The Kakapo. 1900.

Shipwreck, Kommetjie, Cape Town.

Click to tour AWAY from Kakapo

Click on any image below to tour the Kakapo

Kakapo, Noordhoek Beach, Cape Town. 26 May 1900. 
The skeleton of the boat is now an important landmark. The shipwreck is about 15 minutes walk along the beach from Sunset Beach Guest House.

The Kakapo left Cape Town for Sydney on a misty night. Captain Nicolaysen saw Chapman's Peak and thought it was Cape Point. He turned sharp east but instead of cruising into False Bay he 'parked' his boat on Noordhoek Beach.
The Slangkop Lighthouse has prevented such mishaps from recurring since 1918.

Captain Nicolaysen ploughed so deep into the dune that his crew could step out of the boat without getting their feet wet! Today horse riders and visitors to Noordhoek Beach explore the skeleton of his boat. 
The Kakapo shipwreck is one, of what must be very few, completely visible shipwrecks in the world!

The photograph (left) shows the view across the beach from the Kakapo. The Sentinel and Houtbay is visible in the background.
Horse rides along the beach to the wreck of the  Kakapo is available both from Imhoff's Farm and from a number of stables in Noordhoek. 
Visit our Beach Horse Riding page for more details.

The vast flat beach or dune next to the Kakapo is very popular breeding ground for the endangered African Black Oystercatcher. Please be careful not to disturb the breeding pairs and do read our Oystercatcher information page before visiting the shipwreck. 
I saw 3 separate pairs with babies feeding on the rocks the last time I walked from the Beach House to the Kakapo in March 2001. See the pictures of a family of African Black Oystercatchers at this beach on the Bird Watching Virtual Tour.

It is ironic that the Kakapo was named after a very rare and very unique parrot that is virtually extinct. The irony being that at the time the Kakapo ran aground, the parrot was still abundant, the ship is now stranded on a beach where another unique bird exists in a similarly restricted nice. For a brief account of the remarkable Kakapo parrot, that provides some insight into survival of the species or lack thereof, click on image right to visit the page dedicated to it. 
Or click here: Kakapo Parrot.

 Beach Tour.

Where to go?

Brandied Black Cherries
for
Beach Hotel
Kitchen.

Contact: info@sunsetbeach.co.za
Tel: +27 21 783 4283   Fax: + 27 21 783 4286

Janthina
for pictorial sitemap

Antarctic Terns
for
Birdwatching Guide