Information

For places to eat there are some fantastic restaurants in the surrounding area – obviously we recommend our very own Boulders Beach Restaurant with the Sea Food speciality dish, but there are other excellent venues for your culinary pleasure.

The picture is from the deck of our sister restaurant, Flukes Restaurant at Southern Right Hotel, home of the Southern Right Whales.

The unit of currency is the South African Rand (R). R1 = 100 cents. The picture is our own Boulders Beach bank note.

The country code for South Africa is +27 for all telephone calls.

To make an international call from South Africa: dial 09 and the country code, area code and telephone number you require.

Public telephones accept coins (blue boxes) or phone cards (green boxes). Cards are available at post offices and most shops. Simon’s Town Post Office is open from 8.30am – 4.30pm on weekdays and Saturdays from 8am – 12pm. Tel.: 021 786 2114

Cape Town International Airport is serviced by all major airlines and is a major domestic hub for national flights. Cape Town International Airport flight information number is 021 934 0407. (www.airports.co.za) The airport is 42 km away from Boulders Beach Lodge and takes approximately 48 minutes by road.

For sporting enthusiasts, Cape Town has two of the most famous sports grounds in the world – Newlands Rugby Stadium (home of Western Province Rugby- www.wprugby.co.za) and Newlands Cricket Ground (home to Western Province - Boland Cricket - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

There is an endless supply of sporting events in the Western Cape from the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour in March (www.cycletour.co.za), Two Oceans Marathon in April (www.twooceansmarathon.co.za) , rugby all winter, cricket and soccer all summer. You can participate or spectate and watch out for the World Cup Soccer to be hosted by South Africa in 2010!

Living in an environmentally sensitive area and the heart of a world heritage site we at Boulders Beach Lodge have an environmental policy whereby all staff and management are committed to using reasonable efforts to reduce the environmental impact of our business.

This means that wherever possible we try to:

* Reduce, reuse, recover, replace, recycle and safely dispose of waste products - Please help us recycle our cans (www.collectacan.co.za)

* Apply practical measures to reduce energy and water use while maintaining high standards (we use multiflush toilets and low flow shower heads; energy saving light bulbs)

* Purchase environmentally-friendly products for use in our operations

* Encourage, support and participate in environmental and conservation initiatives, especially in Simon’s Town. We use earthworms to digest our kitchen waste. Check out our worm partners at www.wormhammock.com

* Raise environmental awareness amongst our staff, suppliers and guests, and implement any of their ideas for improving our environmental performance.

We are proud participants in the “Western Cape Hospitality Industry Cleaner Production Pilot Project” organised by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning. The project involves an initial audit by specialist consultants in the categories of Water, Waste and Energy Usage, with subsequent recommendations and implementation of chosen aspects. There is ongoing monitoring to assess the effectiveness of the implementation process and the intended consequence of the project is to develop a green-rating system in the South African Hospitality and Tourism industry. Please see the government website that includes this project and numerous others: www.capegateway.gov.za

They say that Cape Town is a weather-obsessed city and being near the tip of the African continent, weather can change pretty rapidly and dramatically.

However the warm dry summers and moderate, moist winters will no doubt pleasantly surprise you. Average summer day temperatures are in the high twenties (Celsius) and average winter temperatures are in the upper teens. Summer can see the infamous South-Easter wind transform an otherwise beautiful day.In winter the crisp cool days can be altered by the North-Westerly wind which dumps much needed rain upon the Cape.

The “secret season” in the Cape is Autumn (May – June)- although it is not quite so secret any more. surf-body-board-kommetjie With warm days, minimal wind and fewer tourists it really is a fabulous time to visit. For a detailed daily or 5 day forecast (www.weathersa.co.za) or call the Cape Town weather forecast on 082 231 1640, the wind report on 082 234 6300 or the surf report on 021- 788 1350. South Africa works 2 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. What that actually means is we are 1 hour ahead of Central European Winter Time and 7 hours ahead of the USA’s Eastern Standard Time.