I visited the Bay Harbour Market in Hout Bay on the weekend. It’s the newest addition to the Cape Town market scene and it didn’t disappoint. Located in Hout Bay’s quaint fishing harbour, the pungent aroma of fish and a dead seal (I think) greeted me as I pulled into one of the parking bays at the markets ample parking area. It was Sunday, 3rd July but the markets official opening was on the Saturday and saw over 2000 visitors through the doors during its long opening hours from 9am to 5pm.
The big old wharf-side warehouse (previously an old fish factory) provides the perfect location and the décor is a mixture of rustic maritime and irie – be sure to check out the awesome tree stump chandelier. The entire interior is a smoke free zone and it’s obvious the organisers have the environment front of mind with their own recycling program encouraging market goers to make use of the demarcated rubbish bins for junk.
Food Stalls 
While the Hout Bay Harbour Market offerings are mainly aimed at the ladies, men won’t be dissatisfied with the great variety of food on offer, a number of bars selling draught beer, the genuine dry Everson’s cider from Grabouw, and the live music entertainment. My morning started with a Bean There coffee from Nap before moving on to an excellent fry up for just R30. Later on I couldn’t resist a ‘What the Fudge’ pancake with a filling of roasted almonds, banana and fudge… delicious. I noticed that Mr Juice from the popular Earth Fair Market was also there. Currently there are about 76 registered traders at the Bay Harbour Market.
Why go to the Hout Bay Harbour Market?
So in summary here are the reasons why you should visit the Hout Bay Market:
- It’s Cape Town’s newest market
- It’s open all weekend (Saturday 9am -5pm & Sunday from 9am – 4pm)
- It’s great for kids, adults, couples
- Free live music
- It’s indoors so it’s perfect for those rainy Cape days
- There’s plenty of free parking with car guards on duty
- Food, beer and good coffee on sale
- Arts, crafts, décor and clothing on sale
Directions
If you’re coming from Cape Town then enter Hout Bay from the Llandudno side. When you’re at the bottom of Suikerbossie (you’ll be on Victoria Avenue) carry on straight through the robots, through the 1st and 2nd circle until it becomes Northshore Drive. Northshore Drive bears right and becomes Harbour Road. The road eventually ends in a car park and you’ve arrived at Bay Harbour Market.
You can follow the Bay Harbour Market on Twitter (Facebookers can visit them here). They’re a new Cape Town market so I’m sure the offerings will grow as time goes on. Either way it’s a nice thing to do on the weekend in Cape Town and I’ll recommend it to anyone looking for something relaxing to do on a Saturday or Sunday.
Visit the Bay Harbour Market website.