Hermanus, the world's foremost land based whale watching destination, is a thriving holiday resort offering residents and holiday makers all modern amenities, yet retaining its fisherman's village charm. The popular resort town of Hermanus, situated between mountain and sea, has gained world-wide recognition as the world's foremost land based whale watching destination. This has resulted in the former fishing village showing a tremendous growth over the last few years. Contributory factors to the success of the town are the natural scenic beauty, the mild climate, the range of outdoor activities available, and the close proximity to accommodation in Cape Town, with Hermanus being a mere 140 km from the Cape Metrople. The ideal base from which to explore the Western Cape and the Cape Overberg.

Peaceful and largely unaffected by change, Stanford is an eclectic mix of shops, galleries, restaurants and coffee shops, and the list of activities for a largely rural village exceeds one’s expectations. Like many of the Overberg towns, Stanford originated as a farm, de Kleine Riviers Valey (the original spelling), and the tree-lined streets today, filled with historical buildings, are testimony to the largely English influence that makes Stanford the third most historically important village in the Western Cape. The heart of Stanford surrounding the market square - used as a venue for a monthly country market and for the annual Welsh Pony Show - was proclaimed a South African Heritage area in 1995. The original farmhouse of De Kleine Riviers Valey, built in 1785, is one of the oldest houses still in existence in the Cape Overberg and the beautiful stone Church is thought to have been built in the 1700’s as well, although the records have unfortunately been lost. Two of the ‘must do’s’, when in Stanford are the Birkenhead Brewery, a boutique brewery open for beer tasting and lunches, and the Stanford Walking Trail, which wends its way along the banks of the Klein River through the town and offers visitors some wonderful glimpses of the many birds in the area, including the endangered Blue Crane, South Africa's national bird.

The unpretentious village of Gansbaai - named after a flock of wild Egyptian geese that are alleged to have congregated at the freshwater fountain next to the harbour - has a large reputation. Both Southern Right Whales and Great White Sharks frequent the Atlantic waters of the Danger Point Peninsula and are a major draw card for the town. Situated between the towns of Hermanus and Pearly Beach, Gansbaai lies in Walker Bay at the foot of the Dynefontein Mountains with a magnificent coastline rich in fynbos vegetation. Dyer Island, just off Gansbaai, is the breeding ground of the african penguin, cormorants and other sea birds and a second island in the vicinity of the village is Geyser Island, home to some 60 000 Cape fur seals. It is the passage between these islands that, for obvious reasons, attracts the Great White and has become known as ‘shark alley’. The waters around these islands have become a feeding ground for the endangered species, which has fuelled the rise of shark cage diving from Kleinbaai’s harbour. Fortunately, the area around Dyer Island has been declared a nature reserve and only boats with permits granted by the Department of Nature Conservation may enter the vicinity. The entire Walker Bay area, between Gansbaai and Hermanus, is a whale sanctuary and the gentle giants of the southern ocean, the Southern Right Whale, can be sighted within metres of the shoreline where they come annually to mate and calve. These remarkable beasts spend summer feeding around Antarctica and then migrate thousands of miles to our waters, where sheltered bays, such as Gansbaai and nearby De Kelders, offer perfect refuge.

Clarence Drive is one of the most stunning coastal drives in the world. It’s every bit as exciting as Chapman’s Peak, without the cost of the toll.Forming part of Route 44 Clarence Drive hugs an incredibly scenic portion of the coast just south east of Cape Town, connecting the seaside towns of Rooi Els and Betty’s Bay – the Hottentot Hollands Mountains on one side, the ocean on the other.Seventy seven bends, numerous wide curves and a couple of sharp corners – with plenty of opportunity to pull over, hop out of your vehicle and survey the beauty of what lies before you (including whales during winter) – makes up one of the flattest ‘mountain passes’ you’ll ever drive…

The charming little village known as Elim, dominated by white-washed fishermen’s cottages and fig trees, is one of the few surviving South African mission stations, founded in 1824 as the third Moravian mission station in the Cape, that today lies halfway on the dirt road between Bredasdorp and Gansbaai, a wonderfully conserved little historical town. Elim is worth a visit for its neat rows of cottages alone. Most of them date back to the 19th century, made of mud-brick, plastered with lime plaster made of sea shells and thatched with restio grass, although there are also more modern renditions with brightly painted walls and corrugated iron roofs. Elim, which means ‘place of God’, might lie in the middle of a particularly sparsely populated area, but it has recently been firmly placed on the wine map (see: Cape Wine Routes). Four wine producing partners in the Elim ward - Black Oystercatcher, the Berrio, Zoetendal and First Sighting - have joined forces to create the Elim Winegrowers reminiscent of the self-sustaining farming community of Elim that used to supply farm goods to surrounding settlements.