Between Stanford and Gansbaai the road climbs, and on the right Grootbos begins: a private reserve turned back from farmland into fynbos since the 1990s. More than 900 plant species have been counted here, some of them found nowhere else. Guests at the two lodges get fynbos safaris in open vehicles, walks through thousand-year-old milkwood forest, and a foundation that puts the income into schools and conservation. The view from the terrace runs across the whole bay to Hermanus.
- east of Hermanus
- 33 km
- fynbos and milkwood forest
- 2,500 ha
- plant species
- 900+
- day visits by reservation only (as of August 2026)
- lodge
For day visitors, Grootbos is not a destination with a till at the gate. Without an overnight stay you come only by reservation, for lunch with a fynbos drive for instance (as of August 2026, check directly with Grootbos beforehand). Stay the night and you pay rates in the top bracket at the Cape, and get a place where nothing shines after dark except the lighthouse at Danger Point.
- Time needed
- a lunch or a night
- Cost
- by reservation only, top-bracket rates
- When
- all year, flowering August to October
- From Hermanus
- 33 km, 35 minutes
Our tipIf the budget stretches: one night here instead of a third in Hermanus. The morning fynbos drive, with sunbirds sitting in the proteas, is the best botany lesson in the region.
Grootbos: common questions
Can you visit Grootbos for the day?
Only by reservation, for lunch with a fynbos drive for example (as of August 2026, check directly with Grootbos). There is no till at the gate.
What is Grootbos?
A private nature reserve between Stanford and Gansbaai, 33 kilometres from Hermanus: 2,500 hectares of fynbos and milkwood forest with more than 900 plant species, two lodges, and a foundation that puts the income into schools and conservation.