Overberg & Hermanus
The Overberg begins where the mountains stop. Wheat, fynbos and big open country, and a coastline that behaves differently from the Peninsula. Walker Bay is sheltered enough that southern right whales come in to calve, close to shore, for half the year. Behind Hermanus a valley runs twenty-seven kilometres inland called Hemel-en-Aarde, Heaven and Earth, which produces Pinot Noir and Chardonnay taken seriously well beyond South Africa.
A day here
The drive is half of it. Clarence Drive from Gordon’s Bay to Rooi-Els is cut into the rock with the sea directly below, and it is worth the slow version. Stop at Stony Point in Betty’s Bay — around two and a half thousand breeding pairs of African penguins, a boardwalk that runs through the middle of the colony, and usually almost nobody on it. On into Hermanus for lunch and the cliff path above the water. Then inland into Hemel-en-Aarde for the afternoon: two tastings, not five. Home over the mountains with the light behind you. A full day from the city works. A night in Hermanus or up the Hemel-en-Aarde valley turns it into two unhurried ones, which in whale season is usually the better call.
Clarence Drive · Stony Point penguins · Hermanus cliff path · Hemel-en-Aarde · Full day · A night in Hermanus if you want it slower
Experiences here
Whale season on the Overberg and the penguins at Stony Point sit under Wildlife & Wild Places. Hemel-en-Aarde belongs with Food & Wine, and pairs naturally with a Winelands day if you have more than one. For anyone with time, Cape Agulhas — the actual southern tip of Africa, and the real meeting point of two oceans — is another hour and a half east.
Wildlife & Wild Places · Food & Wine · Beyond the Cape
When should I come?
June to December is whale season, and September and October are the weeks it is worth planning a trip around — southern rights calving in Walker Bay, often close enough to watch from the cliff path without a boat. February to April is harvest in the valley, which is the best time to be in a cellar. Winter is green and wet and the tasting rooms have fires going; almost no visitor sees that version and it is the one we like most. January is hot and full.
Short version
Whales: Jun–Dec, best Sep–Oct · Harvest: Feb–Apr · Quietest and greenest: Jun–Aug
What would you skip?
A boat trip in peak season when the whales are already against the cliffs. Some days you will see more from the footpath, for nothing, than you will from the water — and if the whales are further out we will say so and put you on a boat instead. Five tastings in Hemel-en-Aarde. These are serious wines and three is already a long afternoon. And the Hermanus waterfront in the week between Christmas and New Year, which is the one time this coast feels like everywhere else.
Instead
The cliff path · Stony Point over Boulders · Three tastings, slowly · Cape Agulhas if you have the day
How far is it, and how long do I need?
Two hours east over the mountains, or longer if you take Clarence Drive slowly, which you should. A full day from the city works. A night in Hermanus or up the Hemel-en-Aarde valley turns it into two unhurried ones, which in whale season is usually the better call.
Practical
Two hours · A full day · Better with a night
Where most days start
Forty minutes inland
Red rock and dark skies
Keep going east
Plan a day on the whale coast.
Tell us when you are here and what pulls you. We will shape the day around you.