Gansbaai Tours: Boats, Botany and Whales
Boat Tours From Kleinbaai and Gansbaai Harbour
Two operators run the main wildlife boats, and they are separate businesses with their own schedules and prices.
Marine Dynamics Shark and Whale Tours (whalewatchsa.com, formerly Dyer Island Cruises) sails from Kleinbaai on the Marine Big 5 trip. The route takes in seals, penguins, dolphins and whales when they are around. An adult ticket is R2,340 and a child under 12 pays R1,725. Children under 5 are free, and a compulsory R150 conservation fee is added per person. South African citizens pay R1,728 for an adult and R864 for a child. Tours run year-round and last about 2 to 2.5 hours. Southern right whales appear roughly from June to December, and humpback and Bryde’s whales roughly from January to May.
Ivanhoe Sea Safaris leaves from Gansbaai Harbour and holds the permit for Area 6 of Walker Bay. Its whale watching starts from about R1,950 for an adult and R975 for a child under 12, based on the prices on its website, which show 2025 rates. Trips take about 2 hours and depart at 07:00, 10:00, 13:00 and 15:30 from June to December. The operator also lists a whale and shark combination at R4,200 for an adult. Confirm all of these figures when you book.
Dyer Island and Geyser Rock
Both islands are provincial nature reserves and a Ramsar site, about 8 km offshore. The public cannot land, hike, kayak or snorkel there, so a licensed boat is the only way to see them. Geyser Rock holds tens of thousands of seals, and the channel between the two islands is known as Shark Alley. Never paddle, snorkel or free-dive in that channel on your own.
Shark Cage Diving as a Tour
Marine Dynamics also runs the cage dive from its office at 5 Geelbek Street in Kleinbaai. It is a surface cage with breath-hold diving and no scuba certificate. Prices are R3,655 for an international adult and R2,268 for a South African adult, plus the R150 fee. Great white sharks are rare here and cannot be promised. Bronze whalers and sevengills are the usual visitors. White Shark Projects at 16 Geelbek Street is a different company with its own rates.
Grootbos Botanical Tours
Grootbos Private Nature Reserve lies on the R43 between Stanford and Gansbaai. Booking ahead is essential, groups are limited to 10, and the minimum age is 12.
The Florilegium Half Day Tour costs R1,250 per person for South African residents and R1,950 for international visitors. It runs about 4.5 hours, from 09:30 to 14:00, Wednesday to Sunday. It combines a 4x4 botanical safari, a guided visit to the Hannarie Wenhold Botanical Art Gallery and a light high tea. Transport to the reserve is not included.
The Botanical Art Gallery Tour costs R300 per person. It lasts two hours, runs from 10:00 to 12:00 on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and stays indoors. Gallery access is by tour only.
Read more: Gansbaai activities for cage diving and the penguin sanctuary, or day trips for longer outings.
Browse more guided options on Viator , and see current schedules on the Grootbos tours page and the Ivanhoe Sea Safaris site .