To the beach at 'Fish Hoek' for a Swim and Pickup Soccer

Hmmm .... wonder what that black flag means ... ?


Ahh, OK, so an interpretation: "We can't say for sure whether or not there's a shark in the swimming area, as we're not actually able to see well enough at the moment, but there have been sharks here recently". Yes, travelling always introduces a wealth of learning opportunities.  Having seen the sign, we read through all the flag colour symbols and repeated 3 times for memory sake - red means shark in the water the last 2 hrs; white means no spotting today; white with shark means shark currently in water, etc.  A Shark Spotter and official hut was permanantly established on the beach, and with the beach high chair, horn, hut and flag system - it sure looked like official business spotting these sharks!  Having read the sign and flag systems, it would appear to be a bit risky to enter with anything other than the clear white flag flying ... and even then, you don't want to be the reason they put the other flag back up.  We decided beach playing and beach combing would be safe enough, so we spent a few hours frolicking along the shoreline and all dipped our toes into the Indian Ocean - a first for everyone but John.