For more than 50 years, between 1946 and the late 1990s, this business operated at a prime site on the (present) Blue Flag portion of Grotto Beach. It went under at least three names: The Goldfish Café, The Driftwood Den, and the Nautilus. The site is currently undeveloped and used only in the December and January season as a ‘cocktail lounge’, managed in 2021/2022 by the adjacent restaurant, Dutchies. You will find it crowded at any time of day in season.

Jack Carstens and his wife, Charlie, built the original Goldfish Café in 1946. They served the usual cool drinks and ice cream, light takeaway meals and seated servings of lunch and early supper. It became a feature of the beach holiday for many visitors to Hermanus and is recalled with nostalgia by many residents even today.

In the early 1950s, the business was sold to Philip and Sheila Mason. The Masons managed a bakery in Flower Street, where they also prepared potato crisps. They acquired the Goldfish Café in a novel way, as S J du Toit recounts:

Long before potato crisps (chips) became a mass-produced item, the Masons made them at their Maple Leaf Bakery and supplied cafes and shops. One morning, Philip went to deliver The Goldfish order of 200 packets of crisps. Jack told Philip that he had been offered the position of manager of the Birkenhead Hotel but was stuck with The Goldfish. When offered the business, Philip there and then agreed to take it on with the bakery…They had it for a year, and Sheila loved it. She said it was wonderful to see the people enjoying the beach below the cafe. They made pies and many kinds of cakes for the restaurant. The two businesses ran well together as the bakery products could be sold in the cafe. They were asked to stay open for Christmas Eve. At three and four o’clock In the morning, people were still sitting there, enjoying themselves, but the Masons were Just about dead beat at that hour.

Every night the youngsters danced on the stoep to the music of the jukebox. There was no hard-drinking in those days. They had cool drinks but still managed to enjoy themselves.

The Masons only ran The Goldfish Café for a year before selling it to Oscar Hulley. In 1969, still known as the Goldfish Café, it was Sold by the Hulley’s to Johan and Valla de Bruyn, who offered live entertainment there and excellent food for nine years.

In 1978, the de Bruyns sold the business to Kit Hoffman, Valla de Bruyn’s brother. Three years later, the name was changed to The Driftwood Den. Under this name, it remained popular with visitors to the beach. In the 1980s, the name changed to Nautilus, and the building began to decline due to a lack of upkeep.

In 1992 the Nautilus was bought by Esther and Heinie Rosenstrauch, who temporarily turned around the business. However, in the late 1990s, the Nautilus burned down, the debris was removed, and only the bare site remained.