From May through November, whales make their homes around the shallow coastal waters of Southern Africa, South America and Australia.

Whale watching is a well-known tourist attraction in the Western Cape, South Africa. Every year, these gentle giants make the coastal bays their home, to mate, calve and cavort.

Frolicking in the warmer waters around the Overberg and False Bay regions of the Western Cape, the whales are attracted to the sandy-bottomed and sheltered bays, and nurture their young in nutrient-rich waters.

The main types of whales that visit our shores are the Southern Right Whale Dolphin, Humpback Whales, Bryde’s Whales and Orcas, whilst many more varieties of whale are commonly seen at play in our bays.

They honour this great playground and are more than happy to put on a show for the streams of visitors to the Western Cape. Whale-watching has become a major tourist attraction for many coastal towns.

With that in mind, most resorts, establishments and whale-watching tour guides keep to very strict and ecologically friendly regulations. Areas designated for boat-based whale watching are carefully selected so as to not interfere with land-based whale watchers and, of course, the whales themselves.

The Cape Overberg region forms part of the famed Whale Route. Hermanus, situated about an hour and a half away from the metropolis of Cape Town, is hailed as offering the best land-based whale watching in the world.

Fish Hoek is one of the few villages in Cape Town that is little affected by the push for development that has altered most of the Cape’s coastline. Nestled in False Bay, its calm waters make it a popular spot for whales and their offspring to play in the waters.

The Cape Stay Accommodation Guide lists over a hundred luxurious and comfortable establishments for you to call home during your whale watching adventure, and more than fifty of those are located in the ever popular fishing town of Hermanus which offers brilliant viewpoints from where you can watch the whales play in the bay.

Go ahead, begin your whale watching adventure today!