Hermanus whale season: what you see, month by month

Hermanus has a claim few places can make: land-based whale watching that beats most boat trips. Southern right whales come into Walker Bay to calve, and the bay is deep enough close in that they sit metres from a cliff path with a paved walkway along it.

The season runs roughly June to November, but it is not uniform. June and July are the arrivals — numbers are building and sightings are good but not guaranteed on any given day. August through October is the peak, when cows and calves are resting in the bay and you can reasonably expect to see whales from the cliff path on most days.

September and October are also when the behaviour is at its most spectacular: breaching, lobtailing and sailing, where a whale holds its tail out of the water and lets the wind push it along. November is the tail of the season as animals head back to the Southern Ocean.

Bring binoculars. The whales are often close enough not to need them, but they turn a distant blow into an actual animal, and Walker Bay is large.

Hermanus sits about ninety minutes from Cape Town along the R44 coastal road, which is one of the better drives in the country in its own right. It works as a long day trip, or as the first night of a Garden Route itinerary heading east.