Granger Bay was named after a Captain Robert Granger, a merchant and owner of five ships. In 1647 a ship named the Haarlem ran aground at what was later named Granger Bay and 62 VOC sailors survived there for a year from the available resources and from the soil. Their home was a fort made from the ship's salvage.
Granger Bay lies on the Atlantic Ocean with some of the most stunning views of Table Bay and Robben Island - providing some of the most worthwhile sunsets in Cape Town. This experience and their subsequent report may have played a role in the VOC’s decision to establish a supply base at the Cape.
The fleet that picked up the Haarlem castaways included a young company merchant, Jan van Riebeeck. Van Riebeeck was returning to Holland in disgrace, accused of private trading. He later volunteered to lead the expedition to the Cape to establish a permanent base!
Granger Bay's major draw card is its accessibility. The suburb lies only 20 minutes' from the airport, is minutes from the city or Cape Town's International Conference Centre - providing the business traveller with a number of options - and yet also lies within easy reach of Cape Town's most trendy beaches and suburbs.
Granger Bay is adjacent to the Metropolitan Golf Club, which lies within the Green Point Common - an inner-city greenbelt that is also home to the Green Point Stadium and the site of heated debate in the face of the 2010 World Cup, as local residents fought to safeguard the common.
The Green Point Market, held every Sunday in the car park outside the stadium, is one of the largest markets in Cape Town and well worth a visit, with music and crafts and loads of traditional African art pieces and curios. "The Sea Point Promenade can be accessed from Granger Bay and provides a wonderful walk that takes in ships in the bay, seagulls and locals and their dogs".