Five en-suite double bedrooms
Every bedroom has its own shower, toilet and basin — no morning queues, even with ten of you.
Self-catering holiday home · Suiderstrand, Western Cape
Thirty years our family’s secret. Now yours to borrow.
We built Gans-te-Ver in 1991, inside a coastal nature reserve at the southernmost tip of Africa. Five en-suite bedrooms, room for ten, a pizza oven and three braais — and the beach begins where the garden ends.
- Sleeps 10
- 5 en-suite bedrooms
- Inside a nature reserve
- Metres from the beach
- Cape Agulhas — Africa's southernmost tip
From R1 300 per night, whole house · minimum 2 nights
Rated 8.4/10 on Booking.com — guests give the location 9.9.
Our story
Built for one family. Opened to yours.
The stand came first — bought by my father in 1990, when Suiderstrand was little more than fynbos, dunes and a gravel road that stops where the continent does. I started building the following year, and the house grew up with the family: more bedrooms as the children came, longer tables as the friends did.
It stands alone inside a nature reserve, a few metres from the beach, and that wonderful isolation is the whole point. For three decades we kept it to ourselves — then, in 2024, we decided a place like this was too good not to share, and opened the doors.
It is still our holiday home, and a stay here still works the way it always has: walk the trails, swim when the water lets you, braai until late — and leave already planning the next visit.
— Madelaine, your host
1990
My father buys the stand at Suiderstrand.
1991
Building begins — and the house grows up alongside the children.
30 years
Christmases, school holidays and long weekends: the family's private hideout.
2024
The doors open, so other families can have what we've always had.
The house
Room for everyone, and a view from almost every room
Five en-suite double bedrooms across a bright, open-plan beach house — built around long tables, big fires and the sea out the window.
A main suite with its own sea balcony
Double bed, sitting corner, TV and fridge — and a private balcony with a built-in braai facing the water.
Two lounges, two long tables
A six-seater beside the indoor braai and an eight-seater under the skylights — nobody eats on their lap.
Pizza oven, indoor braai, Weber
A wood-fired pizza oven by the big table, a double-hearth braai wall inside, and a Weber on the patio.
A proper self-catering kitchen
Gas stove and oven, double-door fridge-freezer, microwave and everything you need to feed a full house.
The easy extras
Free Wi-Fi, covered carport parking, child-friendly — and pets stay free, by prior arrangement.
Tap any photo to view it full screen.
The setting
A nature reserve out front, the bottom of Africa out back
Suiderstrand is the quiet end of Cape Agulhas: no shops, no noise — just fynbos, beach and a handful of houses inside the reserve. Everything else is minutes away.
0 km
Walk out the door
The house sits inside a coastal nature reserve — fynbos trails, dune paths and empty beach start at the garden wall.
±5 km
The southernmost tip of Africa
Stand where the Indian and Atlantic oceans officially meet, at the iconic map monument in Agulhas National Park.
±7 km
Cape Agulhas lighthouse
South Africa's second-oldest working lighthouse (1849). Climb the ladders for the best view in the Overberg.
On foot
The Meisho Maru shipwreck
The rusting bow of a Japanese fishing trawler, wrecked in 1982, juts from the surf an easy coastal walk from Suiderstrand.
Jun – Nov
Whales in season
Southern right whales cruise this coast in winter and spring — watch them from the dunes with your morning coffee.
±12 km
Struisbaai harbour & beaches
A 14 km white-sand beach, a working harbour with fresh fish, and short-tail stingrays gliding between the boats.
Want the full local rundown? Read our guide to Suiderstrand & Cape Agulhas →
Who it's for
Built for big tables and slow days
The house sleeps 10 without anyone drawing the short straw — that's what thirty years of our own family holidays taught us to build.
The whole-family December
Grandparents, cousins, toddlers — ten beds across five en-suite rooms means everyone comes, and nobody shares a bathroom. The lawn handles cricket; the pizza oven handles supper.
Ten friends, zero schedule
Two lounges so the early sleepers and the card players never clash, two long tables for the long dinners, and a beach with nobody on it for the morning after.
The long weekend escape
2h45 from Cape Town and you're somewhere that feels like the edge of the world — because it literally is. Arrive Friday, reset completely, home by Monday.
Don't take our word for it
Guests score the location 9.9 out of 10
From 11 verified reviews on Booking.com — the people who've already braaied here.
9.9
Location
9.1
Value for money
8.4/10
Overall score
“The property is located on the beach with direct access to the sea. The property is lovely and spacious and each of the 5 bedrooms have an en-suite bathroom. It has great braai facilities as well as a pizza oven.”
“Views. Spaciousness. Proximity to sea. Indoor braai facilities. Full of character.”
“It's extremely spacious, and you have easy access to the beach.”
Good to know
The practical bits, answered straight
Getting here
- Take the N2 from Cape Town over Sir Lowry’s Pass to Caledon, then the R316 through Napier to Bredasdorp.
- Stock up in Bredasdorp (the last big supermarkets), then follow the R319 to Struisbaai and L’Agulhas.
- Keep going along the coast past the lighthouse — the easy gravel road into the reserve ends at Suiderstrand, 2h45 after you left the city.
Exact directions and a pin come with your booking confirmation on WhatsApp.
Questions every group asks
- How do we get to Gans-te-Ver?
- From Cape Town it's about 230 km (±2h45): N2 to Caledon, then through Bredasdorp to Struisbaai and L'Agulhas, and follow the coastal road to Suiderstrand. The last stretch is an easy gravel road — fine for any car.
- What does self-catering mean here?
- You bring the food, the house does the rest: a full kitchen with gas stove and oven, double-door fridge-freezer, microwave, plus the pizza oven and braais. Do your big shop in Bredasdorp on the way in — the small shops and restaurants of L'Agulhas and Struisbaai are 10–15 minutes away.
- What are the check-in and check-out times?
- Check-in from 14:00, check-out by 10:00. Minimum stay is 2 nights. We'll send simple arrival directions on WhatsApp before you travel.
- Can we bring our dog?
- Yes — pets stay free, by prior arrangement. The house stands inside a nature reserve, so please check with Madelaine first and keep dogs off the fynbos and dunes.
- Is the house good for children?
- Very — a walled lawn, a child-friendly layout and a beach a few metres away. Children of all ages are welcome; note there are no cots or extra beds, so little ones share the five doubles. The Agulhas coast is wild ocean, so always supervise on the rocks and in the water.
- Can we throw a party?
- Long dinners, braais and pizza-oven evenings — absolutely. Parties and events, no: the house stands inside a quiet nature reserve, and quiet hours run 22:00 to 07:00. That peace is exactly what you come here for.
Book your stay
Bring the people. We'll send the directions.
Message Madelaine directly on WhatsApp — she typically replies within minutes — or call if you'd rather talk it through.
From R1 300per night, whole house
Rates vary by season and group size — message us for an exact quote. Minimum 2 nights · check-in 14:00 · check-out 10:00.
Prefer a booking site?
Gans-te-Ver is also listed on the platforms below — same house, same beds, where guests rate us 8.4/10 (and the location 9.9). Booking directly on WhatsApp always gets you the best available rate and a human on the other side.