Knysna is a must stop for cruisers visiting the east coast of South Africa. It provides a safe and beautiful anchorage with a quaint town and excellent repair facilities. We spent 7 months there and thoroughly enjoyed our time making great friends and had a lot of work done to Evenflow.

The infamous Knysna Heads do require respect, but entry is not a problem as long as you watch conditions – 2m or less swell, preferably easterly winds and at tide change. Best done in daylight for sure. See https://www.knysnayachtclub.com/home/safety/5-entering-the-knysna-heads. Note the NSRI will not have anyone come out to guide you in – purely for accountability issues, but they can be contacted to check conditions. Real-time conditions can be viewed at http://www.theheads.co.za

Once inside the heads the lagoon has buoys marking the channel to the anchorage and marina. The anchorage has a nice sandy bottom and anchoring is free. The marina has walk-on slips and rates are reasonable. Contact Herbie at herbiekos@hotmail.com to arrange a slip.

Knysna has a beautiful town with all services. The marina has haul-out facilities and comprehensive supporting industry. The yacht club is friendly and social. Highly recommended.

Knysna harbour is in our opinion the best on the South African coast and we spent several months here between December 2013 and March 2014. The entrance is not difficult with care and the NSRI on VHF16 can give advice and may be able to send a RIB out to guide you in. One tip on approaching with a swell running is keeping speed to a maximum and course straight. Once inside the calm lagoon you can anchor or contact Herbie Kostens Knysna Quays 044 3820955 (Office)044 3820741 (Office Fax)0824941607 (Cell) or email herbiekos@hotmail.com. He may be able to help.

The town is all within walking distance and there are many good restaurants – our favourites were Cruise Cafe and a few minutes from the marina and Freshline near the refuse transfer station for the best fresh fish around. Also Marios very good but gets very busy. (See our Trip Advisor reviews under “Oceanwander”) Excellent engineering services are available at Tangent Engineering in the industrial area. Outboard services are available at Tait Marine (Mariner/Mercury – expensive) and Volvo. All major supermarket chains are well represented. Europcar has a hire car office just across the road by the station. Spectra Watermakers have an agent Peter Bakker 072 683 0797 who is very helpful