MP #2: The Tidal Pool
(formerly called Miller's Point Tidal Pool before incorporation in the MP Series)
The cache, a small screw-capped, camo-taped tablet pot, is hidden close to this tidal pool in Miller’s Point resort on the False Bay coastline, some 5km east of Simon’s Town.
Miller’s Point is divided into two sections. The first has a caravan site and seafood restaurant, and the second accesses Rumbly Bay, where there are boat launch sites and this secluded and less well-known tidal pool.
It offers stunning views across the bay past huge granite boulders and outcrops, a water slide and natural rock pools ideal for paddling, changing rooms, and grassy picnic and braai spots.
It is also a good area for kayaking, snorkelling, surf skis and scuba-diving, with popular dive sites (Partridge Point, Castle Rock and Smitswinkel) nearby.
The bay was discovered in 1825 by Edmund Miller, who made a whaling station here. When whaling was banned in the 1850s, the coast remained virtually untouched for almost 100 years.
In the 1920s, the land was bought by the Molteno family of Cape Town who built a manor house for use as a family retreat closed off from public access. In 1961, they donated the land to the city for conservation and the land was later integrated into the Table Mountain National Park. The manor became a restaurant complex.
The area around the former manor is now a recreational area, and a portion of the land is leased to the Cape Boat and Ski-boat Club. The rest of the property (extending from the Swartberg Mountains overlooking the site down to the False Bay coast) is now a nature reserve, with some provision for holiday accommodation. The point itself has two beaches, several sheltered coves and tidal pools.
It is a popular whale-watching site, as two deep pools to the north of Miller’s Point often attract southern right whales and their calves.
The boat launching fee is R90, and a separate entry fee is charged on weekends and during peak holiday season. Note: there may be crafty baboons in the area, so lock your car carefully, guard any food items . . . and don’t approach or feed them.