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Access to Oyster Bay is through farmlands and over dirt roads.
On reaching this destination, it will be a delight to those who are looking
for a coastal vacation that offers very little of today's modern trappings,
except for an abundance of elemental lifestyle. The Oyster Bay
area is renowned for its excellent rock, surf and deep sea fishing. Safe
bathing in the sea requires earnest discretion
Oyster Bay is situated on a natural, coastal reserve between Cape
St Francis and Eersterivier ( the start of the Tsitsikamma
coast in the Eastern Cape and serves as a "must" destination
for nature lovers. Many people use Oyster Bay as either their starting
or finishing point when travelling or visiting the Garden Route.
The reserve incorporates magnificent dunes, beaches, lagoons, wetlands,
river deltas and woods.
Nearby attractions in this malaria free area include the Tsitsikamma
Nature Reserve, Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve, and ADDO Elephant Park(Big
Five).
Two small rivers (the Slang river and the Klipdrift river) mouth into
the Indian Ocean at Oyster Bay.
The long, sandy beach is ideal for fishing - both rock and surf. There
are also spots where boats can be launched. A large variety of fish is
found such as the shad, mussel cracker, steenbras, galjoen and white kabeljou.
The village developed from a farm owned by Mr Henry Potgieter was called
Graskop. Directors of Tsitsikamma Estates, Carel and Phoebe van Tonder,
approached Mr Potgieter in 1956 to purchase part of his farm. In 1956/57
Oyster Bay developed as a holiday resort where people could rent
houses. Very soon further development took place. This was due to the
establishment of a shop and selling of sites to individuals. Houses were
built and today the town can boast four hundred and twenty plots of which
about one hundred and sixty five have been built on.
Oyster Bay has an interesting and rich history. Stone tools (cleavers
and hand axes) dating back from one million to two hundred thousand years
representing the early Stone Age have been found at Oyster Bay.
Middens (Danish for "rubbish heap") around Oyster Bay
preserve Middle Stone Age blade and flake tools and fragmentary human
remains, suggesting that Middle Stone Age man was anatomically modern.
Evidence suggests that a wide variety of coastal and marine resources
were exploited here - including shell fish, seal, fish, penguin and flying
birds. Fish traps, consisting of artificial tidal pools used to catch
fish stranded by the ebbing tide are to be seen here.
Noord(ster) (Dutch) was the earliest known shipwreck. The ship hit a
reef at Klippepunt, west of Oyster Bay on 16 January 1690.
None of the crew drowned, but only four survived the long walk to Cape
Town.
Click here for Properties
in Oyster Bay
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