Marine protected areas aim to conserve marine life and promote the conservation and effective management of biodiverse marine areas. They are an example of successful collaboration between civil society, communities and government to take care of our natural resources, particularly our marine resources.
It stretches over an area of 0.25km squared. As a marine protected area within the West Coast National Park, fishing is prohibited from shore. Malgas Island is critically important as a breeding island to Cape Gannets and other seabirds, with Malgas Island being one of only three islands in South Africa where Cape Gannet breed. Approximately 30 percent of the world's population of African Black Oystercatchers breed on these islands. The endangered Bank Cormorant - whose numbers have plummeted from 8 700 breeding pairs in 1980 to a current number of 4 900 pairs - also breed on the islands.

The Langebaan Lagoon is a large salt water lagoon, regarded as a wetland of international importance, protected by the West Coast National Park (formerly called the Langebaan National Park), 100 km north of Cape Town. Bird watchers who have booked an hotel or accommodation in Langebaan will want to explore this area as the beautiful landscape attracts numerous waterbirds, Palearctic and rare migrant Waders. As such it is one of South Africa's important bird areas. The lagoon holds Ramsar wetland status as a result. These Ramsar Sites acquire a new national and international status. They are recognized as being of significant value not only for the country or the countries in which they are located, but for humanity as a whole.
Unlike your standard river lagoon, which forms when a freshwater river reaches the sea, this lagoon has been shaped by the rise and fall of sea levels over time, and is a self-sustaining, pure salt water lagoon. Daily tides bring nutrient rich water from the ocean into the lagoon, provided by the cold benguela current flowing up the west coast. The lagoon has a series of unique salt marshes that make up the biggest salt marsh area in the country.
The lagoon supports huge populations of crabs and snails, as well as over 70 different marine algae, and serves as a nursery for juvenile fish. The intertidal areas support as many as 55 000 water birds in summer. Despite all this beauty, Langebaan lagoon is under pressure. Sand washed in by strong tides mean it gets shallower all the time. The sand cannot return to the sea because of the jetty at Saldanha. The build up of sand has killed hundreds of oysters – they line the floor of the lagoon - and most of the lagoon's seaweed.
Other than the lagoon's ecological importance, it is also a space for people who visit these waters to swim, sail and picnic along its shores. The waters are a lot warmer than the icy Atlantic and provide a safe space for families.

Langebaan Lagoon is a marine protected area and as such is divided up into three zones – in zone C, closest to the Geelbek Visitors' Centre and a couple of bird hides, is a wilderness area that allows no fishing or recreational activities; zone B, close to Churchaven, is for sailboats and board sailing (no power boats), whilst zone A, closest to the town of Langebaan, facilitates all water sports, including power boating, fishing and kite surfing.

Known as the Jewel of the West Coast, Langebaan enjoys almost year-round sunshine and boasts azure waters and unsurpassed natural beauty. The variety of accommodation available combines with the natural beauty of the West Coast, the charm of its fishing Villages, and close proximity to Cape Town make for an idyllic getaway. This town is just off the R27, next to the picturesque Langebaan Lagoon.
The popular town of Langebaan is just over 100 km from Cape Town on the West Coast off the R27 next to Langebaan Lagoon. The white Caribbean like Beaches surrounding the crystal clear waters of the Langebaan Lagoon are one of the main attractions of Langebaan.
Langebaan has a modern Country Club and offers numerous excellent holiday facilities. For water sport enthusiasts who favour a weekend visit or holiday in Langebaan to enjoy the host of water sport and fishing opportunities this vibrant holiday resort town offers. Water sports enthusiasts can enjoy windsurfing, kite-surfing, yachting, angling and much more in the turquoise waters, which are positively balmy for the Western Cape.
Langebaan is well known as it is the ornithological capital of South Africa, has recorded the largest oyster shell deposits in the world and enjoys a moderate climate with cool air and long sunlit days. In winter it is never very cold and the long summer days are never unbearably hot.
For the holiday-maker Langebaan boasts upmarket accommodation, a choice of restaurants, two caravan parks, a golf course, tennis courts, a bowling green, a yacht club and the standard retail outlets you can expect to find in a small town which sell everything from seafood, groceries to hardware and holiday equipment. The West Coast National Park is worth a visit to see the variety of fauna and flora which this unique ecosystem has to offer and the ecological history of Langebaan can be viewed at the West Coast Fossil Park.

The little seaside village of Pringle Bay is one of the towns set within the natural beauty of the Kogelberg Biosphere, the only reserve in South Africa to be proclaimed by UNESCO, which supports over 1600 species of fynbos, 150 of which are endemic. The charming village is nestled at the foot of the Hangklip Mountain and jealously guarded by its residents who frown upon unnecessary developments such as tarred roads and street lights. And rightly so as the town is beautifully secluded and unspoilt - lying quite far from the main coastal road and almost entirely within the shadow of the Hangklip, which marks the south-eastern point of False Bay.
The naturally beautiful environment is home to a wide variety of birdlife and animals and, although historically a holiday town, there are a growing number of people, particularly artists, those in the theatre and film industry and people on retirement, who are choosing to live here permanently.

Only an hour’s drive from Cape Town, Pringle Bay offers an idyllic outdoor lifestyle: safe swimming, snorkelling around the many rock pools and crevices on the beach; diving for abalone, rock lobster and crayfish - although you will need a permit to do so - and amazing opportunities for bird watching that include the Sunbird, Sugar bird and the African Black Oystercatcher. Pringle Bay falls within a protected area - one needs a permit to fish - and all the breeding bird colonies in the area are protected. For this reason, you’re more likely to catch a glimpse of animal life such as the Cape Clawless Otter and rare birds, and you have the added wonder of the Southern Right whale that visits these shores from June through December.
The scenic R44 Clarence Drive, which meanders through Rooiels, Pringle Bay, Bettys Bay and Kleinmond, offers simply magnificent views across False Bay. This steep coastal road, which follows the natural curve of the rocky sea cliffs on the coast, provides great whale watching spots along its route.
Other activities in the area include hiking trails through the Kogelberg Nature Reserve, Hermanus with some of the best land-based whale watching in the world and Swellendam; a Penguin colony breeds on the mainland at Stony Point in Betty’s Bay or you can simply sit on the expansive beach at Pringle Bay and drink in the beauty of the surrounds.

The mission of this Museum is to conserve, uphold, promote and propagate the life, values, philosophies and legacy of the late Chief Albert Luthuli in the struggle against apartheid oppression respect for human rights as well as life devotion to non-violent resolution to world problems. This mission statement has guided the museum’s collections policy since 2004 when it was established as a national legacy project. Given that under the apartheid regime most documents, correspondence and literature generated by Chief Luthuli were banned, confiscated or located outside South Africa, at the time of the Luthuli Museum’s inauguration the only surviving artefact on site was the physical home of Chief Luthuli. The benefit was that the Luthuli Museum was unhindered by the collections and curatorial baggage of those museums instituted during the colonial and apartheid periods. This has allowed the Luthuli Museum to engage in a new museology concerned as much with memory and the intangible as with more conventional museum artefacts. Since its formation, the Luthuli Museum has subsequently been involved in a rigorous process of collecting and repatriating oral histories, photographs, paintings, documents and other artefacts to assist with developing knowledge about the Legacy of Chief Luthuli and the Liberation Struggle in South Africa.