CASA
The heart behind La Baleine. CASA is our kitchen and team hub — where our people come together and where much of the care, preparation and hospitality that shapes each guest’s stay begins.
About us
Welcome to La Baleine Beach House Collection
La Baleine is a collection of individually named homes in the fishing village of Paternoster, on South Africa’s West Coast. Two beach houses, two seafront suites and four studios — each with its own character, each within walking distance of the waterfront, restaurants and village life.
The buildings have always been individual houses rather than hotel rooms, and we have kept them that way: the West Coast building language, and the traces of what each house used to be. Interiors are intentionally muted, so the view takes the room.
Much of what makes a stay here work is the team. Several of them have been at La Baleine for more than a decade and have grown alongside it — they know every door in the collection, and most of the people in the village too.
The essentials
Everything you need, and more
Every home has its own private patio and braai, air conditioning, premium linen, DStv, Wi-Fi, undercover parking and a path down to the sand. Breakfast is included with every stay, and the units are cleaned daily.
Our Beach Houses go a step further: NOMA has a private jacuzzi, BURI a private sauna and cold plunge.
See the collectionla baleine [feminine noun, French]
In French, baleine is a feminine noun meaning whale. The property takes its name in honour of the whales that return to our bay each year — the reason the collection carries her name.
A village within a village
Secluded, yet vibrant and inviting
La Baleine sits inside Paternoster rather than apart from it. Fishermen still work to the cycles of the sea and the seasons. Restaurants and the waterfront are within walking distance, and the coast beyond is made for horse riding, birding and long walks.
Some guests spend their days out in all of it. Others barely leave the house. Both are entirely the point.
Experience PaternosterWhere seaside memories are made.The West Coast sets the pace
Boats go out at first light, the wind arrives by noon, and the sun drops into the Atlantic in the evening. The houses are arranged around that rhythm rather than against it, which is what most guests remember afterwards.
The ecosystem
CASA, BALA BAR and LABALABA
La Baleine extends beyond the places you stay. CASA, BALA BAR and LABALABA bring together the people, food, gathering and wellbeing that shape life here. The food side of it leans fresh and balanced rather than heavy — it should feel as good as it tastes.
BALA BAR
Our seafront bar — relaxed, social and made for the golden hour. A place to gather over a drink as the sun slips into the Atlantic.
LABALABA — coming soon
A new expression of wellness at La Baleine. LABALABA will bring together an indoor-outdoor heated pool and a coastal bath house built around warmth, water and self-led ritual — drawn from the traditions of the hammam, read through the landscape of the West Coast. The name is the Yoruba word for butterfly.
Every home in the collection
Make yourself at home.
