How to see whales from a small plane in Walker Bay (South Africa)

One of the enclaves that I had the opportunity to visit during my recent trip to south africa in the Africa Adventure was Walker Bay, an impressive nature reserve with 22 kilometers of wild beaches located southeast of Cape.

Walker Bay It is also an ideal place for see whales and white sharks.

Furthermore, it is the only area in the world where you can cage diving surrounded by white sharks, an activity that we had the opportunity to do...although that is another story.

Whales in Walker Bay

But what about the whales?

The truth is that our visit to Walker Bay It was mid-December, when a couple of weeks before the last whales had already emigrated.

La whale season in south africa It runs from July to November, and is in the tourist town of Hermanus where the port is located from where all the excursions depart to see them.

What's more, as they told us, Hermanus It is the only place in the world where you can see the whales without having to take a boat, since their abundance is such that they can be seen from the promenade itself.

But if you want to take a very special excursion, in Walker Bay you can sign up for a safari to see whales from a small plane.

Evan Austin, a veteran and very friendly British pilot has been offering this tourist activity with his company African Wings, which, without a doubt, will allow you to have a very different and spectacular view of the whales.

You can see this in the photo he took from the plane of the last pair of whales that migrated from Walker Bay, just a couple of weeks before our arrival.

Walker Bay from the plane

Although there were no whales anymore, we had the opportunity to fly over the natural landscapes of Walker Bay in a small plane.

To do this we start from the dirt track that is next door. Grootbos private nature reserve, in whose luxurious five-star lodge we were staying.

“Don't worry, I have more than 40 years of experience and my wife and son are waiting for me to eat.”

Thus Evan he welcomed us to the friend Paco Nadalya mi in sight of our faces once we were settled in the apparently very fragile plane.

After taking off on the dirt runway, the flight was truly a very pleasant experience.

First we fly over Grootbos and then tour the entire impressive walker bay beach.

We also made several turns on a boat that was carrying out the activity of cage diving with sharks, and we flew over a small island that was full of african penguins, the same ones that we could see up close the day before in Stone Point.

After an excellent landing, we were really excited about what the excursion would have been like if we had been able to see the whales. Something impressive for sure.

In the video inserted in this article you can see a summary of the excursion with images of it. Do not miss it.