Guides ·Day trips

Two roads there, and why you should take the long one

Hermanus is 120km south-east of Cape Town on Walker Bay. The quick route is the N2 over Sir Lowry's Pass, then right onto the R43 at Bot River, about 90 minutes door to door. The route you should actually drive is Clarence Drive, the R44 from Gordon's Bay: 40km of cliff-hugging tarmac between the Hottentots Holland mountains and False Bay, past Rooi-Els, Pringle Bay and Betty's Bay, rejoining the R43 at Kleinmond. It adds 25 minutes and is one of the finest coastal drives in the world.

Do the R44 out and the N2 back so you get the coast in morning light and the fast road home. Fuel for the round trip is about R380 in a small car. There is no train and no scheduled public bus worth using; shared day tours from Cape Town run R1,200 to R1,900 including a stop at Stony Point and sometimes a boat trip, and private transfers are R3,500 to R5,000. Uber does not reliably operate in Hermanus, so a car or a tour is effectively compulsory.

Stops on the way: Betty's Bay and Stony Point

Stony Point Nature Reserve at Betty's Bay, entry about R30, holds one of only two mainland African penguin colonies in South Africa and is emptier and cheaper than Boulders. Boardwalks run through nesting burrows among the ruins of an old whaling station, and you will also see rock hyrax and three species of cormorant. Allow 40 minutes. The Harold Porter National Botanical Garden a few kilometres on charges around R60 and has a short walk to Disa Kloof waterfall through fynbos and afromontane forest.

Rooi-Els, 15km earlier, is the reliable spot for Cape rockjumper if you are a birder; park at the gate and walk the gravel track along the mountainside. Between Pringle Bay and Betty's Bay, keep speed down and watch for baboons on the road, which are habituated and will get into an open car in seconds. Kleinmond's Harbour Road has decent coffee at R38 and a lagoon walk if you want to stretch before the last 25km into Hermanus.

Whales: when, where and how close

Southern right whales migrate from Antarctic feeding grounds to calve in the sheltered bays of the Overberg. They arrive in Walker Bay from about June, peak in September and October, and thin out by late November or early December. Hermanus is famous because the sea shelves steeply right against town, so the animals come within 10 to 30 metres of the cliff. Brydes whales and humpbacks pass through too, and southern right numbers in the bay can run into the dozens on a good spring day.

The whale crier walks the cliff path blowing a kelp horn in coded patterns to signal where animals have been sighted; he works the New Harbour to Grotto Beach stretch during season. The best free vantage points are Gearing's Point above the Old Harbour, Sievers Point, and the stretch below the Marine Hotel. Bring binoculars. Outside season, from January to May, there are no whales at all, and any operator implying otherwise is selling you a boat ride to look at kelp.

The cliff path, the Old Harbour and the town

The Cliff Path Walking Trail runs about 12km from the New Harbour in the west to the Klein River lagoon mouth at Grotto Beach in the east, entirely free, mostly paved or gravelled, and never more than a few metres above the water. Walk the central 3km from the New Harbour to Gearing's Point in an hour with stops, which covers all the best whale viewing. Fynbos, dassies and grave-serious retirees with tripods line the route from August onwards.

The Old Harbour Museum at Marine Drive, entry about R40, preserves the 1904 fishermen's slipway with wooden boats hauled out on the rocks and a small whaling history collection. Above it, Market Square hosts a daily craft market with the usual carvings and beadwork. The village core, Main Road and Harbour Road, has bookshops, galleries and enough coffee. Hermanus Wine and Food Fair and the Whale Festival, held over the last weekend of September, close the town down and treble accommodation prices.

Hemel-en-Aarde: the valley behind the town

Turn inland off the R43 just west of Hermanus onto the R320 and you are in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley, South Africa's best address for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay thanks to clay-rich soils and cool maritime air. Hamilton Russell planted the first vines here in 1975. Tastings run R100 to R200 for four or five wines and the valley is compact: 20km of gravel and tar with three official wards and about 20 producers, most open 10:00 to 17:00 and closing earlier on Sundays.

Creation Wines does the valley's best-known food-and-wine pairings, from a R450 four-course to a R750 discovery menu, booked well ahead. Bouchard Finlayson pours a serious Pinot for about R120. Newton Johnson has a restaurant with a valley view and mains near R240. La Vierge is the casual option with pizza from R130. Pick two farms plus lunch and you have a complete alternative to the coast if the whales have gone or the weather turns.

Boats, beaches, sharks and costs

Licensed boat-based whale watching leaves the New Harbour from June to November, roughly R1,400 per adult for a two-hour trip, permitted to approach to 50 metres, and cancelled in swell. Shark cage diving runs from Kleinbaai near Gansbaai, 45 minutes further east, at R2,500 to R3,200 including breakfast and transfer, though white shark sightings have collapsed since 2017 and most trips now show bronze whalers and copper sharks. Ask operators for honest recent sighting rates before booking.

Grotto Beach is a Blue Flag 12km stretch at the eastern end of town, with parking, lifeguards in season and safe swimming in water that hovers around 18 degrees. A realistic day costs about R380 in fuel, R30 at Stony Point, R40 at the Old Harbour Museum, R280 for a lunch of Walker Bay mussels or line fish and R150 to R300 on tastings, so roughly R1,000 per person driving yourself. Leave Cape Town by 08:00 and back by 19:00.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask before they set off on this one.

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