Simon’s Town

Just about fifteen minutes drive from the De Noordhoek Hotel is the historic village of Simon’s Town, originally named Simon’s Vlek after Simon van der Stel, the Dutch governor of the Cape Colony between 1677 and 1699. One has only to look at some of the buildings along the town’s historic mile to imagine some of the happenings of the past. The village expanded quickly when it was a Royal Naval Base and the home of the South Atlantic Squadron under the second British occupation of the Cape in 1806. Today the town is home to the South African Navy and is full of tourist activities, an essential venue for any visitor to the Cape Peninsula.