Kayaking is one of the gentlest ways to get onto South Africa’s water, and the range of it surprises people. You can glide over a seal colony in a see-through kayak at Plettenberg Bay, drift up a forest river at Wilderness, or push out into open sea below the cliffs of Cape Point. The skill barrier is low, most outings take beginners with a guide, and the reward is a closeness to the coast and its wildlife that you don’t get from the shore.
This page is the overview, not a single put-in. The Garden Route is the heartland: Plettenberg Bay for the transparent kayaks and seals, Knysna for a calm lagoon paddle, and Wilderness for the Touw River through indigenous forest to a waterfall. Our guides to those towns cover the Robberg reserve, the Knysna Heads and the Wilderness lakes as places; here the focus is the paddle and how the spots compare. The easy ones reward anyone who can sit in a boat, while the open-sea trips ask for a bit more.
For scenery and wildlife over calm, the sea is where to go. Cape Point sea kayaking from Buffels Bay runs along the cliffs with seals and the slim chance of a white shark below, Camps Bay does sunset paddles under the Twelve Apostles, and Walker Bay on the Whale Coast offers the rare chance to kayak near southern right whales from June to November, under the same rules that govern the whale watching boats. Whichever you choose, go early for flat water, match the spot to how comfortable you are on the sea, mind the season, and always wear the lifejacket. Get those right and a kayak is the quiet highlight of a coastal trip.
