Hermanus, about 90 minutes drive from Cape Town, offers the best land-based whale watching in the world.

Enter your destination along the Whale Route + "hotels" to find hotels and accommodation:

In season, from May to December, the 65 km. Whale Route along the greater Mossel Bay coastline offers generous sightings of whales. Four species are seen along this route, of which Southern Right Whales are the most commonly sighted when they between June and November come into Mossel Bay to calve. Humpbacks migrate through the region between May and December, while Bryde's Whales and Killer Whales are found slightly offshore all year round.

Each year Southern Right Whales migrate from Antarctica into the coastal waters of the Western Cape to calve and nurse their young. The Walker Bay area between Gansbaai and Hermanus offers a whale sanctuary, and Hermanus arguably offers the the best land-based whale watching in the world. There is a 14 km cliff path that offers a birds eye view of the hundreds of Southern Right Whales in the Walker Bay and often they come within 20 to 30 meters from the coast. The luxury guest houses and hotels in Hermanus are often well positioned on the cliff edges, with many of them offering views of the whales from the comfort of your breakfast table. At Hermanus the world only Whale Cryer in the season informs on whale sightings.

The Southern Right Whale can weight up to 60 tonnes, average 14 meters in length, lives about 100 years and has the most highly evolved mammalian brain on earth. They are huge, rounder and heavier than the Humpback or Bryde's whale, and only smaller than the Blue Whale. The Southern Right Whale was virtually decimated during the whaling years, but the population is now slowly restoring itself and is now close to 4,000 individuals.

Whales can be viewed further along the coast to Gansbaai, Cape Agulhas, Struisbaai and Arniston, where whales come into the protected waters, down to De Hoop Nature and Marine Reserve and Witsand, at the mouth of the Breede River. On the Garden Route whale viewing can be done at Still Bay, Gouritzmond, Vleesbaai, Danan Bay, Mossel Bay and other places. At Wilderness the viewing is good especially from Dolphin's Point on the Kaaiman's Pass, and further along the coast at Sedgefield, Knysna and Plettenberg.