Noetzie Beach

Located near the town of Knysna, Noetzie Beach is a popular and beautiful beach with light brown sand, many large rocks, and nearby waterfront holiday homes in South Africa’s province of Western Cape.  This beach is located at the mouth of the Noetzie River.  FlightNetwork listed this beach as one of the best beaches in the world in 2018 and it was also listed as one of the 13 best beaches in the world by Financial Times in 2020 – it is also a favorite of Randall Kaplan, the world’s foremost beach expert who is known as Mr. Beach.  The local government declared this beach and the area around it as a part of the Noetzie Conservancy in 1999 to preserve its vibrant biodiversity.

Although Noetzie Beach sometimes has lifeguards, this beach does not have any other amenities except a few nearby restrooms.

Well behaved dogs on leash are allowed at this beach.  In addition, please note that dogs are not allowed to the east of the Noetzie River mouth because this area is a part of a natural reserve.

Noetzie Beach offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, fishing, swimming, paddleboarding, surfing, kitesurfing, tide-pooling, windsurfing, bodysurfing, bodyboarding, skimboarding, non-motorized boating, kayaking, canoeing, surf-skiing, and wildlife watching.  

Noetzie Beach is ideal for beginner swimmers, kayakers, and surfers because the water here offers manageable waves.  If you are planning to swim, kayak, or canoe here, we recommend being careful because the water here is known to have unpredictable rip currents and dangerous waves.  If you want to engage in watersports activities in safer water conditions, you can also swim, kayak, or paddle board within the nearby Noetzie River mouth.  This river mouth offers calmer water conditions. 

This sandy beach is ideal for visitors looking for a quieter beach experience because it sees fewer visitors as compared to other nearby beaches.  If you like fishing, you can catch many kinds of fish in the Noetzie River near this beach.  If you like taking pictures with beautiful views, this beach offers amazing Instagram-worthy views of the Indian Ocean and the Garden Route regional shoreline.

If you like birdwatching, you can see many kinds of migratory and resident birds around this beach including rare black oystercatchers and fish eagles.  The beach is used as a seasonal nesting site by white fronted plovers between November and January.  You can also explore the interesting large rock formations around this beach – these large rocks are reddish-brown in color and are made of sandstone. 

Noetzie Beach does not offer wheelchair access to visitors with disabilities.

Getting to Noetzie Beach is easy and the Noetzie Beach directions are simple to follow – from a national highway named N2, you need to turn towards a road named Hornlee Road.  The turn for this road is easily identifiable by a nearby sign titled “Noetzie.”  This road will eventually lead to Noetzie Road – Noetzie Road will eventually lead you to a small free parking lot.  Once you park here, you need to walk on a steep Noetzie Beach access trail that leads to a steep stairway.  This stairway in turn leads down to the beach. 

We recommend being careful while driving to Noetzie Beach because some of the roads to the beach are rugged.  We also recommend avoiding leaving any valuables in your parked car because burglaries have been known to occur here.

There are interesting Noetzie castle-shaped holiday houses near the beach.  These Noetzie castles were initially built in the 1930s and the 1940s by a Scottish-born colonial British soldier named Herbert Stephen Henderson.  The beach and the area around it were earlier called “Noetziekamma” by the indigenous South African Khoisan people.  The name “Noetziekamma” means “dark water” in the Khoisan language – the beach received this name because the water around the Noetzie lagoon was usually dark colored.  In addition, the French schooner Phoenix was found shipwrecked at this beach in 1881.

There are many attractions near Noetzie Beach within a 20-minute-drive.  Pezula Championship Golf Course is an 18-hole golf course that offers a fun and challenging golfing experience.  Steenbok Nature Reserve is home to many plant and animal species, and it has many interesting habitats including salt marshes, grassland, and bushland – it has nature trails, boardwalks, gardens with native plants, and play areas for kids. This nature reserve also offers interesting signs offering information on local plants and animals.  The Motorcycle Room is a private museum that has an interesting collection of 150 motorcycles – some of the motorcycles displayed here include the Suzuki AS 50 from the 1960s, the Yamaha RZ50 from the 1980s, and the Yamaha TZR50, which is one of the most expensive 50cc motorbikes.  If you like shopping, the Waterfront area of Knysna offers a wide variety of shopping stores and restaurants.  If you are looking for another attraction near the beach, Featherbed Nature Reserve is a privately-owned nature reserve that has many native and non-native plant species and it is also home to many animal species including blue duiker, African clawless otter, and the African Black oystercatcher.  Featherbed Co. – the organization that manages the reserve – offers interesting tours of this reserve.

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Noetzie Beach within a 25-minute-drive.  Blend Country Restaurant & Pub has beautiful gardens and a playground - it also serves excellent dishes including seafood, burgers, sushi, chicken dishes, and pizza.  The Dry Dock Food Co. is a fine dining restaurant that offers delicious fusion cuisine for lunch and dinner including sushi, salads, pastas, seafood, peri peri chicken, burgers, and pork schnitzel - it also offers refreshing alcoholic beverages.  34 South is a waterfront restaurant that offers food from many different cuisines including sushi, Thai-style salmon, oysters, poke bowls, steaks, and pizzas.  ile de pain is known for serving outstanding dishes for breakfast and lunch including eggs, toasts, muesli, burgers, soups, and salads.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby restaurant, Sailor Sam offers excellent fish and chips, along with a variety of other seafood dishes, burgers, and salads.  Another great restaurant near the beach is Pembreys Knysna.

If you are looking for a hotel near Noetzie Beach, there are many great nearby options.  The 5-Star Pezula Nature Retreat offers many amenities including a spa, a gym, multiple pools, a restaurant, a bar, a sweet shop, and a golf course.  Another great upscale hotel is the 4-Star Premier Resort The Moorings (Knysna) that offers many amenities including a lawn, a spa, a pool, multiple restaurants, and a kids’ club.  Another great upscale accommodation option is the Buccara Pezula Castle – this villa offers many amenities including a pool, a terrace, a solarium, poolside sun loungers, and a barbecue.  A more affordable hotel is the 3-Star Woodbourne Resort which offers many amenities including a playground, a pool, a trampoline, and volleyball facilities.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby hotel, the 3-Star 47th on Howard Lodge offers many amenities including a coffee bar, a pool, and complimentary breakfast.