Waves, walks, wrecks and wine St Francis is an Eastern Cape gem

When a Portuguese mariner named the south-easternmost point of Africa after the patron saint of sailors in 1575, he had no idea the mayhem the Waves, walks, wrecks and wine St Francis is an Eastern Cape gem coastline from Storms River to Shark Point would wreak on shipping over the centuries ahead.

Manuel Perestrelo named it- Bahia de Sào Francisco, an area that encompasses St Francis as well as Jeffreys Bay.

The former constitutes three separate villages – the original Cape St Francis, Port St Francis and St Francis Bay – that have effectively merged thanks to urban creep.

Each has a different profile; the “Cape” is the original settlement around the Seal Point lighthouse built in 1878, the upmarket “Bay” built around The Canals marina with the mixeduse “Port” separating the two.

Together the three constitute a holiday town even though there is effectively only one hotel between them; the five-star, five-room Sands @ St Francis Hotel operated by the Port Elizabeth Hotel Group (www.pehotels.co.za).

A visit to the St Francis Tourism website (www.stfrancistourism. co.za), however, reveals dozens of lodges, resorts, self-catering (including AirBnB) homes and apartments, guesthouses and bed-and-breakfast establishments of every possible level of sophistication.

By far the most exotic is the Seal Point Lighthouse (www.sealpointlighthouse. com) itself, which includes two luxurious self-catering wings that were the original lighthouse-keepers’ quarters and the standalone three-bedroom Sand Cottage.

Also on the premises (owned by Transnet by operated privately under lease since 2019) is Nevermind, the only restaurant in the Eastern Cape to receive a star rating at last month’s 2025 Eat Out Woolworths Restaurant of the Year awards.

Cape St Francis is primarily a destination for day rather than stay-over visitors, especially surfers in search of its so-called “perfect” waves as well as mountain bikers and trail runners.

The latter categories of outdoor adventurers are attracted to four small nature reserves that together cover about 300ha of coastal habitats that range from rocky shores, beaches and salt-stunted vegetation to dune fynbos, thickets and small patches of dune forest (milkwood and candlewood).

They are the Irma Booysen Flora Reserve and the Seal Point, Seal Bay and Cape St Francis Nature Reserves.

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Situated next to Irma Booysen at the entrance to Cape St Francis is The Shipwrecks of the Tsitsikamma display.

More than a dozen of the village’s roads are named after ships that sank along the coast from Storms River Mouth to Shark Point between 1690 and last year.

In total, more than 60 vesselshave gone down over the 110km stretch. The majority were chokka boats – squid fishing is big business in this part of the Eastern Cape and most vessels berth at Port St Francis – but the number includes trawlers, Spanish and Portuguese barques, yachts and SS Helmspey, a merchantman torpedoed by German submarine in 1943.

The main attraction, though, is the pristine beach that runs from the lighthouse almost to Shark Point.

Late afternoons in particular see locals out in force walking their dogs, catching waves, enjoying sundowners or casting a line.

You can see much the same thing at the mouth of the Krom River, which forms the eastern boundary of greater St Francis, though the estuary is more a playground for boaters, kayakers and jetskiers.

This area is especially popular with residents of St Francis Bay and, in particular, with those of the marina.

The Canals, incidentally, is home to the annual two-day Wine on Water (www.wineonwater. co.za) festival organised by the Rotary Club of St Francis.

Top wine estates offer tastings in the gardens or decks of private residences and ticket holders are ferried from one tasting to the other by hop-on hop-off water taxi.

The event takes place in February and participating wineries at this year’s Wine on Water included Kleine Zalze, Ernie Els, Anthonij Rupert, De Grendel, Tokara, Warwick, Doolhof, Diemersdal and Waterford.

Dining out is popular and almost all restaurants feature the local calamari species, Loligo Reynaudi, which had become a sought-after delicacy worldwide.

This wasn’t always the case; until the 1980s, chokka was mostly used as bait by line fishermen.

Leading restaurants in St Francis include the previously mentioned Nevermind, Joe Fish, Peri Peri, Big Time Taverna, Rambling Rose, The Quays, Mauro’s, the St Francis Brewing Company, Dockside Seafood Company, Clive’s Chokka Block and Quayside.

I had very good fish and chips at Quayside, the experience enhanced by a pair of Cape clawless otters gambolling in the harbour waters below the National Sea Rescue Institute station.

The informal Pig and Rooster at the Seal Point Lighthouse gets its name from the fact it was often only livestock and poultry that survived being shipwrecked, frequently washing up on the shore still in their cages.

Pig and rooster tattoos were common among sailors seeking to proclaim their indestructability at sea. Captain Kev Canal and River Cruises is an owner-operated business that offers outings such as one hour Canal, two hour Canal and Krom River, half and full-day river cruises. Specialist river cruises include bird-watching and special celebrations.

The company also offers a shuttle service from clients’ accommodation to the marina. Voted the best new course in South Africa in 2007 and consistently ranked one of the top 10 golf courses in the country, St Francis Links is a Jack Nicklaus signature operation.

According to its website (www. stfrancislinks.com), “the Links surpasses every expectation… age-old golfing traditions combined with modern facilities, a challenging course, pristine natural surrounds and superb personal service to create a memorable golfing experience where all are welcome”.

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