Watersports in the Vaal Triangle

The Highveld Water Sport Season begins around the beginning of September and the Vaal Triangle becomes an inland paradise for water sport enthusiasts, with both the Vaal Dam and Vaal River offering endless recreational activities ranging from paddling about in the holiday house canoes, to large sailing regatta events.

Enjoy waterskiing, wake-boarding, tubing, jetskiing, rowing, yachting, kayaking, rubber-ducking, fishing, power-boatin and rafting. Bass Lake on the Klip River, in the Vereeniging suburb of Henley-on-Klip, is also a nationally popular freshwater scuba diving location, and regularly used for diving courses by Gauteng and Vaal dive companies.

The Gatsien (literally meaning ‘see your…’) rapids near the Free State town of Parys on the Vaal River is a popular spot for kayaking, canoeing and white water rafting, particularly when water is released from the Vaal Dam Barrage.

These activities are offered by several local adventure, team-building and adrenaline activity companies, many based in Parys, which is both part of the Vaal Triangle and the Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site – the site of the world’s oldest known meteor impact, and widely believed to have had a possible role in the origination of life on Earth; ultimately the best place on the Vaal River to enjoy getting a thrill out of life and maybe even risking it!

A number of annual and one-off river rafting and canoeing events offer participants the chance to show off their skills, and spectators the chance to enjoy a great sunny summer afternoon by the river.

For more thrills, though hopefully no spills, the Barrage Reservoir stretch of the Vaal Dam is a popular venue for speed boat races, and the Dam also offers many opportunities to enjoy sailing on everything from dinghies to large keelboats and catamarans.

The Vaal Dam offers many opportunities to enjoy sailing on everything from dinghies to large keelboats and catamarans.

A number of companies offer Sailing Charters, and sailing lessons for both adults and children are available at the Vaal Marina, in the towns of Deneysville and Oranjeville and at various other launching and mooring locations around the convoluted Dam, which has a total circumference of 950 km, with lots of ins-and outs, turns and areas separated but for a narrow strip of water. Yacht Clubs and Ski Boat clubs in these areas are the first port of call for all powerboating, sailing and related services, watersports queries, enquiries and equipment hire, as well as info on regattas and other events.

Powerboating and the related watersports are also popular on the Vaal River – the main Vaal Triangle towns on the Vaal River being Parys, Vereeniging and Vanderbijlpark. Ski boat clubs in these towns are the access point for anything watersports and fishing related.

For the more sedentary, river and dam barge cruises, including popular breakfast, lunch and sunset booze cruises are a great way to enjoy the Vaal’s waters and appreciate the beauty of the Vaal’s sunsets, birdlife, hot days and warm summer evenings.

Finally…where-ever watersports are enjoyed in South Africa, the fun is augmented with plenty of picknicking, camping, braaing (barbecueing) and socialising, and possibly never more so than at the Vaal Dam, which is a very accessible and close by watersports and weekend-away destination for the frazzled city folk from the busy megalopolis of Johannesburg!

Text: Nikki Ridley for ShowMe Vaal