The Overberg region covers much of the southernmost tip of Africa. It is part of the Western Cape Province and stretches from the Hottentots Holland Mountains east of Cape Town to Swellendam further east, and from the Riviersonderend Mountains in the north right down to Cape Agulhas where, geographically speaking, the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean meet.
Towns that make up the Overberg include Arniston, Barrydale, Bredasdorp, Caledon, Gansbaai, Genadendal, Grabouw, Hermanus, Swellendam and more than a dozen others, all of which have their special appeal and interesting history.
The Overberg is another region of striking beauty and diversity. Along the coast, fynbos and wild flowers grow right to the edge of superb beaches, while the area around Grabouw is the centre of the apple-growing industry and Barrydale further to the east is part of Route 62, the longest Wine Route in the world. In between there are rolling fields of golden grain against the backdrop of magnificent mountain ranges.
Hermanus and Gansbaai, and even more so the picturesque village of Arniston, have the typical charm of small seaside resorts and on top of it they offer the best land-based whale watching when Northern Rights visit the coast from June to September for calving and mating. Wales can be seen as close as 30 m from the shore in Hermanus, which is why the little Walker Bay town proudly calls itself the ‘Wale Capital of the World’. Gansbaai, some 50 km to the southeast, is the ‘Shark Capital’, internationally renowned for cage-diving opportunities among Big Whites.
