River Cruises in South Africa

Although South Africa has some great rivers, like the mighty Orange, the Vaal or the Caledon, none of them is perennial, with a constant flow of water. Therefore, you won’t find large cruiseships leisurely transporting you for a week or longer along the great rivers of European, Asia or other countries. In South Africa river cruises are confined to the seasonal flow and are mostly leisure trips lasting only a few hours or perhaps a day.

But what makes these cruises unique, is that they often offer the opportunity to observe the unique wild-life in and around these rivers, whilst drifting serenely along. Think of the boat cruises along the river estuary of the Bushmans River, meandering for 18 km through the Sibuya Game Reserve, near Kenton-on-Sea in the Eastern Cape, where 4 of the big five can be seen, as well as numerous other animals and more than 300 different bird species; or a day cruise on board the river boat called Shayamanzi on the Pongola River where it enters Lake Josini on which’s shores herds of elephant, impala, wildebeest white rhino or other game roam.

But then there are cruises, offering other specialities, such as the wine tasting cruises on the Riverboat near Robertson in the Breede River, just 90 km from Cape Town, or the cruise along the Klein River from Stanford in the Overberg region of the Cape, while having a braai or a breakfast, with the magnificent mountains from where the river originates surrounding you, ending 15 km later in the lagoon at the sea-side town of Hermanus, renowned for its whale watching.
But river cruises are to be found in most of South Africa’s regions, such as those on the Knysna Lagoon and adjoining river on the Garden Route, the Kowie River Cruises at Port Alfred, or a Sunday Luncheon Cruise from Stonehaven on the luxurious Spirit of Jen on the Vaal River near Vanderbijlpark, near Johannesburg. Let us assist you in enhancing your trip through South Africa with one of these special river escapes.