Paternoster

Paternoster, located on the spectacular West Coast in the Western Cape province, is a popular holiday destination for many South Africans. It is around a 90-minute drive from Cape Town and the wine countries and Ceder mountains are also easily accessible from here.
Paternoster means “Our Father” and the Portuguese shipwrecked a lot of prayers to return to their home country.

Paternoster is a picturesque traditional fishing village with a view of the Atlantic Ocean and the beautiful coastline. It is a place where you can relax and enjoy the natural beauty. Here you can get a breath of fresh air on the 10-kilometer white sandy beach, take beautiful pictures of old weathered boats, hard-working fishermen and snow-white houses. Timeless and charming is the village and its colorful inhabitants give you that same welcoming feeling as 100 years ago. Paternoster is the place to enjoy local specialties, so go for fresh ‘seafood’ and the lobster is known for that.

Visit the Tieties Bay nature reserve 5 km away where the last manned lighthouse, the Cape Columbine, safely guides the seagoing vessels along the coast. And that used to be different in the past, many a ship wrecked here before the lighthouse kept watch.

That in turn leads to special diving activities along this coast. You can visit the shipwrecks and also get an explanation about the history of the ships. The Lisboa was perhaps the most interesting ship that was shipwrecked here on October 23, 1910, its first voyage.

Within the Tietiesbaai Nature reserve, the Columbine Nature reserve is the place to be in the spring. On a warm spring day, the grass will turn into a sea of flowers. Take a picnic basket with you and take the time to view this beautiful, but very short, wild beauty. Best visit time for the Wild Flower route is August-September.
In Paternoster you can take boat trips to go sea fishing, a permit is required for this. The beach naturally invites the horse lover to make a wonderful beach ride. You can also visit the West Coast Fossil park.
Sea kayaking, surfing and many other water activities are just around the corner, as well as kite surfing and kite flying. Long walks or just enjoying a beautiful sunset is also possible here!

The coast has a rich animal life and you can spot whales, dolphins, seals, penguins and lots of birds (± 250 species) here. Follow one of the hiking trails and look for rock formations with Khoisan rock paintings.

Paternoster has so much to offer and it is also a beautiful romantic place on the West Coast, a place for nature lovers in the broadest sense of the word!

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