Betty's Bay is a small holiday town situated on the

Overberg __NOTOC__ Overberg is a region in South Africa to the east of Cape Town beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountains. It lies along the Western Cape Province's south coast between the Cape Peninsula and the region known as the Garden Route in the ...

coast of South Africa's Western Cape province. It is located 100 km from Cape Town beneath the

Kogelberg The Kogelberg is a range of mountains along the False Bay coast in the Western Cape of South Africa. They form part of the Cape Fold Belt, starting south of the Elgin valley and forming a steep coastal range as far as Kleinmond. The Kogelbe ...

Mountains on the scenic R44 ocean drive between Pringle Bay and

Kleinmond Kleinmond is a small coastal town in the Overberg region of the Western Cape province, South Africa. It is situated inside a UNESCO-declared biosphere about 90 km east of Cape Town between Betty's Bay and Hermanus. The town's name, meaning " ...

. This village stretches over 13 km along the coast. Tourism plays a large role in the town's economy due to its popularity with holiday makers from across the Western Cape and Cape Town in particular. During colonial times Betty's Bay was allegedly a favourite place for runaway slaves, and in 1912 Betty's Bay became a formal whaling station running up until the 1930s. Remains of the whaling station can still be seen at Stony Point. Bettys Bay is named after Betty Youlden, daughter of the first developer of the area Arthur Youlden. Betty's Bay contains the

Harold Porter National Botanical Garden The Harold Porter National Botanical Garden covers almost 200 ha between mountain and sea, in the heart of the Cape Fynbos region within the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve to the east of Cape Town, South Africa, specifically near Betty's Bay alon ...

as well as an

African penguin The African penguin (''Spheniscus demersus''), also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. Like all extant penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffe ...

colony in the

Betty's Bay Marine Protected Area The Betty's Bay Marine Protected Area is part of the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve. It is about 29km south-east of Gordon's Bay and approximately 37km north-west of Hermanus on the south-western coast of the Western Cape. It is in the Atlantic ...

, which is one of the two Penguin colonies in the area of the Western Cape. The colony is situated in the

and Stony Point Nature Reserve. When the former whaling station was closed, the endemic and endangered Southern African penguins started breeding here.

Geography

Due to the town's location on the south-western coast and surrounding mountainous geography it receives near constant wind and ample rain throughout the year, With south-easterly winds bringing the occasional thunderstorm from the warmer eastern coast, and frontal rain from the west in winter which can be very heavy at times. Betty's Bay has a

marine west coast An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

oceanic climate ( Köppen Cfb) which sees pleasant warm temperatures in summer, and mild to cool temperatures in winter with rain throughout the year.

References

{{Overberg District Municipality Whaling in South Africa

Betty's Bay Betty's Bay is a small holiday town situated on the Overberg coast of South Africa's Western Cape province. It is located 100 km from Cape Town beneath the Kogelberg Mountains on the scenic R44 ocean drive between Pringle Bay and Kleinmond. This ...

Articles containing video clips Bays of South Africa