The arch
A hole in the wall.
Vincentvanoosten — CC0 · hermansmit — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Thomas Fuhrmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · hermansmit — CC BY-SA 3.0 · GrantsJ1 — CC BY-SA 4.0
Hole-in-the-Wall is a natural sea arch on the Wild Coast of South Africa's Eastern Cape, at the mouth of the Mpako River about 8 km south of Coffee Bay. The local Xhosa people call it esiKhaleni, the place of sound. The formation is a tidal island with a natural arch, a great hole punched through its wall of sandstone and shale by the waves, wide enough for a sailboat to pass under with ease. A Xhosa legend tells of a beautiful girl who fell in love with a man of the water people, whose folk rammed a hole through the cliff with the head of a giant fish to reach her. The massive rock rises from the sea with a flat green top, pierced by the hole through which the waves surge, surrounded by rolling green hills and a beach of pebbles and sand. Under certain conditions the waves slap the rocks with a resounding crack, and the hole roars during storms, which is where its local name comes from. At low tide the rock can be reached on foot from the beach. Visitors take in the view from the hills above and photograph it at sunrise. The nearby village of the same name has places to stay, and the road to the Wild Coast is long and rough in parts.
A hole in the wall.
Behind the rock.
On the Wild Coast.
Mpako River mouth, south of Coffee Bay, Wild Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Yes, on foot at low tide.
In the nearby village.