Melkbosstrand

Melkbosstrand beach. Photo courtesy Gwendolen Tee

Melkbosstrand’s 7km-long stretch of white sand beckons visitors to slip off their sandals and enjoy a stress-relieving stroll.

Melkbosstrand (“milkwood beach” in Afrikaans) is the first village one encounters on a drive north from Cape Town along the Cape’s West Coast. Bathed by the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean, “Melkbos”, as it is better known by locals, is the ideal location for long, lazy walks along the beach or surfing at Corner, Tubewave and Derdesteen, spectacular sunsets, safe swimming, kitesurfing, crayfishing, boating, windsurfing and beautiful views of Robben Island and Table Mountain. 

Milkwood (Euphorbiaceae) trees grow on the dunes, where the sticky white milk they exude from their leaves has earned them their common name.

Melkbos is renowned for its seafood, which is served at a number of local restaurants. The area also boasts a number of golf courses, Ratanga Junction theme park, Grand West Casino, Canal Walk shopping centre and the seasonal wild flowers of the West Coast.

Durbanville winelands and the Boland mountains are in close proximity, and nature lovers have a choice of many rambles through the nearby Koeberg Nature Reserve, where scenery includes cliffs, sand dunes and beaches.

Melkbos is also famous for being one of the landing points for the South Africa-Far East and South Atlantic-West Africa submarine cable systems.

Thanks to easy access through the surf zone, the National Sea Rescue Institute has built premises on the beachfront here to store rescue boats and equipment.

In 1924 the Cape Lands Development Company pioneered development in Melkbosstrand, then known as Melkbosch Strand, with the building of a post office, café and a few houses, including a Cape Dutch homestead called Die Damhuis, which still stands today. More than 600 plots were eventually laid out, from which the town grew over the years.

Melkbosstrand is a favourite holiday destination for Swartland farmers who gather annually on January 2 to participate in a traditional beach festival.