As the summer season starts to beckon, locals are making the most of East Beach’s new chill spot.
Ocean Bliss Cafe under management of Guido’s owner, Dean van Tonder, is open from 7am to 6m every day and has a wide variety of delectable treats on offer among them, light fried snacks and sweet and savoury items, and a wide range of cold and hot beverages, including the must-have, coffee.
Patrons who prefer not to eat on the run, can seat themselves at wooden tables on the grassy patch in front of the kiosk that is cordoned off by neat picket fencing. There is also an upper deck – where you can have your delicious eats – with a view to boot.
Van Tonder says business has taken off since the opening two weeks ago.
“We are open from 7am -6pm … and we have been pleasantly surprised by the response from the locals. A lot of our customers are the beach walkers, surfers, and beach-goers,” he says.
Van Tonder admits to having been skeptical about security before the revamp kicked off, but that had changed with the installation of CCTV cameras and other security initiatives. “We have really beefed up security and it’s safe … more people, especially women, are also now visiting the beach because they know there is a presence there for most of the day.”
An initiative by several local stakeholders to clear up the area around the kiosk and the facility itself earlier this year, which included painting murals on walls, clearing bush, putting locks on to toilets and fixing up balustrades on the upper deck, had paved the way for the new development.
The new management have had to make adjustments of their own during the planning stages of Ocean Bliss Cafe, such as erecting picket fences, fixing up the toilets, and complete renovation of the lock-up kiosk.
“We also erected picket fences and sand barriers, which are also there to protect any animals in that environment,” says Van Tonder. We also made some adjustments to the upper deck and have installed a new drainage system.”
Van Tonder is upbeat about the future of the development, especially with the influx of holidaymakers expected over the summer season.
Ocean Bliss Café seems to have the makings of the ideal go-to spot for a cool summer chill experience.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, November 14, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
