Walker Bay is a large bay located in the south-western
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...
province of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. It is the next major bay between
False Bay
False Bay (Afrikaans ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcat ...
near
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
and
Cape Agulhas
Cape Agulhas (; pt, Cabo das Agulhas , "Cape of the Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa.
It is the geographic southern tip of the African continent and the beginning of the dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian ...
to the south-east. The bay is famous for having some of the best land based whale-watching in the world, which a town on its shores,
Hermanus
Hermanus (originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service , has become famous for.
Southern right whales
The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20° ...
visit the bay in the winter and spring months.
Gansbaai
Gansbaai (Dutch/Afrikaans for "bay of geese," sometimes referred to as Gans Bay or Gangs Bay) is a fishing town and popular tourist destination in the Overberg District Municipality, Western Cape, South Africa. It is known for its dense populatio ...
on the shores of the bay has also become very famous for
Great white shark
The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocean ...
diving.
The shores adjacent to the bay are protected as part of the
Walker Bay Nature Reserve
Walker Bay Nature Reserve is a nature reserve made up of five areas located on the coast between Hermanus and Cape Agulhas, in the Overberg region in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is administered by CapeNature
CapeNature (officia ...
, and the bay itself is a
marine protected area
Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conse ...
in which most boating and fishing activity is prohibited.
Wine
An up-and-coming South African wine region with a cooler climate than most. This allows for good
Pinot noir and
Chardonnay
Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...
with top estates in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley.
The-Wine-Library
Short Description of wine in Walker Bay
See also
* List of bays of South Africa
References
{{List of African seas
Landforms of the Western Cape
Bays of South Africa