This rustic yet elegant beach house is enviably positioned in the heart of the West Coast National Park. Overlooking the languid lagoon, the park is home to more than 880 bird species and considered one of the world’s most important wetland areas. The transparent turquoise water is shallow enough for kids to paddle in, yet equally enticing for water-sports enthusiasts (motorboats excluded). Morning Tide – sensitively designed with an understanding of the region’s traditional ‘langhuis’ style – offers an ecofriendly escape for nature lovers.
Enjoy spectacular sunsets from the entertainer’s patio, flamingo spotting, gentle strolls and lazy afternoons in the open-plan living room. Quality furnishings, fittings and fabrics make this waterside retreat a feast for the eyes – and the soul. With no shops, restaurants, hotels, cinemas, bars or cafés to distract you, unwinding in the West Coast National Park allows you to relish an unhurried, gentle pace of life. This rural village close to beautiful Kraalbaai on the Langebaan Lagoon offers you an increasingly rare opportunity to live in exquisite and pristine natural surroundings only an hour from Cape Town.
Morning Tide offers an ideal beach holiday throughout the year: take your bicycles, running shoes, hiking boots, sailing kit, kitesurfing gear, buckets and spades, and loads of books. The clear blue colours of the lagoon, the earthy lines of the architecture and the cottage’s very essence will remain with you and continue to give you pleasure long after you have left for home. This is a really perfect beach hideaway!
What we love!
- the wonderfully warm lagoon waters with the softest white-sand beaches and very safe swimming for the kids
- the utterly unspoilt, pristine surroundings deep in a National Parks Board Nature Reserve
- the back-to-basics lifestyle in a charming hamlet on the water’s edge
- the incredible range of things to do and see, from the spring flowers in Postberg Flower Reserve, idyllic beach picnics at nearby Kraalbaai (close to the famous Preekstoel rock formation) and kitesurfing at Shark Bay just outside Langebaan (an excellent place for beginners and to hone your skills)
What you need to know…
- Make the most of life on the lagoon… there are SUPS and Kayaks available to rent during your stay.
- Only one hour’s drive from Cape Town
- This is blissful off-the-grid living, so there is no WiFi, limited cellphone accessibility and solar power rules supreme. Most houses rely on rainwater catchment or borehole water driven by solar pumps, and gas hobs and gas ovens are used for cooking. In winter, fireplaces and ever-faithful wood-burning stoves keep things cosy
- Only cellphones, laptops, music players and the like can be used in the plugs. No hairdryers/curling irons or any other appliances are to be plugged in as this could cause permanent damage to the electrical system
- We are unable to offer a cleaning service at Churchhaven. The ONLY cleaning service available at any of our Churchhaven properties is a mid-week linen change if you are staying for 6 nights or longer. Due to being off-grid Churchhaven houses do not have dishwashers. If this is a problem for you please consider our other West Coast options.
- Please take note of the following gate times for entering and leaving the West Coast National Park: 1 April to 31 August 07:00 to 17:30; 1 September to 31 March 07:00 to 18:30. No entrance into the park is possible after the gates close in the evenings
- There is a per person, per day entrance fee due to enter the park. Please check the SANPARKS website for latest fee tariffs – https://www.sanparks.org/parks/west_coast/tourism/tariffs.phpIt may be worth investing in a Wild Card – https://www.sanparks.org/wild_new/