South Africa Guide
The Western Cape
Hermanus
There is still the barest trace of a once-quiet cliff-edge fishing village around the historic harbour and in some understated seaside cottages, but for the most part HERMANUS has gorged itself on its whale-generated income that has produced modern shopping malls, supermarkets and craft shops. From about July, southern right whales start appearing in the warmer sheltered bays of the Western Cape, and the town trumpets itself as the whale capital of South Africa. To prove it, an official whale crier (purportedly the world's only one) struts around armed with a mobile phone and a dried kelp horn through which he yells the latest sightings. The hype aside, Walker Bay does provide some of the finest shore-based whale-watching in the world and, even if there are better spots nearby, Hermanus is the best geared-up place in the country to exploit it. Hermanus also has good swimming and walking beaches, opportunities for activities and makes a good base for exploring the rest of the Overberg.
Whale-watching
All nine of the great whale species of the southern hemisphere pass by South Africa's shores, but the most commonly seen off Cape Town are southern right whales (their name derives from being the "right" one to kill because of their high oil and bone yields and the fact that, conveniently, they float when dead). Southern right whales are black and easily recognized from their pale, brownish callosities. These unappealing patches of raised, roughened skin on their snouts and heads have a distinct pattern on each animal, which helps scientists keep track of them.
Female whales come inshore to calve in sheltered bays, and stay to nurse their young for up to three months. July to October is the best time to see them, although they start appearing in June and some stay around until December. When the calves are big enough, the whales head off south again, to colder, stormy waters, where they feed on enormous quantities of plankton, making up for the nursing months when the females don't eat at all. Though you're most likely to see females and young, you may see males early in the season boisterously flopping about the females, though they neither help rear the calves nor form lasting bonds with females.
Probably the best whale watching tour in Hermanus is with Marine Dynamics, which operates the Dyer Island cruises ( 
028 384 0406, 
bookings@whalewatchsa.com).
In Hermanus, the best vantage points are the concrete cliff paths which ring the rocky shore from New Harbour to Grotto Beach. There are interpretation boards at three of the popular vantage points (Gearing's Point, Die Gang and Bientang's Cave). At their worst, the paths can be lined two or three deep with people.
Although Hermanus is best known and most geared up for whale-watching, it's also the most congested venue during the whale season and there are equally good – if not better – spots elsewhere along the Walker Bay coast. Aficionados claim that De Kelders, some 39km east of Hermanus, is even better, while De Hoop Nature Reserve, east of Arniston, is reckoned by some to be the ultimate place along the entire southern African coast for whale-watching, with far greater numbers of southern rights breaching here than anywhere else.