Gordon's Bay
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Gordon's Bay is a harbour town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, close to Strand. It is situated on the northeastern corner of False Bay about 50 km from Cape Town.
Gordon's Bay is the smallest of three towns in the Helderberg region, so named after the Helderberg Mountain which is part of the Hottentots Holland Mountains which dwarf the locality on two sides. The third side being the Cape Peninsula's False Bay. Gordon's Bay originally named "Fish Hoek", many years before the town of the same name, located on the western arm of False Bay, was founded. Evidence of this can be seen on the outside wall of the local Post Office.
The town, still considered a village by many residents, is located opposite the "Sleeping Giant" of Table Mountain 60km from Cape Town which can be reached via the N2 (South Africa) freeway. Gordon's Bay also has the benefit of being only a 10 minute drive from the start of the Stellenbosch Wine Route - a must for any visitor to the area.
The "village" is comprised of three parts. The "old village", situated around the old harbour, "Bikini Beach" and the main beach by the public car park, the "Mountainside", which lies along the lower slopes of the eastern side of the Hottentots Holland Mountains and the "Flat Gordon’s Bay". This area is the most recent part of "the village".
The older part of Gordon's Bay is host to an officers Training Depot of South Africa's Navy, which is adjacent to the old harbour and yacht marina. Above the harbour on the mountainside, is a giant anchor and the letters "GB". Many think that this stands for Gordon's Bay, but in fact it stands for General Botha which was the original name of the Naval station in the town.
