South Africa Guide
The Western Cape
West Coast National Park
The West Coast National Park (daily: April– Sept 7am–7pm, Oct– March 6am–8pm; R50; 
022 772 2144) is one of the best places to savour the charm of the West Coast, which elsewhere is being devoured by housing developments. The park protects over forty percent of South Africa's remaining pristine strandveld and 35 percent of the country's salt marshes, and incorporates both the majority of Langebaan Lagoon and a Y-shaped area of land immediately around and below it.
There are two entrance gates to the park: one on the R27, roughly 10km north of the turning to Yzerfontein, and the other south of the town of Langebaan. The park isn't huge – if you're driving you'll cover the extent of the roads in a couple of hours. You can see a good chunk if you enter at one gate and come out at the other – but it's worth taking the roads slowly to enjoy the views, and a visit to Geelbek, where there's an information centre, booking office and restaurant ( 022 772 2134; daily 9am–6pm), will allow you to appreciate a bit more of what you're seeing. Overnight accommodation is available here at The Stables ( 022 772 2798; Price: Under R100), behind the restaurant in a self-catering cottage with three bedrooms for R750 per night, and dormitories set attractively near the edge of the lagoon. One kilometre away at Duinepos ( 022 707 9900) there are seven self-catering chalets available at R550 for four people. Though the chalets are close to the lagoon, there is no access to the water because of bird breeding.
One of the ultimate lagoon experiences is to sleep on a moored boat. There are two houseboats on the lagoon, Larus, sleeping four adults and two children (R1200 per night for four people), and a larger one, Nirvana, that can sleep up to 24 which goes for R5000 per night; for both, book through Tony and Cleo Drayton on 021 689 9718 or 082 258 0929, 
www.houseboating.co.za .