Diamond Coast
The Diamond Coast holds a beauty and mystique of its own with its cultural diversity and mineral mining. Kleinzee and the diamond mines that support it offer an interesting insight into the lifestyle of the modern miner.
The town was established by De Beers in 1942, after the first diamonds were found on the farm Kleyne Zee in 1927. After they halted mining operations, the town’s activity slowed down drastically and it is now a quiet settlement with kilometres of unspoilt beaches, a small fishing community and lots of beautiful, sparse vegetation.
De Beers has kept the town’s economy in check - one of their projects is the Kleinzee oyster farm on one of the dams created from mined out areas. Visitors can do a self-guided Boulder Heritage Route, which is a 4 km walk that highlights the history of diamond mining and the early mining methods used at Kleinzee.