One of the best known landmarks in Plettenberg Bay on the Garden Route is the Beacon Isle Hotel. Beacon Island is at the mouth of the Piesang River and has a history that goes back to 1771. In that year the first navigational beacon was erected on the island. The original was a square block of stinkwood, inscribed with the latitude and longitude of Plettenberg Bay, and erected to enable mariners to check their location and chronometers. It also gave Beacon Island its name.
Beacon Island Resort, in the heart of the picturesque Garden Route region, is one of the Western Cape’s premier holiday destinations. This award-winning Plettenberg Bay hotel and resort offers natural forests, mountains, sun-kissed beaches, and the vastness of the ocean – the ideal relaxing getaway for the entire family.
Robberg, situated 8km south of Plettenberg Bay on the Garden Route, is not only a nature reserve, but also a national monument and World Heritage Site. Rocks from this region date back 120 million years to the break-up of Gondwanaland and evidence of middle and later Stone Age inhabitation has been found in a few of the caves along the peninsula. Visitors can find out more at the Nelson Bay Cave interpretive centre.
