Skip to content
The Hole in the Wall rock with its sea-carved arch, seen from the air beside the green hills of the Wild Coast

Sample journey · 9–11 days

The Wild Coast on foot, village to village

East London, Coffee Bay, Hole in the Wall, amaXhosa villages & Port St Johns

Photo: Joshua Gaunt / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

Between East London and Port St Johns the coastline is called the Wild Coast, and with reason. There is no coastal highway: roads drop from the interior to separate bays, and between them run the paths local people walk every day, past cattle grazing, across river mouths and along cliffs where the Indian Ocean breaks. Round amaXhosa homesteads, painted pale blue and green, are scattered across the hills; in the evening cooking smoke rises above them, and in the morning children walk to school on the same paths you'll be following.

This is a completely different South Africa: no winelands, no reserves and no lavish lodges. A day at the Hole in the Wall, several days walking village to village with local guides, nights in community-run guesthouses and a finish on the Pondoland cliffs, where rivers fall straight into the sea. Expect four to six hours on foot most days, over hills and along beaches, and comforts that are simple but sincere. It's a journey for people who would rather talk by a fire than lie by a pool.

The route

The journey

  1. East London
  2. Coffee Bay
  3. Hole in the Wall
  4. Villages between Mdumbi and Zithulele
  5. Port St Johns
  6. The Pondoland coast
  7. Mthatha
  1. From the air: a sandy beach and rocks washed by surf near East London

    01Days 1–2 · East London

    An introduction on the Indian Ocean

    East London is usually reached on a domestic flight from Johannesburg or Cape Town, so the first night is a quiet one by the sea. With time to spare in the afternoon, walk Nahoon Beach or call in at the town museum, which keeps a coelacanth, the fish scientists believed long extinct until one was caught off this coast in 1938. The next morning it's about four hours north-east. Beyond the Great Kei River the former Transkei begins: the hills grow greener and round homesteads and grazing land appear along the road. At Mthatha you leave the main road and head down towards the coast, the last hour on a winding road between villages. You reach Coffee Bay in the late afternoon, as the cattle make their own way home from the beach.

  2. Two black cattle grazing on a grassy clifftop above the ocean at Coffee Bay

    02Days 2–4 · Coffee Bay & the Hole in the Wall

    The rock the sea broke through

    Two nights in Coffee Bay, a small settlement at a river mouth on a coast still little changed. The first real walking day: with a local guide, about three to four hours south along the cliffs to the Hole in the Wall, a great rock in the sea that the waves have broken clean through. The amaXhosa call it esiKhaleni, 'the place of sound', for the way the surf thunders through the gap at high tide. You return by road, so the length of the day is easy to adjust. The next day is slower: a short walk to a viewpoint, a swim only where your guide says it's safe, and first conversations with people whose daily lives are tied to this coast. Evenings are quiet: just the surf and dogs barking somewhere in the hills.

  3. Sunrise and breakfast-fire smoke over an amaXhosa village on green hills at Zithulele, Eastern Cape

    03Days 4–7 · Villages between Mdumbi and Zithulele

    Three days among the round houses

    The heart of the journey: three days on foot south-west of Coffee Bay with guides from the villages themselves. Four to six hours a day, over grassy hills, past schools and grazing land, down to beaches and across river mouths that are sometimes waded and sometimes crossed by small boat, depending on the tide. Luggage goes by road, so you carry only a daypack. Nights are in simple community-run guesthouses or family homesteads: clean beds, dinner made from what grows nearby, sometimes electricity only in the evening. The point here is people: women explaining how they bake bread and sow maize, children who happily walk part of the way with you, and evenings by the fire. We visit homes and family life only with local guides, on the communities' own terms.

  4. Walkers on a grassy path above the ocean on the way to Waterfall Bluff on the Pondoland coast

    04Days 7–10 · Port St Johns, Pondoland & Mthatha

    Where rivers fall into the sea

    From the villages it's about four hours by road via Mthatha to Port St Johns, set where the broad Mzimvubu River breaks through to the sea between two forested bluffs. Three nights here. The first day is easy: paths through coastal forest to the beaches and Silaka Nature Reserve. The next is the longest of the journey: about two hours north by road to Mbotyi, then a guided coastal walk towards Waterfall Bluff, where a river drops from the cliff straight into the ocean, something found in only a few places on earth. On the last morning, about two hours back to Mthatha. Here, at the Nelson Mandela Museum and in nearby Qunu, the village where he grew up, the journey ends with a story that helps make sense of the whole region. From Mthatha, a domestic flight to Johannesburg.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    The Hole in the Wall

    A clifftop path to the rock the waves have broken through, and the thunder that gave it its isiXhosa name.

  2. 02

    Village to village

    Three days with local guides, nights in community-run homes and evenings by the fire.

  3. 03

    Waterfall Bluff

    A waterfall dropping from the Pondoland cliffs straight into the Indian Ocean.

  4. 04

    Mandela's country

    The museum in Mthatha and the hills of Qunu where he grew up: a quiet ending that ties the journey into one story.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • At a gentler pace

    Walking days can be cut to two or three hours, with some stretches covered by road, or a rest day added in one of the villages.

  • With teenagers

    For active teenagers this can be one of the most memorable trips they take: more time for beaches and rivers, shorter walking days and more time with young people in the villages.

  • Choosing the season

    Spring and autumn (roughly September to November and March to May) are often the most comfortable for walking; summer is hot and humid, and rivers rise after the storms.

  • With the Drakensberg or the Garden Route

    From Mthatha or Port St Johns it's easy to continue to the KwaZulu-Natal mountains, or from East London west to the Garden Route.

Practical considerations

  • Spring and autumn are usually best for walking; summer (roughly December to February) is hot and humid with frequent afternoon thunderstorms, while winter is generally dry and pleasantly cool.
  • Roads down to the coast are often narrow, potholed and winding, with livestock on them, so we allow extra time and drive only in daylight, ideally with a local driver.
  • River-mouth crossings depend on the tide and rain, so the order of walking days may change on the ground; guides always decide where it's safe to walk and swim.
  • Before you travel we check current advice for the region, road conditions and that the community guesthouses are operating, and shape the final route accordingly.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

Keep exploring

Destinations

Ways to travel

Related articles

More journey inspiration

Plan your journey

Shape a journey like this

Would you like to know South Africa on foot and through its people? Tell us how much you enjoy walking and what kind of stays you'd like, and we'll shape a Wild Coast route together.

Shape a journey like this

This journey becomes the starting point of your enquiry — you can change or remove it.

All journey inspiration