Game viewing in South Africa usually means hunting down “the Big Five”, leopard, lion, buffalo, elephant and rhino.
But in Plettenberg Bay, we went one better... the big five - plus one... enjoying some of the best whale watching in the world.
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The Western Cape of South Africa is whale watching heaven. A 2000 kilometre stretch of coastline between Cape Town and Durban, warmed by the Indian Ocean’s Agulhas current, is home to over 30 species of whale, Humpbacks, Killer Whales and Brydes Whales. The most spectacular is the enormous Southern Right Whale. Each year between June and November they come to this coast to give birth and to raise their young. Everywhere along this coast there are chances to catch a glimpse of these creatures as they laze in the warm waters sometimes just metres offshore! (The best of them are listed by whaleroute.com which has a comprehensive list of every whale watching spot.)
But for a really close-up look there’s nothing like getting on the water. Whale watching boats operate out of just about every major town along this coast, but we’ve picked Ocean Safaris in Plettenberg Bay for two reasons; we’re promised an exciting “rocket launch“ of the boat, and more importantly, Ocean Safaris is the major source of funding for the Centre for Dolphin Research.
Plettenberg Bay is the summer playground of Johannesburg’s wealthy. Multi-million dollar homes line the beaches and headlands overlooking a wide and pretty bay. It’s also situated at the heart of the Garden Route making it a great base for exploring the gob-smacking beauty of Wilderness National Park, Knysna National Lake Area, and the Tsitsikama National Park. The summertime population of Plett’ balloons from 10,000 to over 100,000, but during whale watching season the mansions, and the town, are all but deserted, so securing a room in one of the hundreds of guest houses and B&B’s should be simple. Our private room at Bosavern Guest House with en-suite, an enormous bed overlooking the bay and breakfast was 1250 Rand per night.
We’d already spotted whales in the bay, pointed out by Bosavern’s delightful hosts, Vivienne and Gerald Dreyer, so we were excited as we arrived for our morning tour. Plett’ doesn’t have a marina or a jetty so our party of 12 whale watchers was suited up in spray jackets and life vests and loaded into a four wheel drive truck. This then delivered us to a fibreglass catamaran sitting on its trailer on the nearby beach. We simply walked aboard, sat down and then hung on as the boat and trailer was rocketed into the water by the truck. The boat shot off the trailer, the twin motors started up and we were off through the surf.
Spotting a whale can’t be guaranteed but within ten minutes we were alongside our first animal and the cameras were clicking. Rules dictate that whale watching boats keep at least 50 metres distant, and various parts of the bay are put off-limits from time to time to give the whales a break. There were four sightings on our trip. No breaching but plenty of “spy hopping”, “back rolling”, “fluke waving” and “fin slapping”, a good time was had by all mammals involved.
After our party was whaled-out we skipped across the bay to the nearby Robberg Cape and its Fur Seal colony. Hundreds of them live on the rocky cliff ledges of the nature reserve. They probably don’t mean to be, but seals are hilarious, cavorting and looking like being a seal is the best fun in the world.
After 2 hours it was time to return to the beach - and if you thought the launch was fun, wait for this! Full speed straight at the beach, the cat spears though the shallows and back onto dry land. The local Evinrude shop must do a roaring trade in propeller blades! The 4WD truck delivered us back to Ocean Safari headquarters thoroughly thrilled and remarkably dry.
Plettenberg Bay is a sometimes spectacular, sometimes tedious 5 hour drive from Cape Town. In the other direction, Port Elizabeth is 2 hours, but there’s an airport with connections to Johannesburg at Knysna/George, just 100 kilometres away.
Bookings are essential with Ocean Safaris (www.oceansafaris.co.za) and cost 350 Rand per person.
