The three-day Marine Science Symposium held this past weekend at the Beacon Island Resort encouraged  interesting conservation conversations between symposium attendees and speakers brought together from across the country. Attendees included university professors, marine rangers, researchers and passionate naturalists.

OBSERVE - CONSERVE - PRESERVE

The symposium is the anchor event of the winter-based Plett Ocean Festival, which will continue through to the 9th July in Plettenberg Bay, presenting a diverse range of marine-themed topics from marine protected areas and our endangered ...more

Plett Tourism is pleased to be hosting a film location scout for three days in Plett to document and video Plett, our surrounding natural environment, activities and potential locations, in collaboration with the Garden Route Film Commission. Our thanks to the Bayview Hotel for his accommodation.

JP Lieuvaux is an experienced professional film scout who works throughout South Africa for many film production companies. The Plett portfolio will be hosted on the GRFC website, and be shared with other production companies as the briefs come in. He has set up his own extensive itinerary which comprehensively covers what our area has to offer.

If you ...more

“Exploration is creativity put into action.” - Dan Walsh

If a cyclist could take a bird’s eye view of Plettenberg Bay and the surrounding areas, they would find that forest, fynbos, plantation, winelands and coastline are creatively and delicately marked with trails crisscrossing the landscape - trails cut to minimise invasion and maximise enjoyment. These are the Plett MTB Trails and among them, the world’s first international Green Flag Status MTB Trails. 

Plettenberg Bay and the Garden Route have often topped many riders’ “Bike It” lists and are known to offer some of the most exquisite rides in ...more

MARINE SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM: 30 JUNE - 2 JULY 2023 | PLETT OCEAN FESTIVAL: 30 JUNE - 9 JULY 2023
OBSERVE • CONSERVE • PRESERVE

"In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught." - Baba Dioum

After months of planning, countless queries about the programme and a fair amount of excitement in the Plett Tourism office, tickets are on sale for the three-day Marine Science Symposium (30 June - 2 July 2023) during the 2nd annual Plett Ocean Festival 30 June - 9 July 2023. The symposium will return to the iconic ...more

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with exceptional destinations from across the continent, the Plett Tourism Association joined products and towns from across the Garden Route & Klein Karoo (GRKK) at the World Travel Market (WTM) Africa at the Cape Town International Conference Centre last week.

Plett Tourism’s Porche September and Janet Middleton represented all of Plett’s Tourism sectors to a global market of tour operators. They were joined by trail-strong representatives from MTO Trails, Bhejane Adventures and Firefly Falls to aid in launching the new Plett Trails app as a product. The GRKK stand also hosted Plett’s Barrington’s, more

What do you call sixteen orcas cruising across Plettenberg Bay on an ordinary Wednesday in March? You call it a great day to be at sea and a sign that the ocean is shaking off its summer skin and beginning to roll out a spectacle like no other.

According to reports, the orcas were first sighted by the marine safari at Ocean Safaris. However, it was young videographer Max Morris on safari with Ocean Blue Adventures who filmed the footage below. These 16 apex predators are the first spotted in the bay since November of last year. 

Orcas, or killer whales, are seen infrequently in our bay as they prefer the deeper waters of ...more

The Fourth Watercourse History Festival in Plettenberg Bay, which takes place at the Piesang Valley Hall from 27 - 29 April 2023, is sponsored by the Bitou Municipality, WESGRO, The Cradle of Human Culture, and Plett Tourism. 

This fascinating festival has been designed for those with a passion for history and storytelling. The three-day festival will fall over South Africa’s Freedom Day (27th April) long weekend with Jacana Media featuring four of their most successful authors in honour of this celebrated day, namely Dr. June Bam, Hennie van Vuuren, Rory Riordan and Dr. Buntu ...more

Siphokazi Mnyobe is originally a daughter of the small town of Uitenhage now formally known as Kariega. Raised by the streets of Kwanobuhle, in Khayelitsha on the outskirts of Gqeberha, Siphokazi attended church and began to find her place in the society through the LoveLife Organisation for which she volunteered for a year and ended up becoming a GBV GroundBreakers in 2016 where she learned about radio and telling people's stories to a wide audience. 

Siphokazi is from a family of 6 with three siblings and, after graduating from The Media Workshop in 2019, she relocated with her family to Plettenberg ...more

What a fantastic time of year to be in Plett! As the summer season winds down, mornings take on a crisp freshness while the days retain their hospitable warmth while the busy Plett Polo summer scene winds to close with the SA Polo Open this April. 

However, if you’re thinking about endings, we suggest you reframe as beginnings…

With so much to do, so many adventures and experiences that await, it feels as though the town is enjoying a second awakening, shaking off its summer skin and preparing for a different season: where forest trails are calling, golden afternoons in the winelands are beckoning and entertaining, unexpected events are all the rage. What will you be ...more

“People protect what they love.” - Jacques-Yves Cousteau

This one is for the hikers, riders, runners and walkers, history buffs and land art enthusiasts, nature-lovers and photographers.  Plett Tourism is thrilled to introduce the new Plett Trails app, a comprehensive and easy-to-use guide to the best and lesser-known walks, hikes and MTB trails to be found in the areas that make up  Plettenberg Bay, from Harkerville to Tsitsikamma. 

To bring to market a product of global standards, the Plett Tourism Association partnered with chairman of the World Trails Network, and founder of the popular Garden Route Walking Festival, Galeo Saintz to develop the app alongside private stakeholders ...more

What does it take to spot the world’s most endangered seahorse? Quite a bit of patience apparently, a good eye and when the seahorse in question is sighted carrying eggs, well that’s cause for celebration!

Marine researcher, volunteer coordinator at the Orca Foundation and conservationist, Melissa Nel posted some rare photos of a Knysna seahorse carrying eggs on ther Instagram account, @melmakeswaves with the caption, “We’re about to have some baby seahorses in the Keurbooms estuary!!” Melissa confessed that it was a very special sighting for her as it took a couple of years ...more