Hermanus Whale Cruises 

A warm welcome to Hermanus Whale Cruises who offer you a "tail" you can tell others, and an incredible, up close experience of 2 hours boat-based whale watching in Hermanus on South Africa’s whale coast. 

We have been operating in the Walker Bay area since the first permits for boat based whale watching were granted in 1998. All our skippers and guides are registered tour guides and come from the local community of Hawston just outside of Hermanus. Their combined experience enables us to provide you with a vast amount of local information, especially within the boat based whale watching area. 

Our Tours 

Our boat based whale watching company is  based in the new harbour of Hermanus on the Cape south coast, a 90-minute drive from Cape Town. We can take up to 87 passengers including 5 crew members on board. There is an open top viewing deck that seats 28 passengers, while the front viewing deck seats 7. Our "Whale Cruiser" is wheelchair-friendly! We serve snacks, mineral water and soft drinks during the trip. Our seasonal operating period is from June to December. 

Southern Right Whales are migratory mammals. They spend one season in one place and the rest of the year in another, and travel long distances in between these seasons. In summer (December through May), they are in the cold polar regions of the Southern Hemisphere where food (mainly krill) is present and plentiful. Winters (June through November) are spent around the shallow coastal waters of Southern Africa, South America and Australia. The shallow, sandy-bottomed and sheltered bays of our coastline are perfect for mating, calving, nursing their young and resting.

From January to May and four time s a day (weather permitting), we also offer one to two hours long eco-tours, a sight-seeing experience where you can interact with dolphins, seals, clawless otters and a variety of sea birds. 

If you would like to explore South Africa’s diverse culture on land, join us for a cultural tours where you meet the local people and learn more of their history, culture and environment. We will also visit several historic fishing villages and Moravian mission stations, and gladly arrange a township tour.