Swartvlei is the largest and deepest lake in the Wilderness National Park in Wilderness, Western Cape. It is connected to the sea for 6 months of the years, before the mouth silts closed for the rest of the year. Boating on the Swartvlei is a thoroughly enjoyable and popular recreational activity. All kinds of boats such as paddle-boats, rubber-ducks, sailing boats, catamarans, motor-boats and canoes are allowed on the water, provided you have a permit. Please make sure all boaters have life jackets. You can enjoy a guided cruise around Swartvlei Lake with Captain Saney aboard the "Loose Goose" that leaves at regular intervals from Pine Lake Marina every day. Swartvlei estuary, the area between the river mouth, around the island and up to the N2 road bridge is great for canoeing. Birding enthusiasts will be in their element, with plenty of water birds to view.

Buffalo Bay Beach is also affectionately named Buffelsbaai and you’ll find it in the Goukamma Nature Reserve just a few kilometers drive from Knysna. The beach is part of a 14 km stretch of sand that is sheer bliss to all visitors. The area is unique offering magnificent white sandy beaches and dues, continuous blue waves as well as coastal fynbos, which in itself is spectacular and flanked by a coastal forest. This is a favourite beach for holiday makers, both local and foreign as the area offers a large variety of activities including fishing, boating, surfing or just relaxing in the shallow waters and sunbathing on the beach. If you’re visiting from July to October you might be lucky enough to spot a dolphin or two frolicking in the waves. Buffalo Bay has a unique, family orientated caravan park that specializes in providing prime tourist caravan & campsites on the beach. Almost completely surrounded by waves, the best view of the Indian Ocean is at your doorstep. Holiday activities are focused around the safe beach and rock pools. Spend blissful hours here surfing, sunbathing, swimming, snorkeling, fishing, canoeing or simply chilling. Ample parking, ablutions, restaurants and a shop are conveniently situated above the beach. Buffels Bay is an ideal swimming beach. During peak seasons there are lifeguards on duty, they will put flags out on the beach to ensure safe swimming. Be sure to stick to these demarcated spaces, as there can be currents at certain places on the beach.

Visitors flying into the city will cross the Buffalo River on their trip into the city from the East London Airport. Home to the Buffalo Harbour and Port of East London, the Buffalo River is the largest of the four rivers and is home to South Africa’s only river port. This river is also the playground for everyone who loves water-sports and is home to no less than 4 clubs, being the The Buffalo River Yacht Club (BRYC), the East London Ski Boat Club, The East London Yacht Club and the Leander Rowing Club and is also home to the oldest national sporting event in South Africa, the Buffalo Regatta as well as the Selborne Sprints. Visitors wishing to explore the river and test their sea legs have the option of booking dolphin & whale watching cruises as well as both ocean and river cruises with Southern Cross Ocean and River Cruises. Understandably given the amount of boating that takes place there, it is also home to the NSRI (National Sea Rescue Institute). The Buffalo River also provides food and entertainment for those who visit her banks. The Sea Spirit offers visitors some of the best ‘fish and slap chips’ in town and is very much a laid-back fisherman-style fish market offering you great food in an authentic fisherman’s setting.

In the heart of the scenic Garden Route on the Cape south coast, near the mouth of the Goukamma River, lies a secret hide-away: the Goukamma Nature Reserve. Close to Sedgefield, it lies approximately 40 km east of George and 25 km west of Knysna. The nature reserve includes a 14 km long coastline, a marine protected area, an extensive dune field with some of the highest vegetated dunes in South Africa, coastal forests and fynbos vegetation, the Goukamma River and estuary, and the freshwater lake, Groenvlei, which has no in-flowing river and no link to the sea. Goukamma has diverse habitats and supports many animal species, from grysbok, to vervet monkeys and otters. Groenvlei has six fish species (two indigenous and four alien). More than 220 bird species have been recorded, including spoonbill, African fish eagle, African marsh harrier, Knysna lourie, kingfisher, the rare African black oystercatcher and occasionally the endangered African penguin. The marine protected area is home to bottlenose and common dolphins. Southern right whales can also be seen close inshore from about July to October. Goukamma lies between the winter and summer rainfall areas. There is no cold wet or dry season, although the rainfall is higher in spring and autumn, and less in summer. The weather is unpredictable, with some warm days in June and July and the odd cold day in summer. Prevailing winds in summer are south easterly and in winter are westerly. Watersports and swimming are permitted in the river and ocean. And this lake is one of the best bass-fishing areas in South Africa. Visitors have a choice of four different day-trails, angling, picnicking, swimming, sailing and canoeing and windsurfing. Canoes are available for hire. A horse-riding trail is available for riders who bring their own horses. No overnight trails are available, but avid hikers can choose between four different day-trails. Bookings are not necessary, but hikers must obtain a permit at the reserve on arrival. Beach walk (14 km, 4 hours): Arrange transport at Platbank, or an out and back walk. Inaccessible during high spring tide. Circular route (8 km, 2-3 hours): Hike along a fynbos ridge with views of the coast, upriver and estuary. The route returns via a climax milkwood forest. Goukamma to Groenvlei (16 km, 4-5 hours): The route stretches over the vegetated dunes. Arrange transport at Groenvlei. Lake walk: a short flat walk along Groenvlei southern shoreline in indigenous forest and lake fringe vegetation.

A literacy Museum in the House where two famous, Afrikaans poets and writer brothers, N.P van Wyk Louw and W.E.G. Louw, were born. There are very Interesting displays, to see here! NP van Wyk Louw, born on 11 June 1906 in Sutherland, was an Afrikaans-language poet, playwright, and scholar. He is the older brother of Afrikaans-language poet W.E.G. Louw. He viewed the Afrikaans language as a bridge that connects Europe with Africa. He earned a Master's Degree in German at the University of Cape Town, where he later taught. He received an honorary degree from the University of Utrecht in 1948, and was a professor of Afrikaans at the University of Amsterdam from 1949-1958. He finished his academic career at the University of Witwatersrand as head of the Dutch/Afrikaans department. NP van Wyk Louw died at the aged of 64 on 18 June 1970, in Johannesburg Gauteng. When reading some of his wonderful work: you see, feel, and hear the quaintness of Sutherland and surroundings.

Leipoldtville, a very small historical town, ideally situated to use as a base or stay over from where to explore the surrounding West Coast towns. Leipoldtville is a suburb of Graafwater and the distance from Graafwater to Leipoldtville is 19 kms. Northeast of Elands Bay en route to Graafwater, lies the quaint village of Leipoldtville next to the Langvlei Rivier. The town was established in 1905 when a new Dutch Reformed congregation came into being. Leipoldtville was named after Reverend Friederch Leipoldt, the then minister at Clanwilliam and father of physician, poet and author, C Louis Leipoldt. Leipoldtville is in the heart of the 'Sandveld', one of the main potato producing areas in South Africa and the region is popular for its challenging 4x4 trails.

The Heerenlogement cave which was used by travelers as overnight accommodation in the 17th and 18th centuries is 25 km from Graafwater on the Vredendal road. Graafwater lies midway between Clanwilliam and Lamberts Bay and was built as a railway junction in 1910, for the transportation of agricultural products from Clanwilliam and seafood products from Lambert’s Bay. The Heerenlogement (‘gentleman’s lodging’) is a renowned cave found about 25 kilometers from Graafwater on the north road to Vredendal. The walls of this rock shelter were used to carve the names or initials of travelers of the 1700’s who stayed over in the cave and about 170 carvings have been recorded in this rocky ‘visitors book’. An account of the shelter was documented by Cape Governor Hendrik Swellengrebel who passed this way in 1737. He also mentioned a wild fig tree growing out of a cleft at the back of the cave that can be seen to this day. The Heerenlogement has been declared a national monument. Graafwater lies in the northerly reaches of the Sandveld – a huge, sparsely populated area sandwiched between the West Coast and the Swartland, and adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean. Other than Leipoldtville, and Klawer further north, Graafwater is the only village for miles around – this is typical of the region where towns are spread far and wide, each surrounded by huge expanses of veld filled with spectacular fynbos, dense stands of indigenous vegetation, hardy bushes and reeds and, in spring, a tapestry of wild flowers. Low rainfall and poor, sandy soil means that any farms in the area breed mostly sheep and cattle. But the Sandveld also does well for bee farmers, potatoes (the area around Redelinghuys and the Verloren Vallei are regarded as the 'potato store' of the Western Cape), sunflowers and even some wheat on those farms closest to the Swartland. Graafwater exists mainly as a link on the railway line to Bitterfontein, but the local hotel, now over 100 years old (which advertises itself as 'nothing fancy' but boasts a large dose of West Coast hospitality and neat, clean rooms) does a booming trade with the flower season as people pour into the Sandveld for the spectacle. In particular there are numerous rosin bushes (Euryops) around Graafwater that are spectacular when in flower. Graafwater, when translated from the Afrikaans, means 'water from a spade'.

Nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Bobbejaan Mountain lies this hotspot for surfers around the world. Elands Bay is 95 km northwest of Piketberg and 70km from Velddrif and this is where the magnificent Verlorenvlei, a natural marsh and sanctuary for 240 bird species, flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The bay is a prime whale and dolphin viewing venue between July and September when migrating Southern Right whales and Heaviside Dolphins can be seen in large numbers. Throughout the year, playful dolphins can be seen ‘surfing the waves’ and, on occasion, Orcas (Killer Whales) can also be seen. The Bobbejaan Mountain cliffs project into the sea at Baboon Point and a large rock shelter in the cliff is adorned with primitive San paintings. Excavations at a rock shelter in the cliffs indicate habitation by man 15 000 years ago. Elands Bay Cave is a rock art site dating back 10 000 years. The mild weather ensures year-round outdoor activities, walks and hikes, mountain-biking, mountaineering and 4x4 trails, rubber-ducking, surfing, horse-riding, fishing and birding – and more! Pristine sand dunes, with great picnic spots and a caravan park.