Swim with Seals

What a ride! Getting SO up close to seals was unreal! Not to mention the boat trip out! Hope you bring your sea legs! Guides were great - thanks for the assurance @ Claude. Very supportive of nervous swimmers and very respectful of the seals and habitat. Fully recommended. You might even see Prince Harry ;)

This is an experience you won't soon forget. When you go snorkeling you don't think about swimming with wild seals. Once at sea, it was full of excitement and adrenaline from the beginning to the end. The pictures speak for themselves. The guidance was very professional and left nothing to chance. The precautions were explained down to the last detail and while snorkeling they kept a close eye on everything. Taking pictures and filming is done for you, so you don't have to worry about it yourself. You can just enjoy yourself. If you are in Plettenberg Bay (South Africa) this is highly recommended.

We had a fantastic tour! We actually wanted to do the tour the day before, but it unfortunately had to be canceled due to the weather conditions. The contact via WhatsApp was very helpful. This allowed us to manage to do the tour the following day, and it was definitely worth it! Angelo explained everything very well and kept a good eye on us, also taking care of anyone who felt unwell. (Jean) Claude (van Damen), our captain of the day, was also in a great mood and safely took us back and forth with some fun ;). We would definitely book the tour again. The animals come up to you out of curiosity, which makes the whole experience very special. Thanks to Angelo and his team!

If I had to summarize this experience in one word: unforgettable. Swimming with the seals was clearly one of the highlights of our stay, if not the best. Everything was perfectly organized from start to finish, and one immediately feels at ease. A huge thank you to Angelo, our guide, who truly made all the difference. He was able to create a great atmosphere, both fun and relaxed, while reassuring us at every step. One can feel that he loves what he does, and that changes everything: he transformed an already incredible activity into a magical moment. Seeing the seals move around us in their natural environment was just amazing… a feeling of freedom and connection to nature that is hard to explain. Honestly, if you are still hesitating: go for it with your eyes closed. It is a unique experience, filled with emotions, laughter, and memories that remain etched long after. An essential activity of your trip.

The experience has been amazing. There are hundreds of seals. The guide has been very friendly and was giving us instructions not to be in danger while swimming. I'd do it again.

The 15 minute speed boat ride is choppy and you sit on the side of the boat and hang on to a rope and put your feet in foot straps. You wear a life jacket in the boat but take it off when you get in the water. They provide a float if you need it. The seal colony is on the rocks and inevitably the sea is quite rough. It’s fine if you are a reasonably good swimmer. The website says the trip is good for age 6 plus and no experience needed. I would disagree and say you need to be confident and competent in the water to be safe on this trip. The website needs more information about what to expect and risks so that potential customers can make an informed choice about whether it is suitable especially if there are younger children involved

Awesome experience ! Angelo was very knowledgeable and a fantastic guide. Everyone was super nice and helpful

After changing (a wetsuit with anti-bite sleeves and shin guards below) you soon get into the boat. After about 15 minutes you arrive at a place where there are a lot of seals. Time to get into the water. The water was a bit cold (November) but quickly settled through the wetsuits. The water was very green/murky. You could see +- 3 meters underwater, this made sure you didn't actually see anything. You are not allowed to swim towards the seals and you are kept very close together as a group. Above the water you could see the seals quite close at times (5-10 meters away). But because of the murky water you could see snorkeling only shadows or nothing. After +- 15 minutes there was already a shout that time was up and we had to get back in the boat. Perhaps I had romanticized the experience a bit but for me it was disappointing.

The picture attached to the ad gives a distorted picture, because you don't get that close to the seals. This may also have been kept the same by the organization because of some recent incidents with biting seals on people. The organization does point out the dangers of biting seals in advance and provides gloves and arm pieces in addition to wetsuits, so they are aware that there are incidents. Per boat there is also 1 person who has to sign a document that shifts all responsibility from the organization, so that is also a bit strange, especially with the recent biting incidents. But you get to see a lot of seals and the guide tried to put some fun into it (including with the arrival back on the beach).

The professionals are very friendly and attentive. The experience is very cool, however I do not recommend it for people who are medrose, as it scares a little by the amount of seals that stay swimming next to you. But the experience is worth it.