Morgan Bay, officially renamed Gxarha in 2022, is a holiday village in the Great Kei Local Municipality and the Amathole District Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
Morgan Bay was given its current name in 1822. It was named after A.F. Morgan, the master of the Barracouta, a survey ship of the Royal Navy. The ship was part of an expedition under Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen, sent out by the British Admiralty to survey the coast from Maputo to the mouth of the Keiskamma River.
The nearby Bead Beach (Treasure Beach) at the Double Mouth Nature Reserve is the site of a 16th-century Portuguese shipwreck.
Morgan Bay is a popular holiday destination due to its picturesque setting, mile-long beach, estuary, sea cliffs, and location at the southern end of the Wild Coast.
Flanked by a beautiful 2 km beach to the East of the village are high dunes, which are perfect for sandboarding for the youngsters. The Ichara Lagoon wraps around the stunning campsite overlooking the beach, which is paradise for kids of all ages. The shallows are perfect for the toddlers, while the rest of the waterways are used for canoes and SUPs for the older kids. Either fishing or just having fun. At the end of the beach is the Cape Morgan lighthouse and the remains of the old Titanium mine, which was abandoned in the mid-60s, leaving a tidal pool perched on the rocks.
Facing west you climb 70m up to the magnificent dolomite cliffs which takes to views you cannot describe, with paths that meander the length of the cliffs taking you back down to the Double Mouth nature reserve, the viewpoints along the way are widely used as look out points for the Dolphin and the Whales during the Sardine run which occurs between May and late July.
