Our last two days were spent in Plettenberg Bay. We were staying at The Plettenberg, a truly lovely boutique hotel at a headland overlooking the expansive coastline. We have been privileged to stay in a lot of nice places this holiday – the result of a decision to cancel a safari addition to the holiday and a redistribution of some of the budget! Other places have been bigger and grander, but The Plettenberg is a cut above the rest. Beautifully decorated and designed, understated but high quality, with amazing light, space and comfort. It feels like you’re in a lovely home and it is immediately warm, welcoming and luxurious. Our corner room looked out over the bay, affording us a view of pods of dolphins bobbing their way along the coastline.
We arrived too early to check in, so made our way into Plettenberg town. We’d expected a Stellenbosch or Franschhoek, but found a slightly tawdry mix of nice independent shops and phone repair stores. This place is known as the millionaires (or as we discovered, billionaire’s) playground but the town hasn’t yet caught on. We picked up some supplies and had a light lunch before checking into our room in the hotel.
That afternoon, we ventured out to Robberg National Park. Advertised as a World Heritage Site (it actuallly isn’t), it’s an area of wilderness along a peninsular with a nature trail running through it. We struck out along the main trail. We had left a little late in the day to do the full 10km loop, so took the half-route, climbing up 80m to first smell, then look down upon Cape Fur Seals dancing in the waters below, barking and bleating on the south of the peninsular. We then cut across some unlikely sand dunes (apparently laid down by sands blown up the cliff face and deposited on the cliff-tops), and down to the north side, sinking deep into dunes on the way back down. We then cast out over a natural sand bar, separating the crashing ocean on either side of us, to an island outcropping, serving only the local sea birds. A path had been laid around the island to take in the beauty of the southern oceans, the seals playing in the surf, and probably a Great White Shark at one point (not this point).
We made our way back up the cliff-side to rejoin the path back to the start of the hike. A beautiful and challenging hike and one we’d both highly recommend. Returning to the hotel for a much-needed shower and change, we chilled before heading out to Nguni, a restaurant in the town where I had a superb fillet steak.
The next morning, we awoke early and after breakfast, drove a short distance around to a neighbouring bay to join ProDive for a dive with the fur seals. We donned thick wetsuits and were launched on our rigid-hulled rib by a tractor gunning it at full speed pushing us into the surf. Strangest launch ever! We bounced out over rolling waves to the dive site, back to where we’d looked down on the dancing seals the day before.
Unfortunately as we were preparing to dive, one of our fellow diver’s had an o-ring failure on his kit, resulting in a sharp pop and a lengthy attempt at repair. During this time, we were being thrown around in the surf on the boat. Shona was getting greener by the second. When we eventually descended, we headed down only 3-5m. This put us in the middle of the seal’s playground. Due to the shallows, we were subject to massive surge, dragging us in and out towards shore. We lost sight of our guide frequently, needing to resurface, regroup and re-descend. With the boat delay, and violent surge, Shona’s infamous underwater management of breathing and vomiting ensued.
Despite this, the Cape Fur Seals were magical. We were told they were like puppies and that is without doubt the best description. They nibbled at our fins, they danced around us, mouths open as if to bite, before swerving away in a pirouette of playfulness. They bounced their noses off our masks and cameras, and spent the 30 minutes we were underwater simply enjoying themselves, curious at our presence but unaffected by us being there. Effortlessly unimpeded by the huge surge, clouds of sand and silt or the flailing divers around them.
A typical chaotic return to the boat caused by rolling surf, removal of weight belts, BCD, and loss of various items by snorkelers who joined us above the waves. We headed back to shore, Shona quiet and green. The landing was as unothrodox as the launch, with a coordinated full-speed beaching of the boat on the sand, including a 30º tilting of the boat on landing. Very bizarre and probably not great for the hull and doubtless many injuries!
After returning to the hotel for recovery, we wandered down to a local beach-side restaurant for lunch and a wander. Chilled at the hotel for a couple of hours before Shona went for a swim and I went for a run. We reconvened and popped down to the hotel bar for a drink before dinner. Before we’d ordered drinks, we got chatting to Anton and Nikki, a couple who lived locally. Well, they did during the UK winter. They’d both divorced their respective partners, and absconded to Plettenberg. They were very well travelled and well healed – having bought a place along the coast, surrounded by literal billionaires. They split their time between London and SA. They were an interesting and quite sozzled couple who quizzed us on where we’d eaten while here. They were shocked when we said we hadn’t eaten at Emily Moon’s and Anton immediately got on the phone to the restaurant and booked us a table – by force of will, it seemed (they were full). We spent another 30 mins talking diving with them – and getting some great tips for future adventures – before grabbing a taxi for dinner.
We were glad to have been strong-armed into the meal. It was a fantastic setting and superb food (rack of lamb for me and Kudu for Shona, and a fitting end to our time in South Africa.
The next morning, we shared an idyllic breakfast overlooking the ocean, went for final swims and runs in the warm sunshine, before driving a few hours along to Port Elizabeth for our first of three flights home…
Travels with Sklaroffs 