The Helderberg Basin

Above; The view of the Helderberg Basin from the Helderberg in the Helderberg Nature Rerserve.

THE HELDERBERG

The Helderberg Basin is the valley at the foot of the Hottentot's Holland Mountains also known as The Helderberg. The Helderberg Basin is surrounded by the coast line of False Bay. The Helderberg Basin is 40 km from Cape Town, South Africa and consists of the towns Somerset West, Sir Lowry’s Pass Village and Gordon’s Bay.

The Helderberg is one of the most prestigious and most beautiful areas of the Western Cape. It is a favourite destination by many tourists, both local and international. The area is a second home to many "swallows", Europeans who spend summer here and leave back for Europe in Winter, mainly German, English and Irish people have homes in the Helderberg.

The coast line of the Helderberg is part of False Bay which is warmer than the Atlantic Beaches around Cape Town. The Helderberg has the most family friendly beaches in Cape Town. The area beaches are very popular for locals and visitors alike.

False Bay is an ideal home to many marine animals such as game fish, dolphins, cape fur seals, the famous Southern Right Whale and the infamous Great White Shark. The Great White Sharks feed mainly off seals at Seal Island situated in the middle of False Bay. There have been many National Geographic documentaries made about the Great White Sharks of False Bay.

The Helderberg consists of natural beauty with the back drop of the Hottentots Mountain Range with a floral diversity which is recognized as perhaps world's greatest biodiversity hot-spot worldwide namely The Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve. The Kogelberg Bioshere consists of 100 000 hectares home to the most complex biodiversity on our planet! The Biosphere Reserve area has over 1880 different plant species. The next richest is the South American rainforest's with just 420 species per 10000 square km.

The Helderberg is rich in heritage and is well known for the world’s finest vineyards that stretch along the foothills of the Hottentot Mountains eventually meeting up with bordering vineyards of Stelenbosch. Wine is part of the Helderberg Culture and the many wine farms in the area spoil the residents and visitors with fine quality wines.

The Helderberg Basin , is a Golfers Heaven! The Helderberg is home to the most prestigious Golf Courses in the world. See Golfing in The Helderberg.

Besides Golf there are many other activities in the area like Kite Surfing, Surfing, Hiking, Mountain Biking, Wake boarding, Fishing, Boating, Kite Flying, Fishing the list is almost endless.

The Helderberg Basin is a truly unique place to live in and visit. I hope you will find the Helderberg Basin's Blog of interest and look forward to your continued contributions to add value to the people and visitors of the Helderberg Basin.