St. Francis Bay

Province

St. Francis Bay ( Afrikaans: St. Francisbaai ) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. In 2011, he had 4,933 inhabitants.

The place is situated on the Garden Route between Knysna and Port Elizabeth. The N2 national road runs about 20 kilometers north. St. Francis Bay belongs to the municipality in the district Cacadu Kouga.

Originally lived in this area Khoi. The first Europeans in the St Francis Bay was in 1537 Diogo Pereira Botelho. In 1575, the Portuguese explorer Manuel de Mesquita Perestrello St Francis Bay was named after the monastery in his home town of Santarém. 1765 settled the first Voortrekker in the bay.

St Francis Bay is considered water sports paradise. The four- kilometer-long beach offers excellent conditions for surfing. From August to October, you can watch whales here. St. Francis Bay crosses an eight -kilometer-long channel system of the Kromme River. Temperatures range between 12 ° C in winter and 30 ° C in summer.

The Cape St. Francis is located ten kilometers south of St. Francis Bay. The local lighthouse was completed in 1878. He is the tallest lighthouse in South Africa and was placed as a historic listed building. Next to it is a weather station and a sanctuary for penguins.

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