- Duration: 9 hours
- Entrance included: Harbour Museum and Harold Porter Botantical garden
- Meals Included: None
What you can expect from this tour
This Whale watching tour is a seasonal tour and falls from August to November, which is usually the best time to see the Southern Right Whale in the waters of Walker Bay in Hermanus. These mammals which often come close to 50 metres from the shore, and are given to displays of breaching, lobtailing, spyhopping and courtship rituals.
Depart Cape Town via Elgin, which is the heart of the apple industry, en route to Hermanus, for your Whale watching tour, stopping at the Old Harbour Museum. As long ago as 1857, the Old Harbour at Hermanus Pietersfontein provided a rocky but safe shelter for the small fishing boats whose owners were drawn to Hermanus by the abundance and variety of fish. The Old Harbour was declared a 'Museum' in 1972.
Travel to the Hamilton Russell Vineyards established by Tim Hamilton Russel in 1981. He searched for and selected the most suitable 'most southerly vineyards in the Cape' to produce South Africa's top cool climate wines. This was of course in the cool, maritime Walker Bay area, in the beautiful Hemel-en-Aarde Valley.
The new generation proprietor, Anthony Hamilton Russell, says he is more interested in soils. The team comes closer each year to realising the full quality potential of the Hamilton Russell Vineyards terroir. Take a scenic drive to the town of Kleinmond, for a visit to the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens.
This beautiful, secluded garden is set between mountain and sea, in the heart of the Cape fynbos region and encompasses 10 hectares of cultivated fynbos garden and 190.5 hectares of pristine natural fynbos. The garden is renowned for its waterfalls and amber pools.
The high twisting coastal road leading from Cape Hangklip to Gordons Bay is one of the most spectacular anywhere, and with its new coat of tarmac is an absolute pleasure to ride. Not only does this route offer wonderous vistas out to sea, across sweeping bays and vertically down into transparent sapphire shallows, it offers a perfect setting for the entrance to the 'Riveria of the Cape'. After a day of scenic splendour, head to Cape Town via the N2, arriving back at the hotel at 17:30pm.