Hermanus

Hermanus has real beaches on its doorstep. Grotto Beach is a long sweep of white sand running east towards De Kelders, Voëlklip and Kammabaai are smaller and popular with surfers and families, and Onrus and Sandbaai sit just west of town. In the South African summer school vacation, beach life takes over the town.

The water is the catch. Walker Bay usually reaches about 17°C to 19°C in summer, and an offshore wind can drop it several degrees overnight. Most visitors take a quick, bracing swim rather than a long one. Rock tidal pools along the shore and the Klein River lagoon behind Grotto are calmer and slightly warmer.

Eating in Hermanus centres on the sea and the vineyards. Line fish, mussels and farmed abalone appear on menus around the old harbour and the cliff-top village centre. Just behind the town, the Hemel-en-Aarde valley produces some of South Africa's best cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and its estates serve lunches with long views. A Saturday-morning food and craft market and farm stalls on the road to Stanford add to it. Beyond that, the range is that of a seaside town, with casual grills, pizza and a few good bistros. It is a pleasant place to eat, with no depth of cuisine to explore.

Hermanus is not a town for sightseeing. The Old Harbour, set into the cliffs, preserves the fishing boats and stone slipways of the village it once was, with a small museum alongside. The Whale House Museum explains the bay's southern right whales, and a few old stone cottages and churches survive in the centre. An afternoon covers it all, and visitors come for the coast.

Evenings are quiet. A few pubs, wine bars and restaurant terraces around the village centre and the waterfront fill up for sundowners, especially over the December summer vacation, but most of the town is asleep by eleven. Anyone who wants a real night out drives back to Cape Town.

This is the reason to come. Between about June and November, southern right whales come into Walker Bay to calve, often a stone's throw from the rocks, and the cliff path running the length of town is one of the best places in the world to watch them from land. Boat trips go out in season, and the coast towards Gansbaai adds dolphins, seals and seabirds.

Behind the town, Fernkloof Nature Reserve climbs the Kleinrivier mountains through fynbos that flowers in an extraordinary range of species, with trails from easy strolls to steep ridge hikes. The lagoon is good for kayaking and paddleboarding, the waves at Voëlklip draw surfers, and the coastal road west passes the Kogelberg reserve and the penguin colony at Stony Point. Winter is wet but the best for whales. Spring brings flowers and calves.

Hermanus works well as a base for the southern Cape, provided you have a car. Cape Town is about an hour and a half away along a spectacular coastal road, and Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, with their Cape Dutch estates and tasting rooms, are under two hours inland. Closer to home, the village of Stanford is twenty minutes away, with a river and a small, friendly centre, and Greyton and the old mission town of Elim keep their thatched, whitewashed streets. Further east, the fishing village of Arniston and Cape Agulhas, the southern tip of Africa, are a long but worthwhile day.

Hermanus is an easy, low-key place to take children. Spotting whales from the cliff path delights all ages, the rock pools and tidal pools along the shore are good for exploring, and the Grotto lagoon gives small children shallow water. There are short, safe trails in Fernkloof as well. Nothing is made for children, though, with no zoo, aquarium or theme park, and the cold sea limits swimming. Families travel by car and usually stay in self-catering houses, which suits the slow pace.

You will need a car. The village centre, the Old Harbour and the cliff path can be explored on foot, and the path links several viewpoints and coves. But the town spreads for many kilometres along the coast, and there is no public transport a visitor can rely on. The beaches at the eastern end, the wine valley and everything beyond town all mean driving. Most visitors drive out from Cape Town, about 120km away. Walking alone after dark is best kept to the busier central streets.

Shopping is modest. The village centre has a handful of art galleries, homeware and clothing boutiques and African craft stalls near the Old Harbour. A weekend market sells local food and crafts. The most rewarding purchases are bottles bought directly at the Hemel-en-Aarde estates. Anything more needs a trip to Cape Town.

For visitors from Europe or North America, Hermanus is inexpensive. Restaurant meals and especially wine cost far less than at home, and self-catering cottages and guesthouses give good space for the money. It is a sought-after vacation town, though, and rooms cost more than elsewhere in the region during the December and January summer vacation and in peak whale season. A hire car and boat excursions add a large share of the budget.

There is little to attend. The town hosts a yearly arts festival with chamber music, talks and exhibitions, and the whale festival brings outdoor stages in season. Otherwise live music means the occasional singer in a pub or a wine-farm evening. Concerts and theatre mean Cape Town.

The appeal here is the pace rather than any spa tradition. Days are spent walking the cliff path, watching the bay and lingering over long lunches at the wine farms, and the town empties out of season. There are a few hotel and day spas and some yoga, and the rock tidal pools make a cold, bracing morning dip. But there are no thermal baths or bathing culture, and it is a quiet seaside town to unwind in, not a wellness destination.