Morgan Bay

Morgan Bay sits at the foot of a line of dolerite cliffs that rise about sixty metres straight out of the sea south of the Kei River, and the cliff-top walk is the reason to come: a path runs along the edge with the Indian Ocean below on one side and green farmland on the other, past blowholes and gullies where the swell comes in hard. Below the cliffs a wide beach runs to a lagoon at the Inchara River. The village is small, built around a hotel that has been there since the 1940s, and it is one of the last places reachable on tar before the Wild Coast proper begins across the Kei at Kei Mouth, where a pont ferries cars over. The village took its English name in 1822 from A. F. Morgan, master of the survey ship Barracouta, and was officially renamed Gxarha in 2022; this page keeps the earlier name. The beach runs about 1.6 kilometres. Rock climbing on the cliffs is established, dolphins pass close inshore, and whales are seen in winter and spring.

What's there

• The dolerite cliffs - about sixty metres rising straight out of the sea.
• The cliff-top walk - a path along the edge past blowholes and gullies.
• The lagoon beach - wide sand running to the Inchara River mouth.
• The Kei pont - the ferry across the river into the Wild Coast proper nearby.

When to go

October to April. Two days. Whales pass between June and November.

Good to know

The cliff path is unfenced with a straight drop - not for small children in wind. Village facilities are minimal and the nearest real shops are in Komga or East London. The sea has rips. Holiday periods book out the few places to stay.

Nearby

Kei Mouth and the pont are north; Chintsa is down the coast.

Key facts