South Africa Guide
The Western Cape
Storms River Mouth
Opening time: Daily 7am–7pm
Price: R80 per person
Telephone: 042 281 1607
Storms River Mouth, 55km from Plettenberg Bay, presents the elemental face of the Garden Route, with the dark Storms River surging through a gorge to battle with the surf. Storms River Mouth Restcamp, sited on tended lawns, is poised between a craggy shoreline of black rocks pounded by foamy white surf and steeply raking forested cliffs, and is without a doubt the ultimate location along the southern Cape coast.
Walking is the main activity at the Mouth, and at the visitors' office at the restcamp you can get maps of short, waymarked coastal trails that leave from here. These include steep walks up the forested cliffs, where you can see 800-year-old yellowwood trees with views onto a wide stretch of ocean.
Storms River Mouth is 18km south of Storms River Bridge. Most people stop at the bridge, on the N2, to gaze into the deep river gorge and fill up at the most beautifully located filling and service station in the country. Even if your time is limited and you can't spend the night at Storms River Mouth, it's still worth nipping down for a meal, a restorative walk or a swim in the summer. You'll need your own wheels, though, as there's no public transport to the Mouth. The only eating place is the restcamp restaurant, serving breakfasts and à la carte meals which, alas, are less memorable than the startling views.
A variety of accommodation, all with sea views, is available at Storms River Mouth Restcamp ( 
042 281 1607; Price: Under R;300), including superb campsites just metres from where the surf breaks on the rocks; incredibly good-value two-person cabins, which provide bedding and towels, share ablutions and have communal catering facilities; comfortable one-bedroom self-catering log cottages, including breakfast; oceanette mini-apartments close to the sea, also including breakfast; and family oceanettes and cottages for a minimum of four people. All are heavily subscribed in season, so advance booking through South African National Parks is essential.