The Baths is a natural mineral hot spring near Citrusdal where the water comes out of the mountain at a constant 43 °C — every day of the year, recorded since 1739. Two hours from Cape Town, it is the easiest genuine hot-spring soak in the Western Cape — quiet, and as close to nature as you can get. This is what to expect, and how to plan it.
The spring in numbers
| Water temperature | A constant 43 °C (about 109 °F) |
|---|---|
| Flow | Roughly 105 000 litres an hour |
| Recorded since | 1739, in a colonial ledger |
| Used by the San | For thousands of years before that |
| Where | Near Citrusdal, about 2 hours north of Cape Town on the N7 |
| Open to | Overnight guests only — no day-visitor gate |
Figures per the hot-springs page, which carries the sources.
What the soak is actually like
If you are picturing a modern spa with treatments, slides and a day-visitor gate, adjust your expectations — and that is most of the appeal. The Baths is a working hot-spring resort: a warm pool fed by the spring, a cold pool for contrast, and the quiet of the valley around it. There are no spa treatments. The water is the point.
At 43 degrees you do not stay in for hours — you soak, cool off in the cold pool, and go back in. It is a slow, repeating rhythm, and it is exactly what a soak weekend is for.
The Baths has no day-visitor gate. The pools are for guests staying overnight — so a soak means booking a chalet, flat or campsite, not just turning up for the afternoon. The Baths hot springs ›
Where the practical detail lives
Rates, the camping tariff, the booking rules and the day-visitor question are all on one page, kept current and sourced to the operator, so there is one set of numbers rather than two.
Rates, camping and booking ›A soak-and-lunch day
Because the pools are for guests, the natural shape of a visit is an overnight — but the day around the soak is easy to fill:
- Lunch at De Tol farm deli, minutes away
- Rooibos at the Carmién tea farm
- A farm tour or tasting
- An easy Cederberg walk
- The Olifants River, in summer
Soak in the morning, do one thing, soak again before dinner. Where to eat ›
When to soak
Winter. The spring runs at 43 °C all year, but sitting in 43-degree water while rain comes down on the Cederberg is a different experience from doing it in February. Winter is also when the resort is busiest, so book well ahead.
In summer the springs still work — you simply spend more time in the cold pool, and the river comes into its own. When to visit ›
Is it a spa?
No. It is a natural hot-spring resort, not a treatment spa — no treatments, no slides, no day-visitor gate. The water is the whole attraction, and that is either exactly what you want or exactly what you don’t.
Last updated August 2026 · rates, camping and booking rules are on the hot-springs page