Port St Johns is an idyllic town with a population of 3000. It's set amongst mountain, jungle and sea and is often referred to as the Emeral Gem of the Wild Coast. It consists of two villages, 5km apart - First Beach and Second Beach.
First Beach is the bustling town centre. It's a shopping centre for the surrounding rural villages, and is always busy, with several supermarkets and wholesalers, a street market and taxi rank. There are also several restaurants, as well as a museum and art gallery.
Second Beach is more laid-back and hippified. There are one or two shops and a few houses clustered around a beautiful, palm-fringed lagoon.
Port St Johns was named after a 16th Century Portuguese ship, the Sao Joao, which was wrecked nearby. It was founded in 1878 as a supply port for ships sailing to the British Colony at Port Natal (Durban), but was abandoned as a port with the introduction of refrigeration in the 1940's. These days, it owes its existence to tourism and as a supply centre for the surrounding areas.
Port St Johns offers particularly good fishing, due to its variety, and the lack of development. It's on the banks of the Umzimvubu River, one of SA's largest, and offers river, surf as well as deep-sea angling.
It has a unique ecosystem. It's situated in the midst of thousands of hectares of rare Afromontane forest, with many endemic sub-species of flora and fauna.
The Wild Coast itself is a very rugged stretch of coastline in the Eastern Cape Province. It stretches 250km from the Kei River in the south, to the Mthamvuma River on the border of KwaZulu-Natal. It is home to the Xhosa tribe, with the Pondo people inhabiting the area around Port St Johns.
During Apartheid, it was part of the Transkei. Its political isolation from the rest of SA, together with the inaccessibility of the landscape, has given it a distinct flavour. It feels unspoiled, laid-back and casual, adding to its appeal.
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