One of the most rewarding and iconic spots to be in our beautiful town is near The Knysna Heads and on the lagoon- this cache combines the two and lets you gather a smiley too!
The navigational beacon you find here (access via a little pathway from the bottom of the parking or via a little staircase right next to the entrance (on the right) to East Head Café), helps the ships entering the Knysna Estuary - one of the most difficult and dangerous navigational passages known to the sailing world, so much so that -rumour has it- property insurers will not grant hull coverage to ship owners entering the lagoon!
Nonetheless, the beacon here, lined up with the modern one placed on Leisure Island further into the estuary and flashing a red light non stop ( see photo attached - that beacon replaced the original arrowhead beacon placed by the crew of HMS Rapid on 1st December 1865 on Steenbok Island as it was then called), will guide ships through the Heads if they keep to the Western side of the passage where the channel is deepest. Hopefully that way no more ships will follow the fate of the Paquita, which in 1904 stranded just in front of the icon here and can be seen by snorkeling in favourable conditions around hightide (refer to signboard in the passage from the lower parking to GZ).
The cache:
This is a HIGH MUGGLE AREA! Please use extreme stealth to guarantee this cache a long and happy life!
You are searching for an inconspicuous, slightly bigger than film canister-sized cache container on the side of the beacon that is best shielded from muggle eyes. Use stealth and grab it to sign somewhere else so as to not arouse too much interest please! It opens on the bottom.