Hermanus Information - Cape Town - South Africa Travel

In the 1800s, the shepherd Herman’s Peters made his way to the sea with his livestock and camped there for a few months. Eventually other farmers also brought their livestock here to the area then known as Hermanuspietersfontein, for the summer grazing months. However, it was the fishermen not the farmers who settled here.

In the early 1900s the long name was reduced to Hermanus. The first school was built is 1868.

Hermanus grew in popularity as a holiday destination, and was even recommended as far afield as England as a good place with its fresh air for convalescents. The Marine Hotel was built in 1902 and proved popular with the English gentry.

Hermanus is about 120km or 90 minutes drive from Cape Town. Greater Hermanus is made up of 8 communities: Hermanus, Fisherhaven, Voelklip, Hawston, Vermont, Onrus, Mt Pleasant, Zwelihle.

Hermanus is regarded as the best land-based whale-watching location in the world. The peak whale season is during September and October. Hermanus hosts the Whale Festival annually. The Southern Right Whale population at Walker Bay was estimated at 40-70 in 2002. The number of whales that visit South African waters is around 2000 and is increasing yearly.

Whales can be spotted anywhere from the 12km long cliff path. Other excellent vantage points are Sievers Punt and Gearings Point. The telescope at the Old Harbour can also be used to view the whales. Wilson Salukazana, the world’s only whale crier patrols the streets of Hermanus with his kelp horn, alerting the town when whales are spotted.

The Whale House, which was created by the Old Harbour Museum, provides information and displays related to whales. The Old Harbour Museum, apart from providing information on the marine history, also maintains a database on the history of Hermanus. For more about the town’s history, a visit to the De Wet’s Huis Photo Museum is worthwhile. Here you can see a photographic exhibition showing the history of Hermanus.

For beer drinkers, a visit to the Birkenhead micro Brewery near Stanford is interesting for tours and tastings.

The abalone industry (perlemoen as it is known locally), is a large and lucrative one in Greater Hermanus. There has been much conflict due to poaching and over-harvesting. Demand for abalone, particularly from the Far East, is high, and dried abalone prices are extremely high. Regulations have reduced the perlemoen diving season considerably to protect this shellfish resource.

A beautiful viewpoint is the Hoy’s Koppie. This hill is named after Sir William Hoy, who was once general manager of South African Railways. He often visited Hermanus with his wife, and was so impressed with its natural beauty, that he blocked the plans to extend the Bot River Railway line to Hermanus so that the town would remain unspoilt.

It was discovered by archaeologists that the Khoisan tribes inhabited the Klipgat Cave on the southern part of Hoy’s Koppie, long before Hermanus was established.

The Fernkloof Nature Reserve was established in 1957. It has a rich diversity (1600) of fynbos species. In this reserve alone, spread over 15 square kilometers, 1100 different plant species have been identified, compared with 1500 species in the whole of the United Kingdom! 111 bird species have been recorded. Klipspringer, baboons, steenbok and grysbok can also be seen in the reserve.

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