setting
The
first European to visit the bay was Bartholomew Dias in 1457.
Named Bahia Formosa ("bay beautiful"), it was the
first part of South Africa to see white inhabitants when the
San Gonzales ship sank in 1630 and 100 men were stranded there
for 9 months. Settlers
arrived in the 1760's, farmers, hunters and frontiersmen.
In
1787 a woodcutters post was established and the bay was renamed
Plettenberg Bay after Baron Joachin van Plettenberg, governor
of the Cape. With the growth in the timber trade, Thomas Bain
was commissioned to build a number of dramatic mountain passes
into the interior, its roads cutting deep into the forest.
Work on the Prince Alfred pass was completed in 1885 and this
spectacular road can still be enjoyed to this day. In 1910
a whaling station was established on Beacon Island and whaling
operations continued there for 6 years. The first hotel
went up in 1940, to be replaced by the Beacon Isle Hotel in
1972.
Visitors
to "Plett" can appreciate the beauty of its surroundings
and the pristine Robberg and Lookout beaches, yet still enjoy
all the modern conveniences and leisure activities they have
come to expect
...
ensuring that any visit to the area is a memorable one!
