Hermanus is the world capital of land-based whale watching, and one of the easiest great days out from Cape Town, about ninety minutes away around Walker Bay. From June to November, southern right whales swim up from the Antarctic to calve in the sheltered bay, and they come in so close that you can watch them from a cliff path, no boat required. That single fact, whales the size of a bus rolling and breaching a few metres below your feet, is what has made the town famous, and it remains free to anyone who walks the path.
The cliff path is the heart of it. It runs for kilometres along the shore above the bay, with benches and viewpoints the whole way, and the town keeps a whale crier who walks the streets blowing a kelp horn to signal where whales have been seen, a tradition found nowhere else. The season peaks in September and October, when the bay is busiest and the calves are out, and the Hermanus Whale Festival takes over the town on the first weekend of October. For the wider picture, how Hermanus compares with a boat trip or other spots along the coast, our whale watching guide covers the activity; this page is about the town and the cliffs.
There’s a good trip here even outside whale season. The Old Harbour, a tiny historic fishing dock, anchors a walkable town of galleries, cafes and craft shops, and Grotto Beach to the east is a long Blue Flag stretch of sand for summer swimming. Just inland, the Hemel-en-Aarde valley makes some of the country’s best cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, a perfect non-whale half day of tasting between the sea and the hills. Come in spring for the whales and the festival, drive the coastal R44 at least one way for the cliffs and the sea, and give the cliff path the slow morning it deserves.
