Emily Moon River Lodge stands on a ridge above the Bitou River wetlands just outside Plettenberg Bay, sixteen suites in an indigenous garden with a restaurant that looks out over reeds, water and the Tsitsikamma mountains. It is owned by the Valentine family and filled with what they have collected across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, which makes it unlike anything else on this coast.
Best for
Couples who want character rather than a chain; travellers who care about where they eat dinner; anyone who would rather look at a river and a mountain range than at the sea.
It is a few minutes out of town and it is not on a beach. If your holiday is built around walking onto sand every morning, this is the wrong address.
Location
The lodge is on the Bitou River, a few kilometres north-east of Plettenberg Bay off the N2, where the river spreads into wetlands before joining the Keurbooms estuary. The view from the property runs across the floodplain to the Tsitsikamma range, and it is one of the best views in the district.
The town, its beaches and Robberg are all within about ten minutes by car. Our Plettenberg Bay destination guide sets out how the bay, the town and the reserves fit together.
Rooms and style at Emily Moon
There are sixteen suites: six superior luxury suites, eight luxury suites and two family suites. Each has a living area, a wooden viewing deck facing the river, a fireplace or air-conditioning, a minibar, satellite television and wireless internet, and each is furnished differently.
The style is the point. Carved doors, textiles, masks, lamps and furniture gathered on the owners’ travels fill both the suites and the public rooms, and the effect is closer to a private collection than to a hotel. Travellers who want pale minimalism will find it too much; most people find it the reason they remember the stay.
The suites are spread down the slope rather than stacked, so each deck looks out over the reeds without looking into the next one. Emily Moon is small enough that the staff know which suite you are in by the second morning, and large enough to have a proper kitchen behind the restaurant.
Facilities at Emily Moon
The restaurant is the centre of the property and takes non-residents as well as guests; it is one of the better-known places to eat in Plettenberg Bay, and the deck above the wetlands is the reason people book it. There is a bar, a swimming pool in the garden, and function and wedding space.
There is no golf, no gym and no large spa building. The lodge is small and deliberately so.
Who should consider Emily Moon
Consider it if two or three nights of good food, a deck and a river view sound better than a beachfront room. It also works well for a couple travelling the Garden Route who want one night that feels different from the rest.
Families with small children who want the beach at the end of the garden will be better served in town or at Robberg. Our Garden Route accommodation guide compares the options.
Trade-offs, honestly
Four things to weigh:
- You are ten minutes from the beach by car, and Plettenberg Bay is a beach town.
- The restaurant is popular with outside diners, so the property is busier in the evening than a sixteen-suite lodge would normally be.
- The decoration is maximalist and specific. It is either exactly your taste or firmly not.
- Wetlands mean insects in summer and mist in winter; the view changes character completely with the weather.
The lodge sits above the floodplain rather than on it, so the water is a view rather than something you step into.
Explore the area
Robberg Nature Reserve, the peninsula at the southern end of the bay, has the best coastal walk on the Garden Route: three route options from a short loop to the full nine-kilometre circuit out to the point, with seals below the cliffs and whales offshore in season. Plettenberg Bay itself has several Blue Flag beaches, and the Keurbooms River estuary is good for boat trips and paddling.
Inland and east lie the forests and gorges of the Tsitsikamma section of the Garden Route National Park, with the Storms River mouth suspension bridges about an hour away. Closer to the lodge, the Crags has a cluster of wildlife sanctuaries, and the Bloukrans bridge bungee jump is half an hour east.
Birdlife on the floodplain below the property is a genuine attraction in its own right: herons, kingfishers, weavers and, in summer, migrant waders work the shallows, and the decks at Emily Moon are effectively hides. Early morning, before the mist lifts off the water, is the time to be out on them.
Getting there and getting around
Plettenberg Bay has a small airport with seasonal scheduled flights, but most travellers fly to George, about ninety minutes west, or drive. Cape Town is roughly 520 kilometres away on the N2, about six and a half hours before stops, and Port Elizabeth is around 230 kilometres east.
A car is essential here. Knysna is thirty minutes west, Storms River an hour east, and Oudtshoorn about two hours north. Our seven-day Garden Route itinerary shows where Plettenberg Bay nights sit.
How Emily Moon compares
Against the hotels on the bay you trade the sea view for a river, a mountain range and a much stronger sense of place. Against the treetop and country lodges out at the Crags, Emily Moon is closer to town and considerably less remote. Against a guesthouse in Plett, you gain a serious restaurant and a garden, and you lose the walk to the beach.
Practical notes for a stay at Emily Moon
Plettenberg Bay is at its busiest from mid-December to mid-January, when South African families arrive in force and everything from restaurant tables to beach parking becomes competitive. March, April, October and November are the best combination of weather, price and space.
Southern right whales are in the bay from roughly June to November and are often visible from Robberg and the town’s viewpoints. Dinner at the lodge should be reserved when you book the room, not on the day, because outside diners fill the restaurant in season.
Before you book Emily Moon
Check which suite category you are being quoted and whether it has a fireplace or air-conditioning, because the suites differ. Confirm whether breakfast is included in the rate, whether a wedding or function is booked over your dates, and what the current cancellation window is at checkout. If you are travelling with children, ask about the family suites specifically. More options across the province are in our Western Cape accommodation guide.
Current rates and availability
We do not publish rates for Emily Moon, because they move constantly with season and demand. Use the availability button on this page to see what the property currently costs on your dates, what is included and what the cancellation terms are. The booking provider is the merchant of record; Cape Town Travel Guide does not set prices, hold inventory or take payment.