The Southern Right whales migrate southwards down the coast of South Africa to their arctic feeding grounds and come close inshore at East London - it was with this in the mind that the lovely East London Aquarium was built with an 11-metre high platform that sits right above the surf and provides an excellent opportunity to watch these magnificent animals breaching in the bay.
Explore the East London Museum with its excellent anthropological displays, the only known dodo egg and a stuffed coelacanth (a fish thought to have been extinct for more than 70 million years, until one was netted near East London in 1938). While in town, also see the Gately House museum and the lovely Victorian buildings in the city centre.

How to get here ( Search the Cheapest Flights )
The N2 highway connecting Cape Town and Durban bypasses the city, while the N6 highway joins East London with the inland city of Bloemfontein. The East London Airport, 10 km from the city centre, has daily flights to all major South African cities.

Best time to visit
The sumemr months of September to March are best to visit.

Where to stay
There are only a few hotels in the city which has opened up a niche for local B&B and self-catering establishments. Overseas visitors will find the prices most agreeable.

Around the area
Try any of the towns located on the Sunshine Coast like St. Francis or Jeffreys Bay.

Attractions
East London Aquarium, East London.
East London Aquarium and Whale Viewing Deck - Said to be the oldest aquarium in South Africa, East London’s aquarium, which opened its doors originally in 1931, lies on the esplanade on the beachfront. The East London Aquarium is an interesting little aquarium with daily fish feeding and rather exciting seal shows, and more than makes up for its lack of size with a few wholly unique displays, like the three Cape pigmy clawed lobsters - the only specimens ever to be kept in a public aquarium anywhere in the world.
There is a colony of African penguins that produces an average of 20 chicks a year, which are then exported to other countries around the world. The aquarium also serves as a haven for injured, oiled and distressed marine creatures washed up on East London’s beaches, which total a few hundred seabirds, turtles and dolphins that are treated, rehabilitated and released every year. There’s also a shark tank built above the shoreline rocks.
However, the big draw card to East London’s aquarium is the wooden boardwalk that protrudes from the foyer over the inter-tidal zone and surf, offering hours of uninterrupted whale watching during whale season, and part of the official MTN Cape Whale Route.
The observation deck hovers 11 metres above the Indian Ocean and the aquarium has provided token operated binoculars at the far end of the deck, which dramatically improve your view of breaching humpback whales or bottlenose dolphins that are virtually daily visitors to the deck. The East London aquarium makes it easy to see when the best viewing times are as they fly a set of blue flags immediately whales are sighted.

East London Beaches, East London.
Buffalo City, as East London is charmingly known, not only lies on one of the most sublime coastlines of the world - think warm Indian Ocean waters and sub-tropical weather that allow visitors to enjoy the climate all year round - it also basks gloriously between the Nahoon River in the north and the Buffalo River to the south of the city, and the phrase ‘unspoilt beaches’ was termed with East London’s beaches in mind. Regarded as one of the most consistent surfing coastlines in the country, it is also said to have the best of everything!

Central beaches:
Eastern beach, which lies just past the aquarium opposite Marina Glen, is not only one of the city’s most central beaches, it’s one of the most popular as well and includes changing rooms, take-away options and glorious seas, great sand and ‘epic’ waves for surfers - although rather dependent on the sand banks, which build up off boulders and pebbles along the shore. Be warned that Eastern Beach is one of ‘the’ beaches come New Year’s Eve and some 400 000 people can descend on the shore.
Nahoon beach is a surfer’s and swimmer’s paradise and is arguably East London’s most popular beach - we’re talking kilometres of (mostly) uncrowded and unpolluted sand and sea that produces some of the best waves, particularly at the famous Nahoon reef where surfing can be fairly tough, hence its having served as a venue for many of the national surfing competitions. The Nahoon River mouth is not only a favourite haunt amongst fishermen and safe swimming for those a little afraid of the pounding surf, but it also provides access upstream at low tide.
Lying on the eastern side of the Buffalo River on the south end of the esplanade in The Quigney, Orient beach used to be known as the Sandy Beach until 1907 when a Russian vessel called the SS Orient ran aground on the shore. It’s extremely safe – the breakwaters of the harbour mean that the surf is usually quite gentle here - and provides a real ‘meal’ of your day at the beach - there’s the Orient pier on which to stroll, the Water Tube, a filtered children’s pool, changing facilities and a refreshment kiosk. It’s also very close to local hotels and shops, which means it’s a favourite amongst holiday makers, but there are plenty of large surrounding areas of green lawn, which means that there is usually room for everyone, even during peak season.
Other beaches – all within 30 minutes’ drive:
Bonza Bay’s beach lies just off the Quinera Lagoon giving you the best of both worlds - wonderful fishing, birding and swimming opportunities as well as mounds of golden sand. It’s a wonderful place to be in the sun, with long stretches of sand on which to walk. The dunes here provide lovely little secluded nooks in which to picnic.
Cove Rock, whilst not renowned for its swimming, is nonetheless one of the country’s most remarkable sandstone formations that serves as a wonderful venue for breeding seabirds, a whale watching vantage point, a perfect fishing spot and a great place for observing nature and simply ‘being’ on the beach. Surfers and divers enjoy Cove Rock and it makes a great 45 minute beachfront walk from Lagoon Valley.
Igoda Beach is a great wide open beach with well-forested sand dunes and a river that provides safe bathing. Access from the little village of Winterstrand provides safe parking and it’s a lovely place for a picnic. The road to Igoda runs alongside a nature reserve, so combining a beach morning with a late afternoon stroll through the many flowering plants in late spring and early summer is a worthwhile pastime.
Although Gulu Beach is essentially frequented by recreational anglers, it makes for a wonderful day trip during summer, when the wide open beach at the seaward end of the Gulu River offers safe swimming conditions with life guards. It’s a beautiful beach that isn’t very popular, so you’re almost guaranteed of undisturbed beach time.
Other beaches include Kidds beach, Leechers, the beaches along the West Bank of the city like Shelly Beach and Fullers Bay - where the waterworld complex offers swimming, sailing, water-skiing, boardsailing and boating. One would be remiss for not mentioning Gonubie beach, for although not a local beach, it’s proximity to East London (it’s just 25 kilometres north of the city at the mouth of the Gonubie River) and its blue flag status make it a ‘must’ to visit. The beach not only has a wonderful boardwalk that provides fantastic views across the sea, but the river mouth provides hours of beachcombing, man-made tidal pools and abundant vegetation.

East London City Hall
The foundation stone of the stately East London City Halll was laid in 1897. The clock tower commemorates the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria. Built in the Victorian Renaissance style, the marble for the imposing staircase at the East London City Hall, in Oxford Street, was imported from Italy.

East London Coast Nature Reserve, Eastern Cape
The East London Coast Nature Reserve is a gorgeous stretch of coast that extends from the Great Kei River in the north east all the way to the Tylomnqa River in the south west. Between these two bodies of water lies well over 3 000 hectares of conservation area made up of ten coastal reserves and two inland state forests, known collectively as the East London Coast Nature Reserve.
57% of the 250 kilometre coastline between the two rivers is taken up by these ten nature reserves that include Cape Morgan, Double Mouth, Cape Henderson, Cintsa West, Kwelera, Nahoon, Cove Rock / Gulu, Kidds Beach Nature Reserve, Kayser’s Beach and Chalumna, whilst the two inland state forest reserves lie north of East London along the north bank of the Buffalo River.
The main reasons for the East London Coast Nature Reserve’s existence are to preserve the incredible biodiversity in the region, to protect the natural vegetation and manage alien vegetation. But for the visitor the extraordinary wildness and unspoilt surrounds is what is most attractive. This stretch of coastline is relatively untouched by the tar brush of tourism. Whilst a few of the villages, such as Kidds Beach, Nahoon and Kayser’s beach have become more popular with visitors seeking alternatives to the busier parts of the Eastern Cape, the combination of these nature reserves provides an effortless space in which to lose oneself.
Transitional coastal forest, valley thicket, eastern thorn bushveld, eastern dune thicket and coastal grassland still provide shelter to the leopard, blue duiker, giant golden mole, tree dassies, Cape parrots, crowned eagles, the Knysna lourie and the narina trogon. More attractive still are the frequent sightings of the Southern Right whale on the coast between July and September, and the sardine run at the beginning of June.

East London Golf Club, East London
East London Golf Course / Gleneagles Road, Bunker Hill, East London. The East London Golf Club, skilfully fashioned out of dense coastal bush, hills and dunes, just a few metres away from the warm water of the Indian Ocean, has hosted six South African Opens, which confirms the high esteem in which the course is held.
There are breathtaking views of the sea at several points on the course and Nahoon Reef, a world-famous surfing spot, is close to the north-east corner of the East Bank. A golfer must contend with steep climbs up and down the dunes as he strolls along the green fairways. More often than not, he or she will have to contend with a fierce wind whistling through the valleys.

Awards
The Complete golfer included East London on its list of South Africa's finest courses. As has been the case for many years the East London Golf Club is the foremost club in the region.

Signature Hole
The long par-four ninth hole is one of South Africa's great golf holes, a dogleg played from an elevated tee over an undulating fairway into a valley framed by bush. The East London Golf Club is without question a deserving member of the aristocracy of South Africa's finest golf facilities.

East London Museum, East London
Residents of East London tend to mention their museum and the coelacanth in one breath, and with good reason. The East London Natural History gallery features the original coelacanth - a prehistoric fish that has lived in the Indian Ocean for 400 million years, thought to be extinct until it was re-discovered in 1938.
The discovery of a live coelacanth in the East London harbour was regarded internationally as the most significant zoological find of the century, which makes the East London Museum, open on every day of the year except Christmas day and Good Friday, worth a visit to see this specimen alone. Of course there are other galleries at the museum. The border gallery gives a fine depiction of the history of the region and includes displays of southern Nguni beadwork and traditional culture; the costume gallery is a fine treat with period settings from the Late Victorian through to the 1930s Art Deco style; and the maritime gallery includes model ships and shipwreck artefacts.
The East London Museum lies in upper Oxford Street. It also serves as the home of the world’s only surviving Dodo egg and a reconstruction of the flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius, standing about a metre tall. Thought to be related to pigeons and doves, it has been extinct since the mid-to-late 17th century.

West Bank Golf Club
West Bank Golf Club, off Hood Street, West Bank, East London, Eastern Cape / The West Bank Golf Club, which celebrated its centenary in October 2007, has an 18 hole golf course rated as Number 93 in South Africa. Enjoy lovely views of the sea from every tee when playing the 18-hole West Bank Golf Course. As friendly as the rest of East London, the club welcomes visitors every day. Best days for play are Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings, and Sunday afternoons. East London enjoys a moderate climate, with few extremes in temperature and is generally sunny and pleasant.

Club facilities
The Club has ofers a bar and outside deck, braai (barbecue) facilites, a halfway house and function facilities, full mens and ladies change rooms and a club shop.