Best Things to Do in South Africa- Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban

Just wondering peoples’ thoughts on what the best things to do, and the things not to miss out on, along this coastal route are? Cheers.

Heya, I’ve recently got back from a trip through South Africa, I stayed in a few places along this route.

Durban was nice, I’d been out in the sticks for a while so it was nice to be back in a city. The marine world is amazing and the beaches are lovely with warm water and a great promenade. You can do a pretty good swing aswell from the world cup stadium there.

I 100% recommend the Transkei, I stayed at Coffee Bay, it was one of the highlights of the trip, if you get a chance go there…most people plan for a few days then end up staying for a week or longer!
I didn’t go to Port St Johns or Cintsa but heard they were good too.

I stayed in East London for a few days, it was ok, but to be honest I only stayed here so long as I was visiting a friend, if they weren’t there it probably wouldn’t have been much of a stop.

PE isn’t worth it, anyone you ask along the way tends to agree that its a big city but has nothing much more to offer.

The route from PE to Cape town gets seriously interesting, you can pretty much stop everywhere and find loads to do, I’ll try and remember all the places I stopped along the way?!
Jeffreys Bay (J Bay)- awesome surf place, “supertubes” pro surfers hit these breaks and look amazing! If you want to grab some cheap surf gear aswell all the factory outlet shops for billabong, rip curl etc are here so you can find some awesome bargains.

Storms River (I didnt stop here) if you want to do the Bloukrans Bridge (worlds highest) bungy jump this, iirc, is the closest stop.

Plettenberg Bay (Plett) - this town was lovely, awesome beaches, great town definitely worth a couple of days break to chill out!

Knysna and the Wilderness I never stopped at but only heard good things about.

After these stops I pretty much hot footed it to Cape Town (i was running out of time!) where its impossible to get bored! You’ve got table mountain to hike, wine tours, shark cage diving, skydiving, Kirstenbosch gardens, Robben Island (a definite place to visit so much amazing history), V & A waterfront, Green Point, Cape Point and the penguins, Long Street for the off the wall shops and awesome nightlife, thats just a handful of things!

Sorry for the briefness of the list but didn’t want to get boring! If you want to know anymore about specific stops let me know :-)
Ellie

Heya, I’ve recently got back from a trip through South Africa, I stayed in a few places along this route.

Durban was nice,
Where is Durban nice?
I am sorry, but Durban is a toilet compared to years ago.

I 100% recommend the Transkei,
Seriously, you suggest Transkei? I consider Durban to be “Spot the White” but Transkei, well, no chance there, be prepared to be outcaste.

I stayed in East London for a few days,
I lived in East London for a few years, I was back there about 2 years ago, and sadly couldn’t recognise the place.
Gone to the dogs is the expression.

PE isn’t worth it,
PE is only good for doing the Bloukranse jump,
When you have done the jump, PE means nothing.

The route from PE to Cape town gets seriously interesting, you can pretty much stop everywhere and find loads to do, I’ll try and remember all the places I stopped along the way?!
Jeffreys Bay (J Bay)- awesome surf place, “supertubes” pro surfers hit these breaks and look amazing! If you want to grab some cheap surf gear aswell all the factory outlet shops for billabong, rip curl etc are here so you can find some awesome bargains.

Storms River (I didnt stop here) if you want to do the Bloukrans Bridge (worlds highest) bungy jump this, iirc, is the closest stop.
Was the highest when I did it, now some where else, not S.A.

Plettenberg Bay (Plett) - this town was lovely, awesome beaches, great town definitely worth a couple of days break to chill out!

Knysna and the Wilderness I never stopped at but only heard good things about.
You didn’t miss much, the steam train used to terminate there, but no more running I understand

After these stops I pretty much hot footed it to Cape Town (i was running out of time!) where its impossible to get bored!
You’ve got table mountain to hike, ok, and abseil down the back side, and the cable car
wine tours, Paarl and Stellenbosch are quaint
shark cage diving, not as good as I wanted
skydiving, where ?
Kirstenbosch gardens, so so ok,
Robben Island (a definite place to visit so much amazing history), if you can put up with all the political crap that gets put down your throat
V & A waterfront, watch the stealers and pick pockets, helicopter rides are good,
Green Point, the put put, and what else?
Cape Point ok, good walk to the old light house, see the whales
and the penguins, from Hout Bay, to Duiker Island
Long Street for the off the wall shops and awesome nightlife, thats just a handful of things! watch your hand bags

Sorry for the briefness of the list but didn’t want to get boring! If you want to know anymore about specific stops let me know :-)
Ellie

Don’t want to give the wrong impression, but having lived there for 14 years, and I do know what I am talking about

V.

I 100% recommend the Transkei,
Seriously, you suggest Transkei? I consider Durban to be “Spot the White” but Transkei, well, no chance there, be prepared to be outcaste.

And your point would be…...??

I absolutely loved the Transkei, found it a beautiful place with only incredibly friendly people.  Coffee Bay was a particular favourite of mine aswell.  Could of stayed at the Coffee Shack for months - made you feel so welcome and lots organised for backpackers, especially friendly for folk like myself who were travelling themselves.

Uk_vette I’m not sure why you’ve lived there for 14 years since you only appear to have negative things to say about the place.

     

I 100% recommend the Transkei,
Seriously, you suggest Transkei? I consider Durban to be “Spot the White” but Transkei, well, no chance there, be prepared to be outcaste.

And your point would be…...??

I absolutely loved the Transkei, found it a beautiful place with only incredibly friendly people.  Coffee Bay was a particular favourite of mine aswell.  Could of stayed at the Coffee Shack for months - made you feel so welcome and lots organised for backpackers, especially friendly for folk like myself who were travelling themselves.

Uk_vette I’m not sure why you’ve lived there for 14 years since you only appear to have negative things to say about the place.

my thoughts exactly! why live somewhere you obviously don’t like!
Personally i really enjoyed SA and stand by my recommendations. Hope the OP wasn’t put off by ukVette :(

     

I 100% recommend the Transkei,
Seriously, you suggest Transkei? I consider Durban to be “Spot the White” but Transkei, well, no chance there, be prepared to be outcaste.

And your point would be…...??

I absolutely loved the Transkei, found it a beautiful place with only incredibly friendly people.  Coffee Bay was a particular favourite of mine aswell.  Could of stayed at the Coffee Shack for months - made you feel so welcome and lots organised for backpackers, especially friendly for folk like myself who were travelling themselves.

Uk_vette I’m not sure why you’ve lived there for 14 years since you only appear to have negative things to say about the place.

my thoughts exactly! why live somewhere you obviously don’t like!
Personally i really enjoyed SA and stand by my recommendations. Hope the OP wasn’t put off by ukVette :(