Dana Bay is a small coastal village on the Garden Route and for all practical reasons a suburb of Mossel Bay. As a real hidden gem for visitors, Dana Bay is often overlooked by the huge crowds. The residential area slopes gently around the long beaches providing residents with amazing sea views. Dana Bay boasts long sandy unspoilt beaches, where anglers, sunbathers, hikers and the nature lover can enjoy the outdoors.

Dana Bay is situated approximately 8 km westwards from MosselBay. It is proud of its official conservancy status. The Fynbos, a beautiful, natural shrub or heath land vegetation that can only be found in a very small belt of the Western Cape Province of South Africa, is indigenous to the area. All of this means your private garden could very well be visited by bush buck, steenbuck, mongoose, cape francolins. The prolific bird life, which consist of over 85 species, (the most famous being the endangered black oyster catcher), adds to the beauty and tranquillity of Dana Bay.

Dana Bay’s long sandy beaches offer safe swimming and angling. Fishermen will often catch cob or elf and in the colder season land a mussel cracker or two. Whales visit the shores of Dana Bay to calve and schools of dolphins can often be seen at play.

The local community strives to conserve and protect the wildlife and vegetation of Dana Bay, and, consequently, it is an attraction and wonderful part of the Garden Route. In Dana Bay animals have right of way at all times!

History

Dana Bay began as farmland for livestock in 1821. In 1972 the land was acquired for a retirement village that would only provide 2000 plots for the future residents, but has since outgrown this. All town planning was done with conservation in mind, street names were given botanical names and the road planning was done so to minimize erosion.

Dana Bay received its official conservation status on 27th May 1998 when it was also declared as the first Urban Conservancy in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Dana Bay residents take pride in the conservation of animals, endemic plants and participate in projects that raise conservation awareness. The layouts of the buildings were designed around the dispersion of Fynbos seeds and the movement of animals, so as not to infringe or disrupt nature. Green belt zones and interlinking corridors facilitate this.

All the animals in the conservancy are protected; visitors and residents are requested to take extra care when driving in Dana Bay, to ensure they do not injure any animals accidentally.