9 days on the Garden Rout and visiting Cape Town - Any suggestions?

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Jayfro

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Messages
6
Reaction score
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Location
Canada
# of dives
25 - 49
Hello fellow divers and adventurers,

My wife and I (both in our early 30's) are planning a trip to the vast and beautiful Africa this coming January.

Our trip starts with hiking Kili and a 4 day safari in Tanzania, followed by a 3 days stop to visit the Blyde River Canyon, then 9 days to self-drive the Garden Route and visit Cape Town. We were hoping some fellow divers and adventurers would have suggestions for our 9 days on the Garden Rout and visiting Cape Town.


We will arrive in Port Elizabeth and are planning to rent a car at the airport. Currently we thinking of spending:

- 5 days on the Garden Route

- 4 days in Cape Town

(These are 100% flexible of course)


The problem is: I am having a hard time choosing between all the possible stops along the Garden Route.

We are both certified advanced open water Scuba Divers with over 60 dives logged. We've done two LOBs and day trips while vacationing in Thailand then Turks and Caicos, day trips everywhere else, and we are accustomed to cold water wet suit diving locally in Canada. We would love to do some REAL diving (i.e. no cage diving) along the Garden Route if possible. We both enjoy hikes, nature, good wine, and even a relaxing day on the beach from time to time :wink:


So far we are thinking of basing ourselves around Storm River for a couple of nights. (any idea of unique hikes/ things to see would be greatly appreciated!)

Then maybe spend a night in either Plett or Knysna?
Then drive to Wilderness national park, and pay Oudtshroon a visit and spend the night at Mossel Bay?

Then drive to Hermanus and either spend the night or just continue to Cape Town?

The next challenge is getting a taste of Cape Town. Does anyone think we should drive ourselves around Cape Town? Is it safe/simple? Or is public transit easier and recommended? I haven't had a chance to even begin planing the Cape Town portion yet, so any suggestions as to which part of the city to stay in and what to visit would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you so much in advance to anyone with anything to share! We can't wait to hear your feedback! :)
 
Storms river, Plett, Knysna, Mossel Bay are all very close to one another, a matter of an hour or two driving depending where you go. Personally I would stay in Plettenberg bay, theres lots of accommodation available and it has other things to do.

Diving in the area is not great in my opinion, but others mileage may differ, maybe worth a morning to try it out and see. There are a few scuba operators in all the area's and its peak summer so the weather should be fine. Around the Knysna / Storms river area you can go rafting, tubing, bungee jumping, tree top swinging, hiking, tree gazing, swimming Kayaking, whale and dolphin watching, visit an elephant park, a bird park, a monkey park (all, by the way very good) loaf on the beach and of course theres lots of wine and a few artisinal beers to taste. I really wouldn't bother booking tours etc ahead, all the guest houses / hotels in the area have all the info, and with a car you can drive anywhere very easily.

From Plett you can again drive to Oudtshorn easily, the caves and the ostrich farms are a day tour so theres no need to stay there unless of course you want to. Mossel bay is a fairly big city, worth a drive through but (again) not my cup of tea.
5 days should work out fine.

I would spend a night in Hermanus, its quite quaint and worth a stroll around, its very close to Cape town, maybe 90 minutes on the highway or 2.5 hours on the scenic coastal route.

Driving in Cape Town is fairly simple and safe, but again its a big city and Cape Town is no different when it comes to traffic issues, especially over that period. There is a good public transport system, there are also shuttles and tour buses that run around to all the local tourist sites and I would use them. Cheap and hassle free. Probably best to base yourself around the Victoria and Alfred waterfront in Cape Town, its a local tourist hot spot and a very good transit hub to most places, also nice restaurants, movies, shops, live entertainment etc in the area.

If you go diving though you will need a car for the day, Simonstown is a fair drive from most of the city accommodation and with diving gear in tow it would be advisable to drive anyway. Its an easy drive and very safe.
 
Thank you for taking the time to provide this insightful response to our request for advice Widget! it was a big help in our bookings! Not quite complete yet, but soon! Still a few of the minor details to work out for some destinations.

Cheers!
 
My heart belongs to the Garden Route, so I'm a big fan of the area.

Port Elizabeth. There isn't much to do. In fact I can't think of any major attraction I'd make an outing for. Scuba is decent enough. Great place to see Ragie Sharks. Prodive

Storms River is great. Fun walk to the river mouth from the camp. Worth doing. Certainly not not a hike though. Look down while you are on the bridge, you will see rays and sand sharks. There are some other walks in the area, though I've never done them. There is a dive shop in the camp, speaking to them I sensed very few dive site options. Never used them. Your beach options are very poor here. I would probably stay in Plett and maybe consider storm's river a full morning trip.

Plettenberg Bay is my favourite. Walking the full length of the Robberg Peninsula is a hike worth doing. The dive shop at the Beacon Island hotel is ok, not fantastic. Personally, I only do their shore dives, cause you see the same thing on the boats at double the hassle and cost. Same website as above. You might look into a kayak tour off the main beach or a whale tour. Plett has become the tourist hub in the area. If you are there, consider eating at the Fat Fish one evening.

There are some hikes worth doing in the forests around Plett and Knysna. Ask customer relations at the Beacon Island Hotel (they've always been helpful even though I've never slept in the hotel). Outshorn is a good day trip. You can do both an ostrich farm and the caves.

I live in Cape Town. For tourist diving I swear by www.piscesdivers.co.za Cow sharks are worth the trip. The problem with Cape Town is that the fun / interesting things can be a little hidden. Use the Platteklip Gorge Route to walk up table mountain. It's the easiest route and takes about 90 mins. Did it with my five year old kid last month. Park at the cable car station and ask directions from the staff. Use the cable car down. Do this on the week end cause there will be plenty of people around. You might also contemplate walking up lion's head.

Cape Town is about Getting out and hanging out. Upper Long Street, Moulllie Point, or V&A. Wine farms (rent a car - have a designated driver). Camps Bay can be great. A trip to Simons town and Cape Point are interesting. If you stay around the hotel, it's going to be boring. I find Uber a very effective way of getting around Cape Town central. Don't use them for further afield as you may have problems getting back.

Enjoy your trip.
 
Storms river is a pretty part of the world. I love it there. There are a couple of really nice walks and stuff in the area you should definitely check out. I loved the big tree walks and did the otter trail 2ice. Returning there in September for no.3. Do the hike to the waterfall, definitely worth it. In the park itsself, there are some lovely trails to do as well and the dive shop in the park is good. Shore entry dive and depth max 11m. Saw a massive Ray about 2.5 m wide and glided straight under me. Saw a few octopi as well. Not the most colorful fish around SA but wonderful nudis everywhere. Those are cool to see.

do knysna. The heads are worth a day. Can get lost in the garden route for weeks if I had the time and money. There is a nice wreck drift dive there as well. i would save my diving for Cape Town though. If you are looking for something small, quaint and beautiful, hit natures valley. Wilderness is also one of the favorites from childhood holiday memories. I fount plett to be a bit too busy in January. Many here can point you to diving in Cape Town.

whatever you end up doing, enjoy it and keep us posted!
 
I always recommend doing the cow sharks and seals as your first two dives in Cape Town. If you do however want to do some more advanced activities such as wreck diving and technical diving please check out our blog for some information on how to go about doing these activities in CT, our website is designed to provide users with as much information on fish species, dive sites and any other information around diving in temperate waters!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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