Accommodation South Africa Whale Watching

From their feeding grounds of Antarctica, the Southern Right whales come to the warmer coast of South Africa to mate and calve. They arrive in winter and early spring and completely invade the Southern Cape coast, providing whale-watchers with spectacular displays of power and elegant water acrobatics. Since 1935, the law protects these whales. These gentle creatures of the deep draw excited crowds to marvel at their displays. Weighing about 60 tons, Southern Rights whales often come close to the shoreline, sometimes to within a few meters of the land.

The best places to Whale Watch:

* Hermanus, overlooking Walker Bay on the Cape South Coast, is considered the best land-based whale watching in the world. Plettenberg Bay, Algoa Bay and the Wild Coast are excellent sites as well. Apart from the Southern Right whales, there are also humpbacks, Bryde's whales and orcas in the area.

* The best time for Southern Right whales is from June to November when they are found along the Cape South Coast, with the peak calving period being July and August.

* When the whales arrive in Walker Bay in Hermanus, the world's only whale-crier is active in the streets of Hermanus. Throughout the whale-watching season, the whale-crier has a full-time job patrolling the streets of Hermanus and blowing his kelp horn to alert whale-watchers to the presence of whales in the bay.

* Other excellent places for watching the different types of whales are from Strandfontein, on the West Coast, to Lambert's Bay, Elands Bay, St Helena, Saldanha and Ysterfontein, just north of Cape Town.

* Great sightings occur all around the Cape Peninsula and along the south coast to Cape Agulhas, where visitors can often see up to 50 pairs of the southern right cows and calves at play.

* The Garden Route from Stilbaai through Mossel Bay and on to George, Wilderness, Knysna and Tsitsikamma is a magnificent stretch of coastline hosting Southern Rights in their season, humpbacks between May and December and Bryde's whales all year round. Even killer whales are occasionally spotted.

Whale watching tips:

* Clear, windless conditions are the best for whale-spotting.

* For shore-based viewing take along a pair of binoculars, a hat, sunscreen and patience.

* Look out for the whale's blow, as it's usually the first definite sign of its presence.

* Southern right whales don't have a dorsal fin and have callosities, or patches of thickened skin, on their heads, which make them distinct from other whale types.

* If you are whale-viewing by boat (as 50 000 people do annually), ensure that the company is Government accredited to watch whales close up, that they have the requisite boat permits and insurances and that the skipper has the required certification and Government whale-watching permit. Keep quiet while aboard and follow instructions at all times.

ACCOMMODATION HERMANUS