Adventure driven activities stretch from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth along the picturesque Garden route in South Africa. Catering for sky diving, shark cage diving, mountain biking and the highest commercial bungee jump in the world (215m) located at Bloukrans 40km east of Plettenberg bay.
The Garden Route offers some of the best mountain biking in the Western Cape with a diverse choice of rides to explore while in the area. My favourite has to be Harkerville located opposite the Garden of Eden halfway between Knysna and Plett on the N2, only 30 minutes drive from our self-catering accommodation. I highly recommend the circular 24km red route which travels through deep indigenous forest and picturesque sea views in one amazing ride.
The Homtini trail in Rheenendal (18km outside Knysna) another favourite traverses pine and indigenous forests for a 19km circular trail. While in the area stop off for a bite to eat at the Red Barn restaurant where you can also source basic bicycle spares. Bikes can be hired from Knysna cycles along with helmet, lock, pump and spare tubes.
Blackwater tubing in Storms river gorge is fun filled action with hours of splashing and swimming on the slopes of the stunning Tsitsikamma mountain range. The Blackwater tubing trips operate from October to April as they require medium to high water levels and can be physically demanding.
The waterways of Knysna provide an ideal canoeing environment along the tidal Knysna lagoon, Goukamma river and the Knysna estuary. Canoes can be hired for a full day, half day or at an hourly rate at the Knysna bridge turn off on the Knysna lagoon, which is literally 10 minutes drive from our self-catering accommodation.
Sky diving in the Garden route takes place in Mossel Bay, half way between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. The exhilarating free-fall will last approximately 40 seconds until the parachute opens around 240kph for the final decent back to terra firma landing at the airfield or Diaz beach.
