Knysna

Knysna sits on a lagoon, not on the open sea, so beach days mean a short drive. Brenton-on-Sea and Buffalo Bay are long, wild Indian Ocean beaches about 20 minutes away. Noetzie is a small cove below forested cliffs, and Plettenberg Bay, about half an hour east, has the busiest and most sheltered swimming beaches on this part of the coast. Inside the lagoon, Leisure Isle and the sandbanks have calm, shallow water that suits paddling children.

In summer the sea is usually around 20°C. Upwelling can drop it sharply within a day, and some beaches have strong rip currents, so swim where there are lifeguards. Beach life is a real pleasure here, but it is one part of a stay rather than its centre.

The local speciality is oysters. They are farmed in the lagoon and served all over town, and they take centre stage at the winter Oyster Festival, which has run for decades. Waterfront restaurants on Thesen Island and around the quays mostly serve fresh line fish, seafood platters and South African braai dishes. The town also has a long-standing local brewing tradition, and wines from the Western Cape are on every list.

The range is what you would expect from a resort town of this size: relaxed and good for long lunches by the water, but without street food, big markets or much variety beyond seafood and grills.

Sightseeing is limited. The best-known heritage pieces are the small stone Holy Trinity church at Belvidere, from the 1850s, and the remains of the Millwood gold-rush settlement in the forest. The town museums tell the story of the timber trade and of the early settler families. The Knysna Heads, the sandstone cliffs at the lagoon mouth, are the town's real landmark, though they are more scenery than heritage. People come for the setting, not for buildings or museums.

Evenings here are about sundowners. People drink on the waterfront decks as the light fades over the lagoon, then have a long dinner, and a handful of pubs and bars stay open afterwards. The town is busier in the peak summer weeks of December and January, during the Oyster Festival and during the Pink Loerie Mardi Gras. For most of the year it is quiet well before midnight, and there are no clubs worth planning a night around.

Nature is the reason to come. The town sits between the Outeniqua mountains and a large tidal lagoon, surrounded by South Africa's largest stretch of indigenous forest. Trails run under yellowwood and stinkwood trees at Diepwalle and Harkerville, and there are mountain-bike routes through the plantations. Paths on Featherbed Nature Reserve lead along the western Head, high above the sea. The lagoon suits kayaking, sailing and stand-up paddling.

Robberg Peninsula, near Plettenberg Bay, has one of the finest coastal walks in the country, with a seal colony. Tsitsikamma's gorge and suspension bridge are about an hour east. Southern right whales come close inshore in winter and spring, and dolphins are seen all year.

The coastal road links a chain of small towns. Plettenberg Bay is about half an hour east, with a busier beach-town feel, and Wilderness and George are a similar distance west. Mossel Bay, about an hour and a half away, has a maritime museum built around the early Portuguese landings. The most varied outing goes over the Outeniqua mountain passes to Oudtshoorn in the dry Little Karoo, about two hours away, for its sandstone ostrich-boom mansions, ostrich farms and the Cango Caves.

These make pleasant days out, but none of these towns is a major destination in its own right. Most of what lies within reach is forest and coast.

Families get a relaxed outdoor vacation. The shallow lagoon flats and the Leisure Isle shore suit small children, and boat trips through the Heads are an easy outing. Elephant sanctuaries, where visitors walk with rescued elephants, are a short drive away. The primate park, the free-flight bird aviary and the wildlife sanctuaries near Plettenberg Bay fill another day. Self-catering houses and family guesthouses are the usual places to stay.

There are no theme parks, big aquariums or science museums. Everything involves driving, and the open-sea beaches need watching because of the currents. It suits active children who enjoy forests, boats and animals better than those who want rides.

A car is effectively essential. The town centre, the waterfront and Thesen Island are close enough to walk between. The beaches, forest trails, the Heads, Plettenberg Bay and everything else of interest are spread along the N2 highway and up forest roads. Public transport consists of minibus taxis that tourists rarely use, so most visitors fly into George, about an hour away, and hire a car there. Long-distance coaches stop in town, and a few operators run organised excursions.

Shopping is small-scale and best suited to browsing. Thesen Island and the waterfront quays have clothing boutiques, homeware shops and art galleries. Around the town, furniture makers and woodturners sell pieces made from local yellowwood and stinkwood, carrying on the forest craft tradition. Craft stalls and weekend markets sell beadwork and other African crafts, but there are no department stores or fashion streets.

For visitors from Europe, North America or Australia, Knysna is good value. Seafood dinners, local wine and beer cost a fraction of what they do at home, and guesthouses and self-catering cottages are reasonably priced for most of the year. The main costs are car hire, which you cannot really do without, and the South African summer vacation season around December and January, when coastal rooms fill up and rates are at their highest. Most outdoor activities cost little.

There is little formal performing arts life. Some pubs and restaurants put on live bands or acoustic sets at weekends, and festivals such as the Oyster Festival and the Pink Loerie Mardi Gras bring concerts and street performance. There is no regular theatre season, and no orchestra or opera to go to.

Knysna's gift is its pace. Mornings on a lagoon deck, quiet forest lodges and a town that never really hurries make it an easy place to wind down. There are spas at the larger hotels and lodges, and massage and yoga retreats are scattered through the forest and along the hills. There are no thermal springs or traditional bathhouses, though, so wellness here means rest and quiet rather than a bathing ritual.