More about Knysna Whale Watching

Ocean Odyssey is Knysna’s only official whale watching permit holder in the area. Our Close Encounter Whale Watching Tours offers a unique experience for passengers as we traverse the Garden Route coastline in search of our migratory giants – Humpback & Southern Right Whales – annually from June to November.

With a maximum capacity of 25 passengers per tour, expect an intimate and personalised experience aboard our vessel which is accompanied by our skilled skipper and nature site guide. The tour departs from Thesen Island marina and cruises through the diverse Knysna estuary up to the impressive, rugged headlands. Passing through the Knysna Heads is an experience on its own! Once we skilfully manoeuvre our way through the headlands, we enter the vast Indian ocean where all the fun begins!

Keep your eyes peeled for the tell-tale signs of whales – their distinctive blow, a large body jumping out of the ocean and/or a big white splash! But you aren’t the only ones looking, our eagle eye spotter located at elevated viewpoints on the headlands is keeping a close eye on the coastline and communicating any activity to our crew and directing the vessel to sightings – this helps increase chances of sightings as this is marine life in their natural environment!

Approaching our gentle giants is done with incredible skill and respect. Our permit allows us to approach whales up to 50 meters, but it’s not uncommon to encounter curious whales that approach the vessel, and, in this instance, we remain stationery and observe their beauty until they move along. Whales are not the only marine life that can be experienced on this tour, our coastline is teeming with three species of dolphins – Bottlenose, Common and Humpback dolphin, Cape Fur seals, Brydes Whales (Non-migratory whale) African penguins, pelagic birdlife and from time to time depending on water clarity you may sight a shark or two! Whilst sighting the array of marine life that can be experienced, we also highlight the beauty of our unique coastline – the caves, and coves, cliffs and beaches – the magnificent natural scenery perfectly compliments the experience!

The duration of the activity is 1.5-2 hours and is sea and weather conditions permitting! We highly recommend booking this for the first day you are in the area, in the event of poor conditions we can reschedule you to the next best ocean-going day.

What people say

A great experience and a great captain! Highly recommended, although quite expensive....  -  Patrick Madden.