You don’t need a reason to visit Hout Bay. Merely driving there is a treat in itself. Either wedge yourself between the ocean and the slopes as you drive from Camps Bay and wind your way along the coast or take the tree-lined route over Constantia Nek – incidentally voted one of the world’s most beautiful routes by the clever guys at Top Gear.
So, when you do arrive in Hout Bay and you feel like doing something fantastic to match the pretty fantastic drive you just took, then here’s your solution: visit the Bay Harbour market. With everything creative, friendly and vibey and nothing pretentious or crowded, this market quite simply makes you feel welcome, relaxed, happy.
It’s definitely in the location. Situated on the far end of the town’s working harbour, it allows you first to drive past many colourful boats, some lonely, some new and some that are even allowed to bury themselves in the water. And then it brings you to the old fish factory, situated in between all this harbour activity. It is here that you’ll find about a hundred stalls selling arts, crafts, decor, clothing, food and drinks, thereby giving you the perfect reason for driving out here in the first place.
As you enter, you’re first offered a tented area for the more African-themed arts and crafts section, with statues, trinkets, old vinyls and locally designed t-shirts. Then you turn left into the main part of the factory where the high beams and structures are decorated with colourful lights, ribbons, chandeliers and even the odd hammock.
Decor, fashion and food & drinks occupy this giant indoor space. And it truly is the epiphany of what a market should be. As if all kinds of people from all kinds of different places merely brought the things they made, displayed them as they saw fit, and now they’re selling. And, keeping the Cape Town market standard where it belongs, the food is amazing. With everything from Tunisian, Belgian, Italian and a lot of South African you’d want to stay for hours, just so you can make space for one more pastry, schwarma or waffle. You’ll also find a wide range of wines, beers and cocktails as well as hot coffees, cold coffees, fresh organic lemonade and slush puppies.
Beside its atmosphere and location, the Bay Harbour market has another perk: it’s an all-weekend affair. This means that it’s not as crowded as markets tend to be. And it gives you options: either make an evening thing out of it, eating and drinking and being merry while it’s dark, or make a day thing out of it, eating and drinking and being merry while it’s light. The amount of options easily allows for both approaches. And all the while you’ll be entertained by a live band. It could be jazz, it could be pan flute, it all depends on the time of day.
So there you have it, the perfect reason to hit one, or two, of Cape Town’s beloved scenic drives and a great way to spend a few hours of your weekend at a beautiful old harbour.
The Bay Harbour market is open on Fridays from 17h00 – 21h00 and Saturdays and Sundays from 09h30 – 16h00.
You should note that there are a number of great Hout Bay restaurants to explore.
