About this guide
houtbay.app is an independent guide to one valley. It covers what is worth doing here, where to eat, and — the part that matters most — who to call when you need work done.
Hout Bay has two townships, Imizamo Yethu and Hangberg, and between them a great many people who work for themselves and are very good at it. Almost none of them have a website. They get found by word of mouth, or they do not get found.
That is a solvable problem, and solving it is the reason this site exists. The rest — the hikes, the harbour, the restaurants — is what brings people to the site in the first place.
How it is paid for
Featured placement for restaurants, tour operators and other businesses that can afford it. That is the whole model.
Tradespeople are never charged — not to be listed, not to rank higher, not per enquiry, not a commission on work. If that ever changes, the site has failed at the thing it was built for.
Editorial listings are not for sale. Paid placement is always labelled, and no amount of money moves anything up an unpaid list.
How we decide what goes in
Someone goes and looks. Opening hours, phone numbers and prices are published only once a person has confirmed them on the ground — which is why you will see "not confirmed yet" in places rather than a number we found on a five-year-old listing.
We would rather be short and right than long and wrong.
Corrections
Something out of date, closed down, or just wrong? Tell us and we will fix it. This is a small valley and the guide only works if the people in it keep us honest.
Send a correction