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Places to stay in around Camps Bay Camps Bay
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Camps Bay Information Guide
One of the most vibrant and popular suburbs in Cape Town, Camps Bay lies just beyond the four beaches of Clifton in an exceptionally beautiful setting amongst the Twelve Apostles and Lion’s Head, on the other side of Table Mountain. The beachfront of Camps Bay is a long stretch of white, palm tree-lined sand and along its length is a boulevard that forms part of a series of pavement cafes, bistros and restaurants specialising in Mediterranean fare that has earned Camps Bay its trendy and cosmopolitan character. It hums all day and in particular at night when Cape Town’s trendier set come out to play. Homes in Camps Bay fetch a few cool million with ease and staying in the much sought after suburb has become something of a practice for many visitors, who return again and again to soak up the sun and mingle with the pavement culture. |
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| Homes up in the reaches of Lion’s Head offer fantastic views over the Atlantic and the bay is relatively calm during the summer months offering protection from the wind and pleasant swimming conditions. The Table Mountain cableway is only minutes away from Camps Bay, over Kloof Nek, as is the city centre with bohemian Long Street, trendy Kloof Street and the many museums and galleries that make a good day’s trawling worthwhile. Otherwise Clifton’s four beaches offer some rare people-watching opportunities and the lawn overlooking 4th beach is a popular paragliding landing spot. The first residents of Camps Bay were the San (Hunter Gatherers) and the Goringqhaique, Khoi pastorates. When Jan van Riebeek established a refreshment station for the VOC (Dutch East India Company), the 12 Apostles were covered in forests with lion, leopard and antelope. In competition with the more recent settlers, the Gringqhaique lost their grazing lands on the south east slopes of Table Mountain and in 1657 were restricted to Camps Bay. By 1713 the number of Gringqhaique population had been reduced by measles and smallpox. All that was left of their settlement was an old kraal (Oudekraal). |
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Camps
Bay telephone code - 021 South Africa code +27
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Other useful InformationThe area was then granted to John Lodewyk Wernich and passed from father to son. Johan Wernich married Anna Koekemoer, who on his death in 1778, married Fredrick Ernst von Kamptz, a sailor and the area became known as “Die Baai van von Kamptz”. For most of the 1800’s Camps Bay was undeveloped. Lord Charles Somerset used the area for hunting and used the Roundhouse as his lodge. Kloof Road was built in 1848 and in 1884 Thomas Bain was commissioned to build a road from Sea Point to Camps Bay using convict labour.
The road was completed in 1887 and named Victoria road to honour Queen Victoria’s jubilee in 1888. The road allowed people to cycle out to Camps Bay which had gained popularity as a picnic site. This led to the development, in 1901 of a Tram service to bring people out for the day and with it the development of the tidal pools, the Rotunda (now the Bay Hotel) and a pavilion for concerts and shows. In 1913 Camps Bay was incorporated into Cape Town although it was still seen as a recreational area rather than a residential area.