Whale Watching in Southern Africa guide - Welcome!
We're so glad you are here to share the absolute magic of whale-watching in these beautiful countries, with their stunningly rich and varied natural assets, vegetation, pristine beaches and friendly people. Although whale-watching is seasonal, each of these countries has something unique and different to offer all year round. If you wish to get the best out of your experience on the Whale Route, you should plan your holiday well in advance to ensure your total satisfaction and enjoyment from this experience.
Whale watching South Africa
South Africa has become renown for great whale watching over the years. This is because the whales like to feed and give birth in the warm and nutrient rich waters along the South African coast line, while migrating.
Hermanus, a coastal town in South Africa, and popular tourist destination, has become known as a great place for whale watching. Unfortunately the town has become very tourist oriented and has therefore lost some its charm. Whales can be seen in abundance all along the South African coast from around May / June, untill November / December while they migrate. The whales use areas like Fish Hoek, in False Bay, to give birth to their young. They like the calm warm bays, where they feel safe from harm.
The main types of whales that visit False bay and Fish Hoek, are Southern Right Whales, Humpback whales, Bryde's whales and orcas.
| From
the flaming deserts of Namibia,
(Southern Right Whale Dolphin,Lissodelphis peronii)
and down the West
Coast of South Africa (Southern Bottlenose
Whale-Hyperoodon planifrons) with
it's accents on flowers, fishing and Tannie Evita Bezuidenhout, round the Cape of
Good Hope(Scamperdown
Beaked Whale(Gray's) - Mesoplodon grayi) (where
two oceans meet and the V&A Waterfront, the fynbos, wine, women and song,
greet you (Skew
beaked whale(Hector's)- Mesoplodon hectori);
up the garden route (Straptooth Beaked
Whale - mesoplodon layardii)
with its beautiful scenery and watery hamlets, to the Wild
Coast, (Longfin
pilot whale Globicephala melaena) as untamed and vibrant
as its name suggests;Through flambouyant Kwa-Zulu Natal,
(Indopacific
humpback dolphin Sousa chinensis)richly spiced with ethnic
and natural flavour; all the way up to Mozambique on
the Eastern Coast of Africa,; this whale route has
to be one of the most exciting and extraordinary journeys the planet
has to offer.
Each section of the route is filled with a unique and rich diversity particular to its own area. As you travel down the highways and byways of this vast area, in the quest to see as many of ourwhale brothers as possible, don't be in too much of a hurry to get where you are going. Along the way are all manner of unique things not to be missed, from cave paintings to beautiful architecture, art & jewellery, ethnic crafts, the exquisite and huge diversity of flora and fauna, not to mention the birds all of which vary from areato area. Each step of the way entices you with warm hospitality, comfortable places to stay,good food,outstanding landscapes, seascapes and sunsets. Take home with you unforgettablememories. We, in Southern Africa are lucky enough to have a wide variety of whales visit our shores. A lot more than the few varieties that we generally read about and that are most commonly seen playing and calving in our bays.
Sit back and relax while we share with you all the information we
have gatheres on the whales and their habits, the places we have found
to see them to their best advantage, what many other things these places
offer to see and do while you are there. We willgive
you ideas on how to get there, where to stay, where to eat and where
to play. There are somany other interesting places to visitin all the
small towns and villages along the way and we can introduce you to places
where you will see lions, elephant, seals, or penguins, birds, waterfalls
or caves with San paintings, mountains, fynbos and taste our glorious
wines. From Namibia on the West Coast, right around the Cape of Good Hope to Mocambique on the Eastern coast , there is the posssibility of viewing any number of a huge selection of these magnificent creatures. |
|
 |
Recomended accommodation for whale watching in False Bay, is A Whale of a time, in Fish Hoek. This self catering establishment looks out over False Bay, and has various self catering apartments to choose from.
Every year, the whales that visit Fish Hoek to give birth seem to come back to the same stretch of kelp and rocks just below the cottage, where they give birth, and remove barnacles from themselves. At A Whale of a Time, you can see and hear the whales from your balcony.
 |
 |