Eastern Cape directory
A growing directory of real Eastern Cape places to eat, stay, shop and visit — organised by town, with our own write-up of each one.
Eat & drink
Restaurant
Something Good Roadhouse
Gqeberha
A long-standing beachfront restaurant on Marine Drive with a big deck facing the sea, popular for breakfast and for watching the surf at Pollok Beach.
View detailsFine dining
Ginger Restaurant
Gqeberha
An established fine-dining kitchen in Summerstrand, generally regarded as one of the city's serious dinner bookings.
View detailsItalian restaurant
Grazia Fine Food & Wine
East London
A long-running Italian kitchen in the Vincent area, one of the city's steady dinner options for pasta and wood-fired pizza.
View detailsCafé & bistro
Sanook Eatery
East London
A casual eatery popular for breakfast and lunch, the sort of place people meet for coffee before heading down to the beachfront.
View detailsRestaurant & chalets
White Clay
Coffee Bay
A restaurant and self-catering spot on the rocks at Bomvu Beach just outside Coffee Bay, best known locally for seafood with the sea directly below the deck.
View detailsHotel restaurant
Ocean View Hotel Restaurant
Coffee Bay
The most reliable sit-down meal in the village, open to non-residents and worth booking in the December and Easter peaks.
View detailsCafé
Delicious Monster
Port St Johns
A small café above Second Beach that has been part of the Port St Johns routine for years — coffee, breakfast and a sea view.
View detailsRestaurant
3 Fat Fish
Jeffreys Bay
An established Jeffreys Bay restaurant, one of the town's regular dinner bookings through the holiday season.
View detailsDeli & café
InFood Deli
Jeffreys Bay
A deli and café in town used for breakfast, coffee and takeaway food — the sort of place surfers stop at after a dawn session.
View detailsCafés & restaurants
High Street cafés
Makhanda
Most of Makhanda's eating out sits along High Street and New Street, running on the university term and packed out during festival week.
View detailsRestaurant
Polka Café
Graaff-Reinet
A restaurant in a restored Parsonage Street house, one of the town's standing dinner options alongside the hotel dining rooms.
View detailsRestaurant & pub
Coldstream Restaurant
Graaff-Reinet
A Church Street restaurant in a historic building, serving Karoo staples in a town where lamb is the local speciality.
View detailsPlaces to stay
Hotel
The Beach Hotel
Gqeberha
A Summerstrand hotel directly opposite Hobie Beach and next to The Boardwalk, within walking distance of the swimming beaches and the promenade.
View detailsHotel
Radisson Blu Hotel, Port Elizabeth
Gqeberha
A large seafront hotel on Marine Drive in Summerstrand, used mainly by business travellers and by visitors flying in and out of the city.
View detailsHotel
Blue Lagoon Hotel
East London
A hotel on the Nahoon River just back from Nahoon Beach, in gardens beside the water, long used as a family and conference base in the city.
View detailsHotel
Premier Hotel Regent
East London
A beachfront hotel on the Esplanade above Orient Beach, walking distance from the promenade and the aquarium end of the seafront.
View detailsResort & game park
Areena Riverside Resort
East London
A resort on the Kwelera River north-east of the city, combining self-catering and camping with a small game area and river activities.
View detailsHotel
Mayfair Hotel
Mthatha
A Mthatha hotel with rooms, on-site dining and conference space, used by business travellers and by visitors breaking the drive to the Wild Coast.
View detailsHotel
Garden Court Mthatha
Mthatha
A branded hotel on the N2 side of Mthatha, the most predictable overnight option in town for travellers who want a known standard.
View detailsBackpackers
Coffee Shack Backpackers
Coffee Bay
A long-established backpackers on the river at Coffee Bay, known for running guided Wild Coast hikes and surf lessons with local guides.
View detailsHotel
Ocean View Hotel
Coffee Bay
The hotel directly above Coffee Bay's main beach, the village's most established full-service accommodation and its main sit-down dining room.
View detailsResort
Umngazi River Bungalows & Spa
Port St Johns
The Wild Coast's best-known family resort, at the Mngazi River mouth south of Port St Johns, long known for its childminding service and river activities.
View detailsBackpackers
Jungle Monkey Backpackers
Port St Johns
A budget base in town used by hikers and overlanders working their way along the Wild Coast.
View detailsRiverside resort
Cremorne Estate
Port St Johns
Self-catering and chalet accommodation on the Mzimvubu River upstream of town, with boat access to the river and its own restaurant.
View detailsGuest house
African Perfection
Jeffreys Bay
Guest accommodation directly above Supertubes, about as close to the wave as it is possible to sleep.
View detailsSelf catering
Self-catering along the point
Jeffreys Bay
Most Jeffreys Bay accommodation is self-catering apartments and houses along the point and Dolphin Beach, booked well ahead for December and for the July contest.
View detailsGuest houses
Guest houses & B&Bs
Makhanda
The town's accommodation is mainly small guest houses in Victorian and settler-era houses. Festival week sells out months ahead.
View detailsHistoric hotel
Drostdy Hotel
Graaff-Reinet
The hotel built around the 1806 drostdy building and the restored cottages of Stretch's Court behind it, in the middle of the historic centre.
View detailsGuest houses
Karoo guest houses
Graaff-Reinet
Graaff-Reinet has an unusual number of Cape Dutch and Victorian houses working as guest accommodation, most within walking distance of Church Street.
View detailsThings to do
Beach
King's Beach
Gqeberha
The long, flat, lifeguard-patrolled swimming beach closest to the city centre, sheltered enough by Algoa Bay to stay usable on most summer days.
View detailsSurf break
Nahoon Reef
East London
The city's signature right-hand point break off Nahoon Point, one of South Africa's better-known waves and a shark-spotter-patrolled surf spot.
View detailsBeach & promenade
East London Beachfront
East London
Orient Beach and Eastern Beach sit within walking distance of the city centre, with a tidal pool, a promenade and lifeguarded swimming in season.
View detailsDam & nature area
Mthatha Dam
Mthatha
A large dam on the Mthatha River north of town, used for fishing and boating and a quiet break from the traffic of the town centre.
View detailsNatural landmark
Hole in the Wall
Coffee Bay
The cliff island with a wave-cut arch through it, about 9km south of Coffee Bay, reachable on a gravel road or on foot along the coast.
View detailsBeach
Coffee Bay Beach
Coffee Bay
The wide river-mouth beach the village is built around, backed by green hills and used for swimming, walking and surfing depending on the swell.
View detailsCoastal hike
Mapuzi Cliffs & Caves
Coffee Bay
A coastal walk north of Coffee Bay along cliffs, caves and rock pools, usually done with a local guide because the route crosses grazing land and river mouths.
View detailsBeach
Second Beach
Port St Johns
Port St Johns' main beach, a wide sweep backed by forest a few kilometres from the town centre, with lifeguards on duty in the busy season.
View detailsNatural landmark
Gates of St John
Port St Johns
The two cliffs — Mount Thesiger and Mount Sullivan — that the Mzimvubu River cuts between on its way to the sea, and the reason the town looks the way it does.
View detailsViewpoint
Mount Thesiger Viewpoint
Port St Johns
A steep road climbs to the plateau and old airstrip above the town, giving the definitive view down the gorge to the river mouth.
View detailsNature reserve
Silaka Nature Reserve
Port St Johns
A small coastal reserve just south of town where forest runs down to a sheltered bay, with short trails, zebra and blue duiker, and chalets inside the reserve.
View detailsSurf break
Supertubes
Jeffreys Bay
The right-hand point break that made Jeffreys Bay internationally known, and the venue for the World Surf League event held here each winter.
View detailsBeach
Dolphin Beach
Jeffreys Bay
The town's main swimming beach, gentler than the point breaks and the usual choice for families and beginner surf lessons.
View detailsNature reserve & birding
Seekoei River Nature Reserve
Jeffreys Bay
An estuary reserve at Aston Bay, just west of town, with bird hides over the wetland — good for waders and flamingos out of surf season.
View detailsGardens
Makana Botanical Gardens
Makhanda
Historic gardens below the university, laid out in the 1850s and still a quiet place to walk between town and campus.
View detailsNational park
Camdeboo National Park
Graaff-Reinet
The SANParks reserve that almost entirely surrounds Graaff-Reinet, holding the Valley of Desolation, the Nqweba Dam and Karoo game-viewing loops.
View detailsNatural landmark
Valley of Desolation
Graaff-Reinet
Dolerite columns standing 120m above the Karoo plain, reached on a tarred road from the park gate — the classic late-afternoon drive out of town.
View detailsSucculent collection
Obesa Nursery
Graaff-Reinet
A working nursery holding one of the world's better-known private collections of succulents and cacti, on the edge of town.
View detailsCulture & heritage
Museum & oceanarium
Bayworld
Gqeberha
Gqeberha's combined natural history museum and marine centre on Beach Road, covering Algoa Bay's sea life, the region's fossils and Eastern Cape social history under one roof.
View detailsPublic art trail
Route 67
Gqeberha
A walking trail of 67 public artworks climbing from the Campanile at the harbour up through the old town to the Donkin Reserve, each piece marking a year of Nelson Mandela's public life.
View detailsHeritage site
Donkin Reserve
Gqeberha
The hilltop park above the city centre with the 1820s lighthouse and stone pyramid raised by Sir Rufane Donkin in memory of his wife Elizabeth, after whom the city was originally named.
View detailsMuseum
East London Museum
East London
Best known for holding the first coelacanth ever identified by science, landed off the Chalumna River mouth in 1938, alongside natural history and Eastern Cape cultural collections.
View detailsMuseum & heritage
Nelson Mandela Museum
Mthatha
The national museum of Mandela's life, split between the Bhunga Building in central Mthatha and the heritage site at Qunu about 30km along the N2.
View detailsHeritage village
Qunu
Mthatha
The village where Nelson Mandela spent his childhood and where he is buried, set in the open grass hills south-west of Mthatha along the N2.
View detailsHeritage village
Mqhekezweni
Mthatha
The Thembu Great Place where Mandela was raised after his father's death, north of Mthatha, still a working rural community rather than a built-up tourist site.
View detailsCultural experience
Xhosa village experiences
Coffee Bay
Guided visits to homesteads around Coffee Bay are arranged through the village lodges, with local guides who live in the area rather than outside operators.
View detailsCultural experience
Pondoland cultural walks
Port St Johns
Guided walks into the surrounding Pondoland villages are arranged locally, covering traditional healing plants, homestead life and the area's history.
View detailsMuseum
J-Bay Surf Museum
Jeffreys Bay
A small museum tracing how a farming and fishing settlement turned into a surf town, with boards and photographs from the 1960s onwards.
View detailsMuseum
Jeffreys Bay Shell Museum
Jeffreys Bay
A collection of shells gathered from the local beaches, housed with the town's library and tourism office — a short, genuinely local stop.
View detailsArts festival
National Arts Festival
Makhanda
Africa's largest arts festival takes over Makhanda for about eleven days each winter, filling halls, churches and school venues with theatre, music and visual art.
View detailsMuseum
Observatory Museum
Makhanda
A restored Victorian house on Bathurst Street containing a working camera obscura in its rooftop turret, projecting a live image of the town onto a table.
View detailsMuseum complex
Albany Museum
Makhanda
One of South Africa's oldest museums, now a complex of sites in Makhanda covering natural science, history and the region's frontier past.
View detailsMonument & venue
1820 Settlers National Monument
Makhanda
The modernist building on Gunfire Hill above the town, home to the festival's main venues and a wide view across Makhanda.
View detailsCathedral
Cathedral of St Michael & St George
Makhanda
The tall stone spire in the middle of High Street, the landmark you navigate the town centre by.
View detailsArt collective
Egazini Outreach Project
Makhanda
A community printmaking and art collective in Makhanda producing work that reads the frontier wars from a Xhosa perspective.
View detailsCreative space
The Black Power Station
Makhanda
A disused power station turned into an independent arts and music space, running workshops and performances outside the festival calendar.
View detailsMuseum
Reinet House
Graaff-Reinet
The old Dutch Reformed parsonage on Murray Street, now a period museum, with a grapevine in the yard planted in the 1870s.
View detailsChurch & landmark
Dutch Reformed Church (Grootkerk)
Graaff-Reinet
The Gothic-revival church standing at the head of Church Street, the building the whole town plan points towards.
View detailsMuseum
Old Library Museum
Graaff-Reinet
Part of the Graaff-Reinet Museum group, holding Karoo fossil material and a collection of Eastern Cape rock art reproductions.
View detailsShopping
Shopping centre
Walmer Park Shopping Centre
Gqeberha
One of the metro's main shopping centres, in Walmer close to the airport, with the usual national chain stores, banks and pharmacies.
View detailsShopping centre
Hemingways Mall
East London
The largest shopping centre in the Eastern Cape outside Nelson Mandela Bay, with a cinema complex, national retailers and a food court.
View detailsShopping centre
Vincent Park
East London
A mid-sized centre in the Vincent suburb, closer to the residential side of the city and quieter than Hemingways for everyday shopping.
View detailsShopping centre
BT Ngebs City
Mthatha
The largest shopping mall in Mthatha, on the edge of town, with national supermarkets, clothing chains, banks and fast food.
View detailsShopping centre
Circus Triangle Mall
Mthatha
A busy centre closer to the middle of Mthatha, handy for everyday shopping without heading out to the larger malls.
View detailsCrafts
Roadside craft sellers
Coffee Bay
Beadwork, woven grass mats and carvings are sold along the road into the village and on the beach path — buying directly from the maker is normal here.
View detailsMarket & shops
Port St Johns town market
Port St Johns
The main street carries fresh produce traders, hardware, spaza shops and a supermarket — enough for basics, though selection is limited.
View detailsFactory shops
Surf brand factory shops
Jeffreys Bay
Jeffreys Bay's surf-brand factory outlets are a destination in themselves, clustered around Da Gama Road and drawing shoppers from across the province.
View detailsShopping centre
Fountains Mall
Jeffreys Bay
The town's main centre for supermarkets, banking and pharmacies, on the main road in from the N2.
View detailsShopping centre
Pepper Grove Mall
Makhanda
The town's main centre for supermarkets and everyday shopping, a short walk from the university side of town.
View detailsShops & galleries
Church Street shops
Graaff-Reinet
Antiques, galleries and Karoo produce along Church and Somerset streets, with supermarkets a short drive out towards the N9.
View detailsNightlife & entertainment
Entertainment complex
The Boardwalk
Gqeberha
The waterfront complex across from Hobie Beach, with restaurants, cinemas, a lake, a casino and a conference venue in one place.
View detailsLocal nightlife
Ngangelizwe & town-centre taverns
Mthatha
Mthatha's nightlife is neighbourhood-based rather than concentrated in one strip — taverns, sports bars and hotel bars around the town centre carry the weekend crowd.
View detailsEvenings out
Beach bonfires & lodge bars
Coffee Bay
Nightlife here means the lodge bars and beach fires — the backpackers run most of the evening social life and visitors are welcome.
View detailsBar
Gecko Bar
Port St Johns
A Second Beach bar and gathering point, where most of the town's visitor nightlife happens in season.
View detailsBars
Point-side bars
Jeffreys Bay
Nightlife concentrates near Supertubes and along Da Gama Road, and swells hugely during the July surf contest.
View detailsPub
The Rat & Parrot
Makhanda
The New Street pub that generations of Rhodes students have used as their default meeting point.
View detailsEvenings out
Hotel bars & stoep dining
Graaff-Reinet
Evenings here are hotel bars and long dinners rather than clubs — the Karoo night sky does most of the entertaining.
View detailsLocal services
University
Nelson Mandela University
Gqeberha
The province's largest university, with campuses across Gqeberha including the wooded South Campus in Summerstrand and a campus in Gqeberha's Missionvale.
View detailsMunicipality
Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality
East London
The metro authority covering East London, Qonce, Mdantsane and the surrounding coastline — the official channel for municipal services, permits and public notices.
View detailsUniversity
Walter Sisulu University
Mthatha
The university's largest campus sits in Mthatha, and its medical school is a major training centre for the region's health system.
View detailsHospital
Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital
Mthatha
The main referral hospital for the OR Tambo district, attached to Walter Sisulu University's medical training programme.
View detailsAirport
Mthatha Airport
Mthatha
The regional airport just outside town, the quickest way into the Wild Coast interior without driving the N2 from East London or Durban.
View detailsEveryday supplies
Village spaza shops
Coffee Bay
Coffee Bay has small shops for basics only. There is no supermarket or bank — draw cash and buy groceries in Mthatha before you drive down.
View detailsEveryday services
Town services
Port St Johns
Fuel, an ATM, a police station and a clinic are available in town. For anything major, Mthatha is roughly two hours away on the R61.
View detailsUniversity
Rhodes University
Makhanda
The university shapes the whole town — its academic year sets the rhythm of Makhanda's restaurants, accommodation and nightlife.
View detailsEveryday services
Town services
Graaff-Reinet
Fuel, banks, pharmacies and a hospital are all in town — Graaff-Reinet is the service centre for a very large stretch of the Karoo.
View details