Hermanus or Knysna?

Hermanus has sand right in town. Grotto Beach runs for kilometres towards De Kelders, and Voëlklip and Kammabaai are good for surfers. The problem is Walker Bay's cold water, which makes most swims short and bracing. The Klein River lagoon and the tidal pools are where people swim calmly.

Knysna's open-sea beaches mean a short drive, but the swimming is better once you get there. The water is a couple of degrees warmer, Plettenberg Bay has the most sheltered beaches on the coast, and the lagoon sandbanks at Leisure Isle give children calm, shallow water. Rip currents mean you should stay near the lifeguards.

The two eat about equally well, and both are mostly about seafood. The difference is what comes with it. In Hermanus that is wine: the Hemel-en-Aarde estates serve lunch among the vines, and farmed abalone appears on menus around the Old Harbour. Knysna's speciality is oysters farmed in its own lagoon, celebrated at the winter Oyster Festival, along with a local brewing tradition and long meals on Thesen Island's waterfront.

Neither town is a sightseeing destination, and each takes about an afternoon. Hermanus's heritage is maritime, with fishing boats and stone slipways at the Old Harbour and the Whale House Museum. Knysna's is about forest and gold: the 1850s stone church at Belvidere, the ruins of the Millwood gold-rush settlement, and museums on the timber trade.

Evenings are quiet in both and centre on sundowners. In Hermanus that means wine bars and terraces in the village centre, and the town is mostly asleep by eleven. Anyone after a late night has to drive back to Cape Town.

Knysna has a little more going on, with a few pubs open after dinner on the waterfront and real peaks during the Oyster Festival and the Pink Loerie Mardi Gras. There are still no clubs worth planning around.

Both are outstanding, but in different ways. Hermanus is about the sea and the open slopes. From June to November southern right whales calve close to the cliff path. Fernkloof's fynbos climbs the mountains behind the town, and the coast road leads to the penguins at Stony Point.

Knysna is about forest and lagoon. Trails run under yellowwood and stinkwood at Diepwalle and Harkerville, there is mountain biking in the plantations, and the lagoon suits kayaking and sailing. Robberg's walk past its seal colony and the Tsitsikamma gorge are close enough for a day out each. Whales also come into Knysna's waters, but Hermanus's cliff path is the stronger draw for watching them.

Hermanus has much better places within reach. Cape Town is about an hour and a half away along a dramatic coastal road, the Cape Dutch estates of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek are under two hours inland, and Cape Agulhas, the southern tip of Africa, is a long but rewarding drive east. Stanford, Greyton and Elim add quieter villages.

From Knysna the outings are pleasant but smaller. Plettenberg Bay, Wilderness and Mossel Bay are coastal towns. The best day crosses the Outeniqua passes into the Little Karoo for Oudtshoorn's ostrich-boom mansions and the Cango Caves.

Knysna has more to keep children busy. You can walk with rescued elephants, and a primate park, a free-flight aviary and the wildlife sanctuaries near Plettenberg Bay fill whole days. Boat trips through the Heads are an easy outing, and the lagoon flats suit small children.

Hermanus is gentler and has less to fill the days. Whale spotting from the cliffs, the rock pools and short Fernkloof trails are good fun, but the cold sea limits beach time and there are no animal parks to fall back on.

Both need a car, and both have only a small walkable core. In Hermanus that core is the village centre and the cliff path, which links several coves. In Knysna it is the town centre, the waterfront and Thesen Island. The arrival also differs: Hermanus is usually a drive of about 120km from Cape Town, while Knysna visitors tend to fly into George, an hour away, and hire a car there.

Shopping is modest in both, and Knysna has a little more to browse. Its Thesen Island boutiques and galleries are joined by furniture makers and woodturners working local yellowwood and stinkwood. In Hermanus the galleries and craft stalls near the Old Harbour are small, and the best thing to take home is wine bought at the Hemel-en-Aarde estates.

Both are good value for visitors from Europe or North America. Meals and wine are cheap, and self-catering cottages are roomy. Car hire and the December and January school vacation push costs up in both places. Hermanus also gets pricier in peak whale season, when boat trips add to the bill. In Knysna most forest and lagoon activities cost little.

There is little formal performance in either town. Hermanus has a yearly arts festival with chamber music, and Cape Town's concert halls and theatres are an evening's drive away. Knysna leans more towards pub bands at weekends and street performance at its festivals, and it is too far from any major city for a night at the theatre.

Both are places to slow down rather than to take a cure, and neither has thermal baths. Hermanus's version is outdoors: walks along the cliff path, long lunches at the wine farms and a cold morning dip in the tidal pools. Knysna offers more quiet retreat, with spas at forest lodges, yoga retreats in the hills and slow mornings on a lagoon deck.