| Stilbaai | |
| Pushpin Map: | South Africa Western Cape#South Africa#Africa |
| Coordinates: | -34.3683°N 21.4111°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Western Cape |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Garden Route |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Hessequa |
| Subdivision Type4: | Main Place |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Leader Title: | Councillor |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 25.48 |
| Elevation Max M: | 18 |
| Elevation Min M: | 0 |
| Population Total: | 3514 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup (2011) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 3.5% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 3.2% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 0.1% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 92.3% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics1 Info5: | 0.8% |
| Demographics Type2: | First languages (2011) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Afrikaans |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 84.5% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | English |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 13.7% |
| Demographics2 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics2 Info5: | 1.8% |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code (street) |
| Postal Code: | 6674 |
| Postal2 Code Type: | PO box |
| Postal2 Code: | 6674 |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
| Area Code: | 028 |
Stilbaai, also known as the Bay of Sleeping Beauty, is a town along the southern coast of South Africa about four hours by car from Cape Town. It is part of the Hessequa Local Municipality in the Western Cape province.
The town is one of the most visited coastal destinations within South Africa, and home to many travellers experiences. The Goukou River and warm Indian Ocean are some of the most prominent natural features. As part of the Cape Floral Kingdom, the town also holds great Fynbos diversity.
Stilbaai is host to a number of interesting archaeological sites, including ancient fish traps thought to have been built by early ancestors of the Khoi people of the Southern Cape, and a shell landfill that has been carbon dated to around 1000 BC.
Another archaeological site is situated in a group of caves at Blombos cave, about 12 kilometres from Stilbaai. Artifacts found at Blombos have been carbon dated to around 77,000 BP, making it the oldest known human settlement today.
Stilbaai has a temperate climate and receives almost the same amount of rainfall in all four seasons, with peaks in autumn and spring.Temperature averages between 20 and 28 °C in the summer and between 12 and 20 °C in the winter. Rainfall is 639.2 mm per annum on average.[2]
Stilbaai owns a large selection of nature reserves. To the east is Pauline Bohnen Nature Reserve, a large reserve with various hiking routes. The Skulpiesbaai Nature Reserve is situated near the harbour and reaches up to the "Noordkapperpunt" fishponds. The Geelkrants Nature Reserve is situated next to the "Pulpit".