Knysna Adventures

Knysna Adventure guide

With Knysna being the gateway to the Garden Route it is also an excellent base for planning an adventure holiday from. 

Elephants once roamed the magnificent tangled forests near Knysna but they have almost completely died out now. Only almost, though. There are still a few lurking deep in the forest so it’s a great place to spend some time with elephants, walk with them, feed them, touch them, learn all about them and even ride one. Of course, the trained elephants at Knysna Elephant Park were not caught in the forest – they’re orphaned elephants brought in from elsewhere. The Knysna forest is the perfect playground for the outdoor enthusiast with many kilometres of Hiking and Mountain Biking Trails to choose from.

Now while the forest is pretty spectacular, the huge and beautiful lagoon is probably Knysna’s most prominent feature. Knysna Lagoon is the only one of the Garden Route lagoons that has a permanent mouth with magnificent rocky headlands. So the lagoon, and the Heads, as those beautiful rocky outcrops are called, totally dominate Knysna but not surprisingly offer a fantastic playground for adventure travellers.

You can take a scenic boat ride on a luxury yacht or join a group on a bigger boat, drinking champagne and eating cultivated oysters for which the area was once famous.  The other option is a powerboat trip for a rather more bouncy inflatable adventure. Both will offer you great views of the lagoon, as well as a thrilling ride both ways through the rather challenging Heads and a view of the lagoon and its sentinels from the open ocean.

Once in the open ocean expect to see whales, dolphins and much more as this part of the South African coastline is rich in sea life.  Other outdoor water based adventures in and around Knysna includes scuba diving, fly fishing, canoeing, kayaking and deep sea fishing.

Within an hour’s drive from Knysna centre you can reach many more adventures.  These include paragliding, hang gliding, skydiving, surfing, kitesurfing, abseiling, canopy tours and much more. 

See our Garden Route Activity list for a full breakdown of what outdoor adventure activities are available in the vicinity of Knysna.