Situated past Pearly Beach, before Quion Point Nature Reserve, lies Buffeljagsbaai. It is home to a very small fishing community who live only from the sea.
The community was founded by two families in the 1920’s, Johannes Swam and his
wife, and the Groenewald family, who were then later joined by the Claasens family. Johannes
Swam used to work inland as a farm laborer at Elim and would regularly visit the bay for
fishing and holidays. Johannes was able to collect enough driftwood and timber from a wrecked ship at Quion Point, to build a thatch cottage and a little boat to start fishing independently (Biswas, 2012).
Buffeljagsbaai is literally a one road town that ends in the only natural harbour between Kleinbaai and Struisbaai for launching boats. This pristine coastal gem offers magnificent visuals of stark beauty with its magnificent untouched sweeping seascapes.
Life in Buffeljags has improved a lot recently due to two large Abalone farms which they can now harvest Kelp for.
Plaaitjieskraal Ghost Town
To the west of Buffeljagsbaai is a small caravan- and bungalow-park situated in between the dunes with access to a beautiful secluded beach and bay. This is called Plaaitjieskraal and was a holiday resort built in the 1980’s – but abandoned in the 1990’s – due to dune encroachment and inadequate maintenance.
This is Overberg’s ghost town – the location is absolutely stunning, and it’s a big pity that no longer open for business. Would’ve been the ultimate Getaway in it’s heyday!
Jessie’s Bay
Impressive, solidified sand dunes tower above Jessie se Baai which is situated on the East side of Buffeljagsbaai towards Quion Point.
On the dark and stormy night of 7 October 1829 a British sailing vessel, The Jessie, ran aground here as she was trying to make her way around the point. Loaded with passengers, general cargo, and horses, she was on her way to Mauritius. Just what she was doing so close inshore in these brutally treacherous waters is not clear (details are somewhat sketchy) in a North-Westerly gale.
A few passengers managed to get into 2 lifeboats, one of which was driven ashore by the wind, while the other eventually made it to shore about 15km to the west of the Breede River mouth in the east – a long way away.
Pieces of the ship eventually washed up at the Ratel River Estuary some 7km to the east of Quoin Point. Alas, many lives were lost but the good people of Elim, a Moravian mission village nearby, tended to the survivors that made it ashore.
As a result of this help and kindness, Queen Victoria gave the residents of Elim the right to use the land, which led to Buffeljags.
NOTE: Buffeljagsbaai is a remote location so please stock up on supplies if want to go visit, and at least half a tank of petrol if want to go 4×4 through the veld. There is no supplies past Pearly Beach.