Lekkerwater Beach Lodge is situated on the exclusive De Hoop Nature Reserve and is often referred to as the ‘jewel of the Western Cape’. This 34 000 hectare conservancy is located just a little over 3 hours from Cape Town and is a convenient diversion for travellers exploring South Africa’s Garden Route. The property is perched between land and sea atop the ancient dunes of De Hoop.
This magnificent coastal reserve is famous for offering some of the world’s best land-based whale watching. During winter & spring (July and November) Southern Right Whales migrate here from Antarctica to calve and breed in the warm seas offshore. Since 1985 these waters have been designed as a Marine Protected Area and sea life has flourished. While whales are the stars of the show, guests may also look forward to sighting dolphins, seals and myriad sea birds from the comfort of Lekkerwater Beach Lodge.
Morukuru Beach Lodge, the newest member of Morukuru Family De Hoop, is situated at Koppie Alleen, approximately 1 km west from Morukuru Ocean House along the same pristine coastline of the De Hoop Nature Reserve. Considered to be the ultimate place in South Africa to see southern right whales, De Hoop Nature Reserve also offers towering white sand dunes, limestone cliffs lapped by the Indian Ocean, rock pools and coastal fynbos.
The Lodge has been built with the greatest sensitivity to the environment. Due to our remote location, we are fully off the grid. Our electricity is generated entirely by solar panels, for the odd longer cloudy periods we do have a backup generator however. Our hot water is produced by pellet burners and the whole lodge has water based underfloor heating.
The 34 000 hectare De Hoop Nature Reserve is situated just over three hours’ drive from Cape Town, the capital of the Western Cape province of South Africa.
In addition to conserving 34 000 hectares of indigenous fynbos and coastal ecosystems, the reserve includes the De Hoop Marine Protected Area (MPA). Proclaimed in 1985, the MPA – essentially a nature reserve in the sea – stretches for 46 kilometres along the coastline and five kilometres out to sea, creating a marine conservancy of 289-square-kilometres.
Fishing and harvesting of any marine life are prohibited within the MPA, and in the decades since it was proclaimed the De Hoop MPA has become a vital breeding ground for regional fish stocks, while also creating an oceanic haven for Southern Right whales.
Each year these majestic cetaceans – once hunted almost to extinction – migrate north from Antarctica, taking advantage of the warm Western Cape waters to calve and mate, before migrating south in the early-summer. In the peak whale season (July-November), expect to see Southern Right whales as well as less-common Bryde’s and Humpback whales. Large pods of dolphins are also often seen surfing the breakers close in-shore.
Inland the biodiversity is no less impressive, with more than 1500 species of indigenous fynbos plants identified. De Hoop forms part of the Cape Floral Region, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, and the reserve conserves the largest area of lowland fynbos in the Western Cape.
Wildlife
Amongst the fynbos, you’ll find more than 86 species of mammal, including the endangered bontebok, Cape mountain zebra and eland, the largest of the antelopes. Though Cape mountain leopard and caracal call De Hoop home, these shy cats are rarely seen.
The reserve is also a paradise for bird-watchers. In excess of 260 species of birds have been identified on De Hoop, which is also home to the last remaining breeding colony of the Cape vulture in the province.
The meeting & collection times at the Lekkerwater Car Park are:
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