Day Trips - Kei Mouth

Morgan Bay & the Double Mouth Nature Reserve

The coastal village of Morgan Bay is only 7km from Kei Mouth and lies nestled between the famous Morgan Bay cliffs and a mile-long stretch of unspoilt beach, bordered by the untamed Cape Morgan Nature Reserve.

Pack your camera and go for a hike over the spectacular dolerite cliffs at Morgan Bay. These impressive slabs of dolerite, which drop some 50 metres into the pounding surf, are ideal vantage points for watching the sunrise or enjoying a sundowner with friends. If you're lucky, you may even see the dolphins frolicking in the waves, which crash against the rocks below.

4km further on along the cliff-top road, lies the pristine coastal nature reserve of Double Mouth which boasts one of SA's most picturesque campsites. Here two rivers meet in a pristine estuary, which carves a single course through forested dunes to the sea. Fish Eagles, Crowned Eagles, Red-Billed Woodhoopoes and several species of Kingfishers patrol the placid waters and it's forest fringes. Just beyond is Bead beach; site of a 16th Century Portuguese shipwreck, it's the perfect place to do a little treasure hunting for Ming porcelain and Carnelian beads. Motorbikes and Quads are not permitted. There is a parking fee.

Qolora & the Jacaranda

Qolora (Qholorha) Mouth is one of the few coastal hamlets in the Transkei that is easily accessible with an average family car. It is only a 16km drive across the Kei River from the pontoon ferry

The beach is wide and inviting at the river mouth with a few small rocky points and estuaries scattered along its length in either direction as it stretches to the horizon.

Side-step a few cows on the beach as you hike to the wreck of the Jacaranda which ran aground on the night of September the 18th, 1971. She was not laden with any cargo and riding high in windy seas when her engines failed. She was washed ashore and the captain, his wife and 14 crew members abandoned ship using a rope ladder which they strung from the ships prow to the nearby rocks. Successive storms have taken their toll on the stranded ship and today only the bow remains.