Whether you are camping, backpacking or staying in a chalet, a day feels like a week at Storms River Mouth Nature Reserve.

Storms River Mouth Rest Camp, part of the Garden Route Nature Reserve in the pristine Tsitsikamma region, is one of my family’s favourite getaways. Storms River Mouth is a coastal marine reserve in the remaining Tsitsikamma forest area of the beautiful Garden Route. The fresh salty coastal air, the pounding waves against the wild rocky coastline, the sweet curry fragrance of the indigenous coastal bush, along with the crisp forest air, together overwhelm your senses. Storms River is one of South Africa’s top destinations to visit, a must for nature lovers and anyone visiting South Africa.

The reserve offers several short trails and hikes as well as the world-renowned Otter Trail, a popular five-day coastal hike. Walk in the diversity of the coastal forest, indigenous fynbos, ferns, and trees including the yellowwood, wild fig, stinkwood, alders and many more. For adventurers, there is kayaking, snorkelling, scuba diving and boat trips.

The park has an excellent restaurant, with beautiful views. Storms River Mouth Rest Camp offers a wide range of accommodation from camping to family cottages. The park maintains a small shop with all the essentials for tourists and campers. While Storms River Mouth Rest Camp welcomes day visitors, you will regret not spending at least one night here. The park is busy most of the year and it is advised that you book in advance.

Keep an eye out for the Knysna Lourie in the forest. There are several coastal birds, including the African Black Oystercatcher, Cape Cormorant, Greater Double-collared Sunbird, Cape Gannet and Giant Kingfishers. In whale season, you can see the Southern Right whales cruising past the coastline. Dolphins are often seen patrolling just offshore, and a special treat is seeing the local Cape Clawless Otters. You can find a Blue Duiker quietly grazing in the quieter places of the park,  and every now and then Baboons come looking for opportunist meals. You will find Dassies basking in the sun around most of the rocky areas of the park.

While some of the animals may seem friendly, please NEVER feed them. Treat and respect them as wild animals. This is a nature reserve, and the animals lives are endangered if they get domesticated by people feeding them.

Take your time to explore this nature reserve. The walk to the suspension bridge has a few alternate routes, taking you to hidden beaches and through beautiful forest scenery. Sandy Bay is a popular beach to swim from or spend time with the kids. It is a small beach near to where all the activities are managed.  The park has a swimming pool, however, this is reserved for overnight visitors only.

Things to do at Storms River Mouth

Hikes

Hike to the famous suspension bridge over the river mouth. The Mouth Trail is a 2km hike of about 1 hour. It is an easy hike with a well-maintained pathway through the indigenous forest overlooking the ocean and river mouth. The last stepped section before the bridge is quite steep, but it is well worth it. If you are feeling strong, you can take the additional trail up to the lookout point on the far side of the mouth.

The Lourie Trail is a short 1km hike and will take you about an hour to do. Take a bit longer and stop and enjoy some of the views, both over the coastline and in the forest. The start of the trail is fairly steep, while the rest of the hike is very moderate. We have hiked this several times with young kids and toddlers. Look out for whales and dolphins from the view site overlooking the park.

The Blue Duiker Trail is the extended path of the Lourie Trail. It is just under 4km and roughly 2 hours to walk.

Hiking a small section of the famous Otter Trail, the Waterfall Hike is a 6km round trip and will take 3 hours to hike. There is a fair amount of walking over rocks and requires a higher level of fitness than the other trails. As with all the trails at Storms River, we highly recommend them. Apart from the beautiful views, your reward will be having a swim in the cold waterfall pool. Take food for a picnic and enough water. Be aware of tides and large waves based on the ocean conditions on the day. Don’t forget your bathing costume and a towel. I would allow for some extra time to hike this, both to enjoy the spectacular views and to rest at the waterfall.

Other Activities

Day visitor braai facilities – if you can’t spend the night here, you can at least enjoy a braai or picnic at the day visitor rest area.

Snorkelling & Scuba Diving are fantastic ways to see the marine reserve ocean life. Take a course at the Storms River Mouth, hire equipment or bring your own.

Kayak from the ocean up into the river gorge and explore this beautiful coastline from the water.

Spend time on Sandy Bay beach. Swimming in the ocean, sun tanning, or letting the kids run around, this is the perfect place to spend a hot summer’s day.

Swim in the rock pools and explore the incredible ecosystems living on and around the rocks. Find pumpkin shells, anemones, sponges, black muscles, rock crabs, barnacles and baby black tail fish. You are not allowed to disturb or take any of the marine life (including fauna and flora) as Storms River is a nature reserve.

Boat trips – SANParks offers a boat cruise up the Storms River Gorge.

Rest and Relax!!! Storms River is one of the few places where you will find yourself just wanting to be still, relax and absorb the natural atmosphere.

The Tsitsikamma area has several adventure activities near to Storms River. These include tree-top canopy tours, blackwater tubing, zip lines, bungy jumping, mountain biking, quad biking, Segway forest tours and more. The Storms River Rest Camp is a good place to base yourself and explore the area. The nearby Storms River Village is well worth a visit.

Hike the Otter Trail.

While just over 42km, the 5-day hike is a physically demanding hike, not for casual hikers. Starting at the Storms River Mouth Rest Camp, you hike along the pristine coastline, crossing rivers, and climbing the coastal plateaus, finishing at the beautiful Natures Valley. You will find yourself climbing in and out of river-carved gorges and over the rocky coastline. The Otter Trail is world-renowned and requires booking up to a year in advance. Contact the park though, as every now and then there is a last-minute cancellation.

Accommodation

The chalets, huts and cottages are well-appointed, and some have great views. The Forest Huts sleep two and make use of the camping ablutions and the communal kitchen. While we enjoy staying in the chalets and huts, they have become quite pricey due to their popularity. If you have children, camping is always great fun here. The facilities are excellent, and we have many fond memories of camping here. Storms River Mouth Rest Camp is well equipped for caravans. Power is available on some of the sites.

Highlights

• Watch the sunset and then later be mesmerised by the clear starlit sky from your braai with family and friends.
• Lying in bed listening to the waves pounding the rocks at night.
• Most of all, the hikes are good fun.
• Finally, snorkelling in the rock pools and in the ocean reserve.

Points to consider

• If you are planning to spend the night, you should make a reservation before arriving due to the park’s popularity.
• During peak season, get to the entrance early because there could be long queues of cars and buses at the gate.
• Above all, if you get the opportunity – you must try to spend at least one night here.

 Suggested Routes to Storms River Mouth:

• Plettenberg Bay to Storms River Mouth – 62 km / 44 min

• Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) to Storms River Mouth – 180 km / 1 hr 46 min  (more on Gqeberha / Port Elizabeth here)

Storms River Mouth Photo Gallery

• View our photo gallery

The quaint little suburb of Schoenmakerskop is the home of the Sacramento Hiking Trail. With uninterrupted coastal views, it is one of my favourite spots in Port Elizabeth. With a few small and easily accessible beaches on the rocky coastline, it is a great place to fish, snorkel, enjoy picnics and for the kids to run around and explore. It boasts beautiful sunsets most evenings, the perfect place for sundowners with family and friends. There are only a few houses and a restaurant in the area, making it a great place to relax and enjoy the natural beauty of the coastline.

The Sacramento Hiking Trail is an easy to walk coastal trail through the Sardinia Bay Nature Reserve. It is 8 km long and a comfortable 3-hour walk with time to stop and enjoy the views. The trail is a popular activity for a family or group in good weather. Starting at the Sacramento cannon, the trail skirts the coastline, and returns slightly inland, through indigenous coastal dune bush. The area adopts the name Sacramento, after the wreck of a Portuguese galleon, that ran aground there in 1647, called the Sacramento. The cannon, salvaged from the wreck, can be seen at the start of the trail.

There are often whales and dolphins spotted along the route. Keep a lookout for some of the other smaller wildlife, like the scorpion in the gallery below. This one was aggressive, irritated and not impressed with us having a picnic near his home. Don’t forget to bring a costume (swimming gear), sunblock, a hat and some drinking water. You may also want binoculars for whale and bird spotting, as well as a warm top or windbreaker, in case the wind picks up. I suggest, as with most hikes to start in the early morning, as this is often the best weather, and avoids the midday heat. Hiking in a group is recommended, as the area is isolated.

There are several bird species in the area, both on the coast and inland sections. Look out for the old whale bones from a whale that washed up on the rocks a while ago. Take your time looking for shells on the beach, our kids spend hours scratching around in the shells. It is a reserve though, so leave everything as you found it, and don’t take anything home, except your litter.  No fishing is allowed in the  Sardinia Bay Reserve. As a family, we thoroughly enjoyed this hike and highly recommend it.

View the photo gallery