Marine Big 5 Tour: See Whales, Sharks, Seals, Penguins

Embark on a thrilling Marine Big 5 Safari from Hermanus. Witness Southern Right Whales, sharks, Cape fur seals, African Penguins, and dolphins in their natural habitat.

Duration: 5 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Dyer Island Cruises - Dyer Island Cruises offers tours around the renowned Dyer Island, where visitors have the chance to witness the Marine Big 5: Southern Right, Humpback, and Bryde’s Whales, Great White Sharks in the famous Shark Alley, Cape Fur Seals, the endangered African Penguin, and various dolphin species. The area is also home to a…
What's Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Professional guide
  • Bottled water
  • Coffee/tea and muffins on arrival
  • Inflatable life-jackets and wet weather gear
  • Free visit to our African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary (APSS)
  • Warm soup and bread after the trip
What's Not Included
  • Trip footage available for purchase after the trip
Additional Information

We operate from Gansbaai around the world-famous Dyer Island where you might be so fortunate to see the Marine Big 5

  • the Southern Right Whale/Humpback/Bryde’s Whales,
  • various shark species,
  • the Cape fur seal (around 60,000 on Geyser Rock),
  • the endangered African Penguin and
  • various visiting dolphin species.
    The area is also home to a…
Location
Dyer Island Cruises
5 Geelbek Street,
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(80 Ratings)
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1 star
Jennysx793cl
Apr 17, 2026
A must do, even outside whale season - We thoroughly enjoyed our marine 5 boat sea safari with Marine Dynamics. From the moment of reaching out to make the booking, through to the boat trip & return transport, everything was well organised with good communication. Pick up and drop back at the hotel was provided by a clean, air conditioned van with safe driver. The sea safari was thoroughly enjoyable with plenty of space for everyone to see the animals from the boat. We were lucky enough to see a bryde’s whale, dolphins, penguin and cape fur seals. We’d definitely recommend buying the optional drone video after your trip, we found it well worth it especially as it showed the size of the whale vs the boat. It’s will be a great way to treasure these memories. Thanks again to Marind Dynamics and all their amazing staff
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Chrisvandermerwe
Dec 19, 2025
Well-Organised Marine Adventure with Incredible Wildlife Sightings. - A fantastic day out from start to finish. Communication was excellent and the warm, friendly reception set the tone right away. The team is very well informed and clearly passionate about what they do. Everything was well organised, and they really made an effort to search for wildlife rather than just going through the motions. We were lucky enough to see penguins, sharks, whales and seals, which made the experience even more special. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a fun, educational and memorable marine experience in Gansbaai.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Johntav1
Dec 5, 2025
whale watching experience - The trip to see the whales was a great experience and highly recommended, the operator made the trip run smoothly and enjoyable, we sailed to see some shark cage diving as a starter, where you could see the sharks going to the cages where people where excitedly waiting for the shark encounter, and they and we, were not disappointed, we then proceeded to see a South African penguin colony and also a seal colony, before we encountered the famous Souther Right whales, with a mother and her calf being the star attractions, and we had plenty of time to observe them playing near to our boat, and fantastic experience, enhanced by the helpful crew who always pointed out where the whales would be and gave us interesting facts along the way.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kwcannons
Nov 26, 2025
Brilliant tour - Superb experience. Picked up from our hotel in a comfortable bus by excellent driver and taken to Gansbaai. Coffee and cake followed by a superb boat trip. Southern Right whale mother and calf spotted. Bronze whaler shaft and seals and penguins galore. Safety on boat excellent and guide very knowledgeable. The conservation work being done by the company is inspirational. Lovely soup and roll served on return which was unexpected. Very clean rest rooms. The driver kindly stopped in at the penguin sanctuary on the way back. 100% recommend this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
8jacquil
Nov 26, 2025
Trip exceeded expectations - friendly fun great wildlife viewing - Professional well run trip - friendly guides. Saw everything promised - whales sharks penguins seals over a trip of slighly less than 3 hours. Big seas and swell but excellent skipper with good safety on board. Close viewing to all the animals/birds. Plenty of tme to enjoy the baby whale breaching - no sense of urgency or having to keep to schedule. Comfort food snacks before and after
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Julieth_12
Nov 23, 2025
A must! - Absolutely excellent trip and brilliant value. Very professional crew and set up. Really enjoyable and informative A must!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sue_m
Nov 18, 2025
Brilliant, do it ! - A really excellent trip,great organisation, safely managed,amazing wildlife ,we saw all of the big 5 ,would recommend
Review provided by Viator
Davidl003
Nov 3, 2025
Highly recommended!! - Marine Dynamics is an awesome company to do this trip with. Why? Many reasons! First of all, because I had some questions upfront via e-mail, they were so friendly and helpful. Secondly, the day itself was great. Everybody involved is so friendly and warm. And knowledgeable. And the best thing, they go out of their way to make sure we see as much as we can see. But they do so with the utmost respect for the animals. And... With regard for safety. Because during our day the waves were significant. They never lost sight of that and made some very good choices. So if you are thinking of doing a trip like this, go for Marine Dynamics!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Graham_s
Feb 12, 2026
Good tour well run - Well organised trip , good pickup from the hotel. The penguin sanctuary is smaller than expected and only a brief stop off but their work is interesting. The highlights of our safari was seeing sharks and dolphins. U fortunately we did not see whales , but we were out of season. Food provided was a bowl of soup, not great but given we did not expect anything quite acceptable. The staff were knowledgeable and informative
Review provided by Viator
Timothy
Dec 24, 2025
Wonderful experience - Very organised team and great service. Good at explain and wonderful experience. A good team that makes you feel comfortable. Always ready to serve
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $193
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).