Clarence Drive

Clarence Drive runs about thirty kilometres from Gordon's Bay around the eastern shore of False Bay to Kleinmond, on a ledge blasted into the Hottentots Holland cliffs in the 1930s. It gets compared to the Amalfi coast and to Chapman's Peak, and unlike Chapman's Peak it has no toll and rarely closes. The road hangs above the water with almost no development on the seaward side, so the view is uninterrupted: False Bay open to the horizon, the Cape Peninsula across it, and in season southern right whales in the water directly below - there are pull-offs where people watch them from the car. Baboons work the roadside at Rooi-Els and are a genuine problem for anyone with food visible. The Rooi-Els turnoff has a walking path towards Hangklip where Cape rockjumpers, a hard-to-find endemic bird, are regularly seen.

What you'll find

• The cliff ledge - a road blasted into rock above the water with an open seaward view.
• The whales below - southern rights in False Bay watched from roadside pull-offs.
• The Rooi-Els path - a walk towards Hangklip known for Cape rockjumpers.
• The Peninsula across - Cape Point and the mountains on the far side of the bay.

When to go

All year; June to November for whales. One to two hours with stops.

Practical notes

Baboons at Rooi-Els open car doors and take food - keep windows up and nothing visible. Pull-offs are small and cyclists use the road heavily. Wind can be strong. There is no barrier on some sections.

Nearby

Betty's Bay and Stony Point penguins are along the route; Kleinmond is at the end.