Hermanus & Whale Coast
Full Day Tour
Hermanus & Whale Coast
Full Day Tour
The Whale Coast is centred on the charming resort town of Hermanus, 1¾ hours east of Cape Town via the inland mountain route, and 2½ hours via the spectacular coastal route including Clarence Drive.
There are many options to choose from on this day, depending on the season and your interests and priorities, to be discussed when you inquire about the tour.
Coastal Road South
Leave Cape Town and take the coastal road south from Gordon’s Bay. Clarence Drive winds along the foot of steep mountains, with jaw-dropping views at every turn.
Betty’s Bay is known for two attractions: the Harold Porter National Botanical Garden, set in a beautiful ravine, and Stony Point with its breeding colony of African Penguins, cormorants and dassies (rock hyrax) – a mini safari in one stop!
Whales can sometimes be seen along the way too, during the whale season. Continue through the fishing village of Kleinmond en route to Hermanus at the beginning of Walker Bay.
Hermanus
Whether it’s whale season or not, Hermanus is a delightful place to explore, with its shopping streets and market square, and its 10km long coastal cliff top path winding along the rocks from the town centre in both directions. From its earliest days, the town has attracted artists inspired by its beauty and light, and features a variety of high quality galleries.
The southern right whales visit the bay potentially from June, usually peaking around August to November. Thanks to the topography, besides the sheer numbers, Walker Bay is known as one of the best places in the world for land-based whale watching, so it’s often not necessary to get on a boat to see the whales close up – but one can never be sure.
In whale season, walk or drive to get as close to the whales as you can, though whale watching boat trips are also available. If you opt to do one, you’ll need to pay for it in addition to the cost of the tour, and it will take time away from other things mentioned here.
Trips depart at 9 am, 12 noon and 3 pm, from June to mid-December, and you need to be there a half an hour before. They take 1½ to 3 hours, normally 2 hours.
Hemel en Aarde Valley
If time allows, take a drive into the spectacular Hemel & Aarde (Heaven & Earth) Valley tucked into the mountains behind Hermanus, and the Walker Bay wine region, and perhaps even visit a winery.
For a tour with more of a focus on this beautiful wine region, click here for “Walker Bay’s Cool Climate Vineyards” under Food & Wine.
Lunch
Lunch can be enjoyed at one of the many restaurants in the town centre with sweeping views over the bay, at one of the wineries in the Hemel & Aarde (Heaven & Earth) Valley, or at an equally good restaurant in the fishing harbour from which the whale watching boat trips depart.
Cheetah Outreach
Return via the inland mountain route, climbing from the coast over two sets of mountain ranges, and across the plateau between them with its apple and pear orchards, forests and vineyards, before dropping steeply down Sir Lowry’s Pass with glorious views over False Bay and the Cape Flats, and on to Cape Town.
Depending on what else we do, yet another option is to visit the Cheetah Outreach project in the Strand, near Gordon’s Bay, on the way back.
This conservation project with a sound track record and the highest standards of best practice works with captive born “cheetah ambassadors” to raise funds in innovative ways, to support cheetahs in the wild which are the most endangered of Africa’s big cats, primarily through the breeding and placement of Anatolian shepherd dogs as a non-lethal predator control on livestock farms.
One of the ways of doing this is for you to have a personal encounter with a cheetah, though this is not required to visit the project and learn about its work.
See http://www.cheetah.co.za for details.
General Information
Suggested pick up time: 8:30 am. We usually get back after 6 pm, depending what we do.
Price: R5 150 (South African Rand) for up to 3 passengers, R5 650 for 4 to 7 passengers. To maximize flexibility, this does not include entrance fees, which you can pay as you go.
To inquire about or book this or any other tours, please click here.