Whale watching

The Akkedisberg Pass translates from Afrikaans into Lizard Mountain Pass. It's an easy drive along this tarred coastal pass on the R326 links the small farming town of Riviersonderend with the quaint coastal hamlet of Stanford and the coastal road to Hermanus. The original gravel road dates back to 1776 and is amongst the very oldest passes in South Africa.

The pass had mild gradients and only 13 bends, corners and curves, none of which are particularly sharp or dangerous. It's a fairly long pass at 12,5 km and produces a gentle average gradient of only 1:86 with the steepest sections getting up to 1:18. The views are lovely with the tall mountains keeping watch over the green valley on the right. There is at least one excellent wine estate that leads off the pass.

Clarence Drive is a magnificent scenic coastal drive between the wind-swept hamlet of Rooi-Els and the naval town of Gordons Bay, which nestles in the north-eastern crook of False Bay in the shadow of the Hottentots Hollands mountains. This beautiful, coastal drive stretches between the two towns over 21 km, hugging the wild turquoise Cape coastline all the way. If you like passes with lots of corners, then this one is for you, as it contains 77 bends, curves and corners of which four are in excess of 150 degrees. The road is in a beautiful condition and attracts tourists, locals, bikers and cyclists in their droves. Overtaking is fairly limited and in general one can expect to average well below 60 kph.

  

This short and steep pass connects Gordons Bay on the R44 and Clarence Drive, with the Steenbras Dam at the top of the Hottentots Hollands mountains. This is also one of only a handful of passes in South Africa that has a hairpin bend in excess of 180 degrees. The road was built in the 1940's to service the water filtration plant near the top of the mountain. The road is restricted from the filtration plant where there are control booms and only bona-fide permit holders may proceed beyond that point. The road carries low traffic volumes, due to it's restricted nature and was purpose built to service the dam and filtration plant.