Coot Club
Coot Club sits on a peninsula of the Klein River lagoon between the Maanschynkop mountains and the dunes of the Walker Bay Nature Reserve, fifteen minutes from the heritage village of Stanford and about two hours from Cape Town. The retreat is at heart a conservation initiative: its 465 hectare reserve, assessed by BirdLife South Africa in 2021 and managed in partnership with them, falls within the Cape Whale Coast Important Bird and Biodiversity Area, home to more than 230 bird species, and every stay funds the work, from alien vegetation clearing by a local team to camera-trap monitoring.
The accommodation is an eclectic mix: the nautical-themed Port, Starboard and Stern Boathouses make the most of the lagoon and mountain views, while Lawns and the Leeward suites (the former Stone Cottages) tuck into the milkwood forest. Every unit has its own wood-fired KolKol hot tub, indoor wood-burning stove and air conditioning in the bedrooms. Rates are dinner, bed and breakfast: a full breakfast and a two-course, home-style dinner served at the Clubhouse in the historic Spookhuis, with breakfast baskets delivered to your door on request and sundowners called by the ship's bell an hour before sunset.
Days fill themselves: kayaks and stand-up paddleboards on the lagoon, fat bikes on the farm tracks and into Stanford, walking and cycling trails through the fynbos, archery, lawn games, a slip and slide and treehouse for children, daily morning yoga on the lagoon-front deck, a wood-fired sauna and two shared pools with mountain views. At extra cost there are guided quad bike rides, motorised water sports, 4x4 beach trips into Walker Bay for sandboarding and land-based whale watching, in-room massages, and boat-based whale watching and Marine Big 5 safaris with Marine Dynamics; from about June to December Southern Right and Humpback whales fill Walker Bay just over the dunes. A minimum stay of 2 nights applies, and the retreat closes for a short annual winter break in early June.
