- Source: Danabaai
Dana Bay can really be considered as a sort of village with a mini supermarket, bakery, butchery, eating establishments, fuel station and liquor outlets amongst other small businesses and it forms part of the greater Mossel Bay municipality. Dana Bay lies approximately halfway between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town and is a mere 4 kilometers off the N2 highway with the central part of Mossel Bay about 12 kilometers away.
There are no hotels in Dana Bay however there are multiple Bed and Breakfast establishments and a new specialised medical centre.
This area is exceptionally blessed to still host a variety of free roaming animals. It is not uncommon to find bushbuck, mongoose, tortoise, porcupine, guineafowl and Cape spurfowl visiting your garden. You may even find the grysbok if you are fortunate enough. There is a breeding pair of rock kestrels and jackal buzzards within the area, and on the cliffs not far away is a pair of peregrine falcons. A list of common birds in the area is to be found below. Snakes are a regular occurrence such as Cape cobra and puffadder. The fire department plays an important role in capturing them and releasing them further away.
The bay frequently plays host to the Bryde's whale and from June to late October the southern right whale and humpback whale can be spotted quite often. It is a pleasure to watch the mother Humpback whale teach her youngsters to jump out of the water (whale breaching) and do some lobtailing, this is the act of beating the water with their tails.
On a fairly regular basis you will often see Bottlenose dolphin frolicking in the surf or a little further out in the bay. You will be able to frequently watch the Cape Gannet's dive into the sea and then resurface a moment later with a fish in their beak.
The sunsets are absolutely stunning during the summer months.
Dana Bay is a recognised conservancy, hosting coastal and limestone varieties of fynbos and supports one of the highest numbers of endemic species in the Cape Floristic Region. The area outside of the village is mostly surrounded by the farm Rem Droogfontein 245, which does not form part of the conservancy. However, in its natural untouched state it hosts a large proportion of free roaming animals which regularly cross in and out of the conservancy area.
The area is rich in history regarding the Khoisan people that found a home here and archeological findings date back almost 175,000 years.
Bird species to be found in the area include:
Cape gannet
white-breasted cormorant, Cape cormorant
grey heron, blue crane
hadeda ibis
Booted eagle, jackal buzzard, African harrier-hawk, peregrine falcon, rock kestrel, black-shouldered kite, Black sparrowhawk dark morph, spotted eagle-owl
Cape spurfowl, helmeted guineafowl,
African black oystercatcher, white-fronted plover, Kelp gull, Sandwich tern, Swift Tern
speckled pigeon, red-eyed dove, laughing dove, Cape turtle dove
Knysna turaco not a common visitor
Burchell's coucal
speckled mousebird, red-faced mousebird
brown-hooded kingfisher, Giant kingfisher
African hoopoe
barn swallow, greater striped swallow, rock martin, common house martin, Brown-throated martin
fork-tailed drongo, Black cuckooshrike
pied crow, white-necked raven,
Cape bulbul, sombre greenbul, Terrestrial brownbul,
Cape rock thrush
Cape robin-chat
bar-throated apalis, Cape penduline tit
tawny-flanked prinia, karoo prinia
fiscal flycatcher, paradise flycatcher
common fiscal
Cape wagtail
southern boubou, southern tchagra
bokmakierie
common starling
Cape sugarbird, malachite sunbird, southern double-collared sunbird, greater double-collared sunbird, amethyst sunbird
Cape white-eye
house sparrow, Cape sparrow, streaky-headed seedeater, Cape bunting
Cape weaver, yellow bishop, Cape canary, yellow canary, Brimstone canary, White-throated canary
cardinal woodpecker, Knysna woodpecker
Fiery-necked nightjar
spotted thick-knee
swee waxbill
pin-tailed whydah
Hammerkop
