Fish Hoek Beach #2: Dune-Side
The cache, a black-taped preform tube, is hidden in the dunes which occupy the central part of the beach between the Sailing Club and Clovelly Beach to the north, where the Silvermine River outlet is located. The cache location is approximately half-way along the beach and adjacent to the north-central part of the town.
Please take care to return the cache correctly and properly concealed . . . and keep an eye out for muggles! As the beach is a dynamic environment and the cache location exposed to the elements, it may become more or less buried by the sand . . .
To reach the cache: depending on which other caches you may be going for, park anywhere conveniently close - otherwise the closest parking for this cache is on the roadside at S 34 8.206 E 18 25.989 near beach access 'road' of the sailing club.
For more information on Fish Hoek Beach, see GC77HMH Fish Hoek Beach #1: Overview.
Fish Hoek Short History
Visch Baay was being used for cattle grazing at the end of the 18th Century and in 1818 Bruyns applied for a 1,300 morgen quit-rent farm. Governor Lord Charles Somerset granted it with several conditions including a ban on the sale of alcohol which is still in force today. Subsequent owners developed the fishing industry in the area including a prosperous whaling station. By the end of the 19th Century it was a popular venue for Cape summer picnics but the owner Oom Jacob de Villiers would sell no part of his property. After his death in 1916, 3,000 plots were auctioned and the town of Fish Hoek was born. When the rail line came through in 1890 it was continually plagued by sand drifts
which were carted away and dumped at various sites including the reclamation of Salt River. The station - actually below sea level - was built in 1928. A year earlier international fame was achieved with the discovery of the skeleton of a Middle Stone Age man of 15 000 years ago in Peer's Cave above the town
See here for a great drone video of the beach, town and valley beyond and here for video of a Southern Right Whale breaching in Fish Hoek Bay.