Hermanus is a charming coastal resort with some of the best land-based whale watching in the world, surrounded by spectacular natural beauty, the ocean, majestic mountains, and indigenous fynbos. This little seaside town becomes a bustling hubbub of activity from July until December when thousands flock to see the Southern Right Whales as they arrive from Antarctica to breed and rear their young. They are celebrated each year with a three-day action packed festival. The Marine Hotel sits on the cliff path, set within gorgeous gardens overlooking a large tidal pool and Walker Bay beyond.
The hotel has prime position to witness this profound event from its many viewpoints, including your ocean-view bedroom as they pass by and loll in the bay. A member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, this fabulous hotel has won many awards, including accolades from Condé NastTraveller, and the World Luxury Hotel Awards. It is truly a Grande Dame with a wonderfully storied past. A hotel in various guises since the 19th century, and luckily despite its many refurbishments, most of the hotel’s original and historic features remain.
Arriving at The Marine Hotel
The hotel possesses an elegant yet relaxed and tranquil ambience. The Marine Sun Lounge lounge is immensely comfortable, with lots of cosy seating in fresh light colours to sink into, with acres of skylight visible from the floor-to-ceiling windows. The walls are adorned by wallpaper with a loose protea pattern and a collage of a giant King Protea by the artist Olivier, alongside Martin de Kock’s vibrant oil paintings portraying proteas with a modern twist.
Three local artists took inspiration from the South African flower, the Protea, which also happens to be the signature flower of the historic hotel. An abundance of fresh flowers spills over the tables and a selection of coffee table books to indulge in if, that is, you can tear your eyes away from the whales frolicking in the bay below.
The Marine Hotel’s Amenities
The bar is to the side of the lounge, so you don’t have far to go for sundowners. The Pavilion is the hotel a la carte restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. The bar is adjacent to the sun lounge, and all are easily accessible on the ground floor with doors to the sea terrace, lawn, cliff top, and the sea pool below. The more adventurous guests can pop down to the Marine Pool, the fantastic large tidal pool directly below the hotel. It’s pretty spectacular, if not a bit chilly!
While swimming, you can look out for the adorably cute dassies that patrol the cliffs, popping in and out of the caves, rocks and planting. They are rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis)—known in Southern Africa as dassies—and despite their small size, the dassie is considered the closest living relative of the largest land mammal—the African elephant. These cute characters can be pretty bold. They look like a rabbit or a giant guinea pig, and watching them watch us is fun.
There is a heated pool in a courtyard surrounded by collonaded walkways where you can sit out, read, relax, dine and sip on some of the wonderful local wines, protected from stormy seas. The Carchele spa can be found here, too, for excellent pampering treatments.
Rooms at The Marine Hotel
The rooms and suites are elegant, spacious, light and sophisticated. The sea-facing first floor rooms and suites all have sensational sea views, and the upper-floor landside rooms cleverly open up to a lovely terrace with seating and views over the pool courtyard below. A gorgeous honeymoon suite with a mezzanine bedroom competes with a porthole window to the sea from the bed.
Food and Drink
There are many great spots for drinks and excellent food, from humble fish and chips to fine dining.
The variety is endless. Hermanus is also close to some of South Africa’s best wine farms, the oceanside Benguela Cove Wine Estate is 17 km along the coast, and the renowned wine region Hemel and Arde. Oenophiles will think they have died and gone to heaven.
In terms of food, The Rock has spectacular 280-degree views over the New Harbour, Walker Bay and the Kleinrivier mountains. Further along, the cliff is Ficks, from the owners of Dutchies at nearby Grotto Bay, next to the natural sea pool, serving a range of Spanish style Pinchos overlooking the endless beauty of the ocean before and after you take a refreshing dip in the pool. It surrounds while the waves crash into the rocks, and the new Perlemoen offers fresh, local abalone with its sea views, overlooking the Old Harbour just along from The Rock.
Perlemoen is the only restaurant in the country specialising in serving freshly caught perlemoen, [abalone] giant ocean snails. The Old Harbour, the first abalone hatchery in Hermanus, was declared a national monument in 1970 and later proclaimed a museum.
Activities in The Local Area
It is only a few minutes to the compact town, which has everything you need. Shoppers won’t be disappointed, nor will art fans, as there are many galleries, fashion boutiques, and jewellery shops. Besides whale watching, there is horse riding at Pearly Beach, paragliding, kayaking, shark cage diving at nearby Gansbaai, fishing, and hiking, to simply swimming and sunbathing at one of many gorgeous beaches. L out for, and the fantastic tidal pool below the hotel is the perfect spot to indulge in “Cold Swimming”. A popular pastime in South Africa.
Local Markets in Hermanus
Make sure you visit over a Saturday for the Hermanus markets. Every Saturday, the Hermanus Country Market on the Hermanus Cricket Grounds is a great spot to shop and snack on tasty alfresco food and drinks. If you’re an oyster fan, you’ll get a fab fix here, fresh from the ocean, with local bubbly. Sample excellent food and wines at the Hermanuspietersfontein Boeremark market every Saturday. Once a month, the Onrus Market opens its doors with various knick-knacks, snacks, home-baked goods, books and much more. The Lemm’s Corner Craft Market is an old favourite every Saturday, with unique crafts, artwork, clothes and food! It’s part arts and crafts market and part car boot sale.
Walking and Hiking
Nearby nature reserves, Fernkloof and Vogelgat, have extraordinary scenery and sweeping views with hiking trails suited to all fitness levels. For walkers, there are several hiking trails in and around Hermanus. But the most popular is the world-famous Cliff Path in Hermanus stretching from the New Harbour for about 12km along the rugged coastline to Grotto beach with incredible sea and mountain views and in season, what better way than to multi-task —walk and whale spot at the same time!
The Hermanus Whale Crier
Thanks to the “Hermanus Whale Crier”,, even if you’re not consciously looking out for whales, the blast of the crier’s unique kelp horn will alert you to any passing whales. The hotel, too, has a whale bell that you are encouraged to ring should you spot any whales.
Sculpture on the cliff
The magnificent Hermanus cliff path takes you on a wonderfully scenic 12 km long walk along the town’s incredible coastline dotted with eye-catching sculptures from a host of well-known South
African sculptors around Gearing’s Point. Sculpture on the Cliffs is the brainchild of the people behind the hugely successful FynArts art festival and gallery, who invite Prominent South African sculptors to produce a sculpture for each year’s theme.
Experience South Africa’s Landscapes at the Marine Hotel
The Marine is one of three hotels in the exclusive Liz McGrath Collection that allow you to experience South Africa’s divergent landscapes. The Cellars Hohenort is in the woody Constantia Valley in Cape Town near the city. The Plettenberg in Plettenberg Bay is a six-hour drive away and an extraordinary beautiful ocean resort. You cannot go wrong taking a road trip visiting all three and experiencing the fabulous landscapes in between.
An internationally recognised interior architect and landscape designer, she has worked on numerous projects around the world. An eye for detail and love of all things art, architecture, travel and design have led to a nomadic lifestyle resulting in a greater focus on travel and lifestyle feature writing. She is a contributor for a range of international print publications. Living between Hong Kong, Cape Town, and London, traveling anywhere.
