle offered in these parts make Struisbaai, together with the neighbouring communities ofHotagterklip and Molshoop, a popular choice for holiday property investment along the coastline up to Cape Agulhas.

Overberg

Overberg Properties for Sale The various houses for sale in the Overberg generally display a quaint, authentic appeal, but with the area ever-increasing in popularity there are a number of more modern developments andcontemporary homes that have sprung up in recent times. Whether it's a quiet life by the sea that you're interested in or you're simply looking to buy a farm or smallholding in one of theWestern Cape's most beautiful areas, Realty1 Cape Agulhas is bound to have just the right property for you. The Realty 1 Cape Agulhas franchise currently consists of the Struisbaai and Bredasdorp offices. The first serves the Struisbaai, L'Agulhas and Suiderstrand areas, while the other serves the Bredasdorp, Arniston and Napier region. While property prices continue to rise with national trends, Overberg property investment offers excellent value for money, particularly in comparison to other popular areas in the Western Cape

Overberg Attractions

Agulhas National Park The Agulhas National Park offers visitors several nature trails, an environmental education centre and a world-class museum. Among the many other attractions in the park you’ll find the southern most tip of Africa, the famous Agulhas lighthouse and various interesting shipwrecks. Tourists also flock to this fascinating location to view the abundant fynbos of the area. De Hoop Nature Reserve This reserve is situated east of Bredasdorp and is about 34 000ha in size. The De Hoop Marine Protected Area is located next to the reserve and stretches around three nautical miles (5 km) out to sea. The reserve can be explored on four walking trails, an 11km circular drive, on mountain bikes or while snorkelling in the clear rock pools. Whale watching is one of the highlights at the reserve where 120 Southern Right Whales return to the coast annually to mate and calve. Shark Cage Diving Situated around 50 km from Struisbaai you’ll find Gansbaai. Thousands of adrenaline junkies flock to this fisherman’s village to come face to face with the Great White Shark. Shark diving is a major attraction in the Overberg and includes up close and personal encounters with sharks from the safety of a boat or while in a cage under water.

Local property trends

L’Agulhas, officially the southern-most tip of Africa, and Struisbaai, have long been popular holiday and retirement destinations, albeit at a price. Now, however, with the property market arguably at the bottom of a lengthy downward spiral, this pristine coastal area, characterized by endless white beaches, an abundance of water sports and a reputation as an excellent viewing point for southern right whales, offers outstanding brick-and-mortar affordability.

In fact, property prices are at their most affordable in 5 years, not only as a result of the market downturn but also because of the low interest rate, which has dropped from an all time high of 25,5% in 1998 to its current 8,5%. I don’t expect our current pricing lows to continue indefinitely, though. As the market cycle turns upward again – and indications from economists and the banks are that it’s already happening in other parts of the country – house price values here are also likely to start moving upwards again. Price growth should be further stimulated as a result of infrastructural improvements in the area, including the tarring of the road between Gansbaai and Elim, which according to Ward 5 councilor Derick Burger is anticipated to begin in January 2013. Our tourism appeal will be further enhanced should our beaches be granted Blue Flag status. Mr Burger is pressing the municipality to support this much-needed tourism lure by providing funding for the construction of public ablutions and safe parking as well as the maintenance of the beach going forward. In the event that this project is approved, that the lighthouse upgrade is completed and the planned cultural centre built at its entrance, we’re going to be able to offer people an extremely attractive holiday destination, which will surely fuel holiday home buying as well as attract new permanent residents to the area

The upgrading of our infrastructure should also translate to an extended holiday season, which will benefit existing local business. In order to improve our economy, we need to attract newcomers in addition to our regular holidaymakers, who, having watched the whales and visited the lighthouse, will nevertheless want to stay on to enjoy other offerings such as a world-class beach. At the moment, our economy peaks in the December holiday season, although it also benefits on a lesser scale from May to year-end, when visitors come to watch the whales mating, calving and cavorting in the warm southern Cape waters. The better our infrastructure and the more facilities we can offer, the more we can be sure of enticing visitors to stay longer and even buy their own properties. In so doing, our economy will improve, which will in turn encourage new business and much-needed job creation. This, coupled with our relatively low crime rate, our well-maintained roads and pavements, and our abundance of flora and fauna, will enhance our status as a holiday, birder and botanist paradise

About our whales...

Speaking of our whales, who are here until November / December before leaving for their summer home in the waters around the South Pole, did you know that the southern right whale was so named owing to its popularity among whalers? They referred to it as the “the right whale” to shoot or harpoon, owing to its slow swimming speed and propensity to drift on top of the waves when dead. Thankfully, the Southern right whaler, of which there are only about 3000 left in the world today, is now officially recognized as a protected species and not allowed to be hunted.

Something else about the Southern right whale when it’s not performing spectacular tricks such as breaching, lobtailing, logging, spouting and blowing, and spyhopping, it’s probably just underneath the water where it can spend lengthy periods unmoving. In case you’re wondering, breaching is when a whale leaps and even twirls around above the water. Lobtailing is the activity of swinging the tail out of the water and then slapping it loudly on the surface. Logging whales are those lying in the water with their heads and backs exposed but their tails hanging down; spouting or blowing is the process of blasting water out of the blowholes (nostrils) on top of their heads. Unlike other whale species, the Southern right has two, rather than one blowhole.

Lastly, whales which poke their heads out of the water, possibly to see what’s happening above, are said to be spyhopping. Southern right whales, which are considered to be adults at the age of ten, can live for a hundred years and grow to lengths of 16 metres or more. The males are about a metre shorter than the females, and newborn calves between 5 and 6 metres long. Mothers give birth “tail first” every one to three years, suckling their young for 12 months. Immediately after birthing, they nudge their calves up to the surface to take their first breaths. The following half an hour is spent teaching the newborn calf to swim. Like dolphins, whales communicate by means of sonar. Their clicking, grunting and whistling noises, which can be heard for miles under and above water, serve as a means of echolocation. They are also thought to communicate by breaching and by slamming their tails against the surface of the ocean, thereby producing a loud splashing sound (lobtailing). It is one of my greatest joys to watch these intelligent and stately giants of the sea frolicking just metres from the beach – we certainly live in one of the most beautiful places on earth!