Hermanus

Why go

Land-based whale watching without equal — southern rights calve in the bay, metres from the cliff path. A whale crier — the town employs one, who blows a kelp horn in coded patterns. A twelve-kilometre cliff path — from the old harbour along the shoreline, free and level. Hemel-en-Aarde valley — pinot noir and chardonnay in the hills immediately behind.

The character

Southern right whales were hunted almost to extinction — they were the "right" whale to kill because they float when dead — and their recovery is one of conservation's clearer successes. Between June and November they come into Walker Bay to calve, and the geography here is unique: deep water close inshore and a cliff path along the edge, which means the whales are often within thirty or forty metres of people standing on land.

The town organised itself around this. Hermanus employs a whale crier who walks the front blowing a horn made of dried kelp, with different patterns indicating where whales have been seen — a job that exists nowhere else. Behind the town, the Hemel-en-Aarde valley — heaven and earth — has become South Africa's best cool-climate wine region, with pinot noir and chardonnay grown on clay and shale in a maritime climate. Between whales, wine and a fynbos reserve, Hermanus does more with a small area than almost anywhere on this coast.

Places of character

The cliff path — twelve kilometres from Grotto Beach to the old harbour, with benches above the whale nursery. Old Harbour Museum — a whaling-era harbour kept as it was, with the boats and the story of the hunt. Hemel-en-Aarde valley — Hamilton Russell, Bouchard Finlayson and Creation, all within fifteen minutes. Fernkloof Nature Reserve — 1,800 hectares of fynbos on the mountain behind, with 1,400 plant species. Grotto Beach — the long blue-flag sand at the eastern end of the bay. Stanford — a small village twenty minutes inland with a river, a brewery and no crowds.

The way to do it

Walk the cliff path in the morning and stop often — the whales are found by scanning, not by looking where everyone else is. Listen for the crier. Do the wine valley in the afternoon with a driver. And come between August and October, when the numbers peak and the calves are being taught to breach.

One perfect day

Cliff path at seven with coffee, walking east and stopping every few hundred metres to scan; a mother and calf will surface below at some point, close enough to hear the blow. Breakfast at the old harbour. Late morning in the Old Harbour Museum for the whaling history that makes the recovery legible. Lunch and tasting in Hemel-en-Aarde: pinot noir from clay soils, with the valley below. Afternoon in Fernkloof among the fynbos, which is a plant kingdom in its own right. Back to the cliff for the last light, when the whales are often most active. Dinner of linefish in town.

Grand hotels

Birkenhead House — on the cliff above the whale nursery, with the bay filling every window. The Marine Hermanus — the town's belle époque hotel, overlooking the same water since 1902.

When to go

Best expression: September and October — peak whale numbers, and the Whale Festival at the end of September. Consider: July and August for the first arrivals and lower rates. Avoid if possible: January and February, when the whales have gone and the town is full of holidaymakers.

The frame

Ideal stay 2 nights · Minimum 1 night · Best arrival by car from Cape Town, ninety minutes over Sir Lowry's Pass · Airport CPT, 120 km · Walkability excellent along the cliff · Best without a car possible, but the wine valley needs one