Dwarsberg Trout Haven

O.K. we had planned to go for a week to Plettenberg Bay and stay in the Keurbooms Lagoon Caravan Park for a week. This has pleasant memories for me and Colleen as we spent a week there camping in a tent when we first knew each other in the late 1970's. It is right on the waters edge at the Keurbooms Lagoon and part of the plan this time was to take our kayak's and do some fishing. (O.K. a LOT of fishing). But a few days before our departure, I checked the weather forecast out and things changed rapidly. There was torrential rain and possible flooding forecast. Even after the rain, fishing would not have been any good with the lagoon in flood after the rain, so we decided to put this off till a later date.

I then started to do a bit of research, mostly via google, to look for an alternative. I had seen Dwarsberg's site before and decided to give it a try. They have a totally different concept of a campsite to the norm. They have 9 sites and you book the whole site, each of which can accommodate 20 people. It does not matter if there are only 2 of you, the site is yours and yours alone. Each site has its own ablutions. Of course, this is pricey but I saw that they have adjusted their prices for weekday visitors to make it feasable if there only 2 of you. Anyway I booked for a couple of nights, mainly to try it out and see what it was like. Mirna, at reception gave us site No 6 and said it had plenty of shade and, as all the sites, right on the river.

We arrived there just before lunch time. The last 5km of the access road was gravel and the last 1km of this was quite exciting. Very narrow as it cut into the mountain and quite high up off the valley floor. It was however, in very good condition, having recently been scraped. We suddenly came across this oasis on the river with high mountains all around. Very much like being in the Cederberg, but only 100km from Cape Town. We set up our trailer right next to the river on a level piece of lush green grass with plenty of shade nearby.  Absolutley stunning location. Mirna mentioned that they are completely booked over weekends for the next 6 months.

It would be quite a mission to travel back to the nearest shop, so advisable to take everything you may need with you. I had seen on their website, a few nice pics of the river, so I threw in our inflatable standup paddleboards at the last minute. This was just in case the river was suitable for these. Anyway after setting up our tent, I immeadiatley inflated the boards as it was a paradise for this pastime. Right in front of where we were camping, there was a 500 meter stretch of crystal clear and calm water.

Many hours were spent paddling up and down. Absolute bliss and great exercise.

6.15am cruise

Early morning paddle

We had two friends come down and join us for our last night. We will be back again soon as this place is definitely on our list of favourite campsites.


A few more pics.

Click on any pic to see the larger version.