After leaving Knysna it was on to the gorgeous Plettenberg Bay. (In)famous for it’s nightlife and its pristine beaches being inhabited by buff and bronzed South Africans, Plettenberg Bay (or Plett as it’s known by the locals) is arguably the best party destination on the Garden Route.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, partying isn’t my number one pastime, so the main appeal of Plett was the opportunity to swim with hundreds of gorgeous Cape Fur Seals (also skydiving but I shall get to that in next weeks post) in their natural habitat.
Offshore Adventures Swim with Seals is a little pricey at 550ZAR ($55) but it was an opportunity that I wasn’t prepared to pass up! A small group of us went on a boat trip out to the Robberg Peninsula, a part of Robberg Nature Reserve. As soon as we arrived I was able to see hundreds of beautiful seals jump into the water ready to greet us. A few other people on the boat were hesitant but not I! I was the first one to jump into the water and start interacting with these gorgeous creatures.
Snorkelling was like second nature to me, so it wasn’t long before I was duck diving down to the ocean bed to greet the huge number of seals. They were incredibly playful! They liked nipping at my flippers and one cheeky devil even attempted to eat my GoPro! They enjoyed blowing bubbles underwater and could be seen baring their teeth every so often, but it seemed more like play than aggression.
I spent approximately one hour in the water but it felt like no more than 10 minutes! I could have stayed and swum all day.
THE LOWDOWN
Camera: GoPro Hero
Hostel: Amakaya Backpackers
Budget: 120ZAR ($12) per night for an 8 bed dorm & 550ZAR ($55) for Swimming with Seals
Remember: Bathers, adventurousness
Thankyou for reading! Next week I will be posting about Skydiving over the beautiful Plettenberg Bay! So tell me, would you be game to swim with seals?
P.S. Don’t forget to check out my Instagram competition, I am sending off postcards to my five of my lovely readers to say thankyou for being so wonderful!
Stunning post…Love it!
That is just too cool for words! Thanks very much for sharing.
Jeff
Great pics. Very brave for doing all this alone
Fascinating. I’ve never had the sense of seals’ tail flippers as feet as I did in your video and photos. –Curt
Great video! No way I would do this, call me chicken. 😃
Great post. I’d love to do this. A few years back, I went kayaking among seals but there were not nearly as many as you encountered and no interaction (or biting).
Very cool! Looks like a lot of fun!
How thrilling! They were inviting you to play “Tag” with them!
I would totally love to swim with seals! Thanks for the story.
That looks insanely fun! Definitely a new thing added to the bucket list 🙂
This looks so fun. I’ve not seen seals up close here in Greenland, they are usually dead or in a soup =0) I remember seeing their cousins in San Francisco on a pier. What lovely lives they lead there, basking in the sunlight!
Damn right I would swim with seals! Looks like a fun adventure. Thanks for liking my post about Puno and keep blogging! Looking forward to hearing and seeing your post about skydiving!
Looks like you had a great time with those seals. Something I’ve never done. Not sure if I’d want to. ~ Les
I truly admire you Ellen. Don’t stop until you’ve seen it and done it all! And we both know that day will never come.
Incredible! If we go there I may have to suck up my water fear and put on a life vest.
Looks amazing! The selfie is the best!
That is so, SO awesome! I wouldn’t pass up on that experience either!
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Wonderful post! Loved the photos and the description of the adventure.
I once swam with sea lions, the large males can be very dangerous, and so I was terrified a couple times when they swam near, even though our guide assured us he would divert them away from us.
The rest of the sea lions were stunning to be in the water with, but your seals seem overall much less intimidating. Cheers!
Seals look much safer.
I have swum with Sea Lions too! I did it at Port Lincoln in South Australia 🙂
There was only one large male who they called Mr Sir and he wasn’t too aggressive at all 🙂
Where did you swim with Sea Lions?
What an amazing experience! Such incredible photos too!
Sounds like loads of fun… would love to do it someday. All I have done is seen seals at play at Singapore, Underwater World….
I am jealous. Pure jealousy. Keep doing what your doing. Someday soon I hope to travel like you do. Life is way too short and the memories you seem to build are honestly just too beautiful. Thank you for sharing with us.
What an amazing opportunity! So glad you shared this 🙂
They are super cute! Must have been amazing to see them swimming all around you, they have some great underwater skills!
roarloud.net
This is so awesome!
Oh, wow. I’ve never done anything like this, before. This must have been so incredible!
What a crazy amazing experience and some fantastic shots!! I absolutely love how adventurous you are!
Makes me wanna do this too! Thanks for the video! Wasn’t scary huh? 😉
just wow!
Awesome! 🙂
Must have been a fab experience!
Congratulations!
Take care
Brian
This is so adorable. 🙂
I’ve always wanted to snorkel with fur seals! How incredible <3
Awesome. Great to see you having a great time.
I’m new to blogging and I must say you have inspired me! Beautiful pictures of places you have visited.
This is just brilliant, I am so jealous. Just leap-frogged pretty high onto my bucket list, looks so much fun. Thank you for following!
That’s incredible!
how amazing! great pics
Awesome pictures! I would love to swim with seals! 😍
Wow! An amazing article! In fact, this is my dream – to snorkel with seals. Thanks for the photos.