Driving Cape Point to Hermanus in a day?
 

I am thinking of driving from Cape Town down around Cape Point then up the east side and ending in Hermanus. My thought is to go shark diving the next day, and I would already be in the area. I would overnight a second night in Hermanus (or Gansbaai) then head onto the Garden Route.

My question is...is the drive too much for one day (Cape Town to Hermanus via Cape Point)?

ejbentx,

Driving from Cape Town to Cape Point and then on to Hermanus can be done in one day but whether it is a good idea is another issue entirely. To complete the drive would effectively mean that you will be flying past all scenery in such a manner that you really will be missing out badly on all that is around you. Stopovers and places of interest such as Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope, penguin colony etc along the way would be very limited in time and I believe unqualitative in the process. With that said I do want to stress that time wise the drive can be done within a day and I suppose it depends on your own indiviudal needs as to what you want to obtain out of the journey that should govern whether you want to do the drive or not.

Two points that I want to mention are:

1. To do the journey I would suggest that you take the route that takes you from Cape Town central to Hout Bay, over Chapmans Peak, via Kommetjie to Cape Point. From Cape Point you should then drive to Simonstown, Muizenberg. Macacasar, N2, Somerset West, Gordons Bay and on to Hermanus. This would be the best road to follow as it will be the one that allows you to take in most of the sites.

2. The journey is a long one and one way to ensure that you obtain a reasonable quality journey out of the day could be to make a 07h00 start on the day although this also depends on when you will be doing this drive because it could be dark if you are travelling in the height of Winter.

Hope this helps and that you enjoy your stay in our country,

Very proudly part of the wonderful ((R))nation of South Africa

Selwyn-
Thank you so much for your response! We will be going in late September, but regardless, 7am is a bit early, and makes for a long day. Based on what you've said, looks like we will do Cape Point one day, then head to Hermanus the following morning. That way, too, if the weather is iffy, we can ditch the shark diving and spend more time siteseeing on the way to Hermanus.

Thanks!