Which is precisely what my family and I decided to do last week as we headed inland from Cape Town for a 4 day break (myself, my partner and our two kids aged 9 and 12).
More about the rest of our holiday on other blog posts to follow; in this post I want to talk specifically about our experiences at the two very different hot water springs ''resorts'' we visited - Avalon Springs in the lovely town of Montagu, and Warmwaterberg Spa outside Barrydale.
We did not stay over at either place and our experiences at both places are therefore as day visitors.
Montagu Hot Springs:
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This resort is very popular, and before we went a number of friends and colleagues mentioned that they had been before, and stayed at the Avalon and Montagu Springs resorts and loved their time there.
Speaking purely from personal opinion, my partner and I were less than impressed with the resort, as day visitors.
First of all (and this is a matter of individual taste) we found the layout, landscaping and design of the resort kitsch, even tacky. A dearth of palm trees, a cabana style poolside bar, imitation rock and rather naff fountains all conspired to draw attention away from the incredibly beautiful mountains rising up on every side. The setting is so naturally beautiful it amazes me that the designers of the spa area should detract from, rather than enhance what is already there.
However as I said that is personal taste and the thousands of returning visitors to this resort clearly disagree. And I will add that our kids LOVED the waterslide.
My biggest beef however is not with the decor, but with the temperature of the water at Montagu springs this winter. We specifically chose a destination which boasted hot springs as we envisaged floating in deliciously hot natural spring water during the very chilly, crystal cold Montagu winter''s day. To our dismay the temperature was like that of a luke warm bath, the temperature it reaches just when you decide that you really should have gotten out 5 minutes earlier. The day was sunny but very, very chilly and I actually found myself shivering a lot of the time. There was one small hot area that fit a maximum of 5 people at one time and those who made it in stayed for hours on end.
Asking around about the temperature of the water we were told the following:
- A visitor staying at the resport - "Management told me the water is cold because of the recent snow"
- A security / maintenance man we spoke to : "I honestly can''t tell you what is going on"
- Two local Montagu residents (originally from Germany) who come to the springs every day - "It''s been like this for 3 weeks now - it has nothing to do with the snow, they are taking the hottest water to the private Jacuzzis in the hotel"
- One of the managers at the springs told me over the telephone ''it depends on the weather"
- I am still waiting for the general manager to call me back with his / her explanation *
On the Avalon Springs website, the water is advertised as being 43 deg C. I find the fact that no-one mentioned to us at the gate that we would be swimming in water very many degrees lower than that - whatever the reason - is unacceptable. In addition the pools are all heavily chlorinated - so much for the benefits of natural mineral water!
- The entry fee for a day visitor is R60 per adult.
- Contact: 023 614 1150
* Update: I have just received a call from the GM at Avalon Springs who has given me his explanation for the drop in water temperature which he says was only noticable this past weekend (we were there on Wednesday). According to him, increasing complaints from users over the course of the weekend led to rumours that the hot spring is drying up, which he was eager to assure me is not the case. Investigations led to the discovery that a non-return valve in the piping system that carries spring water up to the newest development is faulty and allowing water back down to the ''eye'' of the spring. He says that this is now rectified and that the water temperatures are once again where it should be. He did add that the day visitor pools are always cooler than the private pool.
Warmwaterberg Spa:
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The following day, on the advice of a friend, we took an hour''s drive from Montagu into the Klein Karoo to Warmwaterberg just past the infamous Ronnie''s Sex Shop pub outside Barrydale.
First of all, the setup is very different to Montagu - for us this was a definite bonus but if you prefer the palm tree resort vibe then be aware that Warmwaterberg Spa pretty basic. There are 3 and a half pools simply laid out in a fenced off area. The Karoo hills are in the distance as opposed to the majestic rocky mountains surrounding Montagu. There is an icy cold chlorinated pool, a medium temperature pool and (finally!) a hot pool. The hot and medium pools are not chlorinated as far as we could see so the water is a tea colour and, be warned, it tends to stain white costumes!
As the on site accommodation is a camp site the vibe here was very different to Montagu - and we definitely preferred it. But. most importantly, the water was, and remained, hot - the 42 Degrees C advertised was certainly accurate, and the weather was the same as it had been in Montagu the previous day.
- The entry fee for a day visitor is R30 for children and adults - for my money by far the better value.
- Contact: 028 572 1609
We would love to hear from readers who may have had similar or very different experiences at either one or both of these South Africa hot water spring spas.