“It’s like the Isle of Man on steroids”
This place is stunning, or in Rich’s words, it’s like the Isle of Man on steroids! The coast line is rugged with massive jagged rocks that the waves crash over, there are huge mountains and fantastic coastal walks.
We spent the first couple of days in Hermanus walking the Fernkloof Nature Reserve Cliff Path spotting whales and other wildlife, including a tortoise which was rather unexpected! The 11km stretch of coastline has so many whale watching spots that we ended up having to consciously not sit and watch every sighting, otherwise we would not walk far at all. Whale watching in Hermanus could not be easier, just take a seat on a rock and watch as the whales play in the ocean before you. The whales were about 100 metres from the cliffs at times and we even heard a whale call!
Around the whale watching, we ate, drank and made friends in our hostel. My favourite place to eat was the creperie, there’s nothing better than a chocolate, banana and vanilla ice cream crepe in my opinion! Rich enjoyed his as well and then later tried to work it off lifting weights down at the harbour ;o)
As well as having whales, there are also great white sharks in these waters however as these aren’t visible from land, we had to get on a boat to see them. With a 5am start on our third day, Rich and I headed off for our great white shark cage diving adventure (he was like an excited child at Christmas and I just wanted to be asleep).
After the safety talk and the obligatory ‘sign your life away’ form, we headed out on the boat to Shark Alley, a well known spot for those looking to stare a great white shark in the eye. We got suited and booted in the damp wetsuits available and waited for the sharks to arrive before we jumped in the cage and got submerged with them. When we saw another boat 200 metres away get two great white sharks swimming around their cage we knew we were in the right place and spirits were high, even mine (surprisingly).
Two hours later and with no sharks sighted at our boat at all, the captain called an end to our trip. I’m not sure if I was more upset about seeing no sharks or getting up at 5am but the wine they served us with lunch made me feel much better about the whole experience. Rich felt much better when they explained that any trips that have no shark sightings get a voucher to do it again for free…we’re already booked in again in 3 days time! Fingers crossed for great white shark sightings then!
Lambs on the loose 