Saldanha Bay - General Info
Where is Saldanha Bay?
This is a busy commercial harbour and a major port for exporting iron ore. It is about 60NM north of Cape Town, adjacent to the West Coast National Park, on the northern side of a large, deep bay. The breakwater and hills here have created a very sheltered harbour in the NW of the port for fishing boats and yachts.
Entrance Notes and Cautions:
At least 15 minutes prior to entering the Saldanha VTS zone, inform Port Control on VHF Channel 12 and request permission to enter the port. When passing a reporting point, as indicated on the SAN Charts, inform Port Control via VHF accordingly.
West Coast: Saldanha Bay leading light not operational (17 April 2024)
Cruiser Highlights for Saldahna Bay:
In July 2024, South Africa’s Dept of Home Affairs and Border Management Authority authorised Saldahna Bay to operate as a Port of Entry/Exit for South Africa.
Many circumnavigating yachts wanting to leave South Africa will now be able to leave Cape Town and sail to Saldahna, explore that area and then clear out there instead of having to return to Cape Town to undertake clearance formalities there.
Lots of repair and refit facilities here including yards offering haul-out facilities, GRP repair work, sanding, marine cabinetry, engines, Stainless steel fabrications, solar etc, Electronics and instrumentation, Mast stepping and laydown, Rigging and riggers, Cleaning and valeting services.
Position – bay entrance:
33°04’52″S,17°55’18″E
Last updated: July 2024
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Related to following destinations: Saldanha Bay, South Africa
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I was perfectly welcomed by the Yachtport staff and was able to leave my boat for 4 months moored at the single dock of the shipyard.
Although Langebaan is not a port of entry Secretary Leona was kind enough to drive me to carry out the formalities of customs. She also helped me in all my steps on site, car rental etc.
Glenn, the site technical manager, is very friendly and my boat was taken care of during my absence. He is competent, very pleasant and with his team is at the service of boaters.
I recommend this site to leave your boat safely at a reasonable price.
Pascal
Owner Centurion 49 “Actéon”
We had work done at Yachtport in Saldanha and were treated terribly. The scope of work was to repaint hull, replace engines and paint engine rooms while old engines were out. Glen at the yard gave us a reasonable quote and time frame, 3 months.
Acceptable, but then proceeded to take on other jobs and put us in the back of the line while we were away. Calls were never returned and progress was always overstated in emails. In the end, most of the work was done last minute, poorly or not at all, such as engine rooms which sat engine free for 6 weeks! When paint finally was slathered on the day before engines went in, it did not have correct hardener and is a sticky mess to this day… needless to say we did not pay for this disaster! The bottom was stripped and ready to paint for 5 weeks and last minute paint was barely dry by the time we launched in March. Then the last minute efforts to get done with the topsides, they were short coated and the primer was showing through in many spots – contract stated 3 coats of paint.
The boat is currently being repainted in Trinidad and any effort to get refunded have been futile.
To top it all off the Yachtport sits next to an Iron ore plant and your entire boat will be stained in a matter of days when the wind blows the “wrong” way!
Captain Pete Tuls
SY Downtime
Voyage 580