Two Cintsas for the price of one

The main beach in Cintsa East seems to have enough space for all the beach towels in East London. In typical Wild Coast fashion, green hills roll out to the Indian Ocean with just a wide strip of sand in-between.

I dip my toes in the water – I live in Cape Town and the difference in sea temperature is quite noticeable to me. You can swim in the sea and the river, and Cintsa is popular with surfers, kitesurfers and anglers. The place must be quite busy in summer.

But it’s May now, and I don’t have to worry about crowds. There aren’t many people on the beach: some late afternoon strollers, a family tossing a frisbee for their dogs, and a group playing soccer. The game is chaotic – there are about 30 people per team, but the “field” is big enough for everyone.

Over the next few days, I’ll explore these two coastal towns to look for fun things to do on the doorstep of the Wild Coast.

A backpackers for the whole family

Is Cintsa part of the Wild Coast? On the way here I drove past East London and a sign outside the city said I’m now officially on the Wild Coast Route.

If you define the Wild Coast by the borders of the former Transkei homeland, you’ll say the region starts at the Kei River about 70 km further north, and stretches 250 km to the Mtamvuna River near Port Edward.

But maybe that’s splitting hairs, especially since I just drove through a city that is not really the eastern side of the English capital…

Still, Cintsa is a little tamer than the “real” Wild Coast: The closest shopping mall is less than an hour’s drive away, the roads don’t have as many potholes, the cattle are mostly in kraals, and the houses here have more corners