Leisure Isle Lodge sits on Bollard Bay on Leisure Isle, the residential island inside the Knysna lagoon, looking across flat water to the Heads. It is a small hotel of eleven rooms and suites with its own restaurant and spa, and it is one of very few Knysna properties where the lagoon is genuinely at the end of the garden.
Best for
Couples who want a quiet, white-walled, beach-chic hotel rather than a resort; travellers who want to swim in flat water and eat well without driving; anyone who values a small property with a restaurant.
It is not a family resort and it is not a budget option. Leisure Isle is residential and very quiet, which is the appeal and also the limitation.
Location
Leisure Isle is a low island in the eastern arm of the Knysna lagoon, joined to the mainland by a causeway and about ten minutes from the town centre. Bollard Bay, on the island’s southern side, is the sheltered tidal beach that faces the Heads, and the lodge is on it.
Knysna town, the Waterfront and Thesen Islands are a short drive; the eastern Head and its viewpoint are closer still. Our Knysna destination guide explains how the lagoon, the islands and the Heads relate to each other.
Rooms and style at Leisure Isle Lodge
There are eleven rooms and suites, sold by aspect rather than by tier: junior and superior rooms facing the garden and pool, junior and superior suites facing the lagoon, and a penthouse suite with a private balcony, a lounge with a fireplace and the best of the views.
The style is pale, coastal and deliberately understated: white walls, linen, timber and very little colour. Standard features include underfloor heating, ceiling fans, satellite television and heated towel rails, and the beds are made up in Egyptian cotton. It is a hotel that reads as a private house on the water.
Facilities at Leisure Isle Lodge
Daniela’s is the in-house restaurant, a small fine-dining room with lagoon views that also takes non-residents, and there is a bar and a deck for sundowners. The lodge has a swimming pool, a library, a private in-house spa and direct access to Bollard Bay beach with umbrellas set out on the sand.
There is no gym, no conference wing and no children’s programme. The facilities are those of a small luxury hotel, and they are complete for what the property is trying to be.
Who should consider Leisure Isle Lodge
Consider it if you want two or three quiet nights with a spa treatment, a swim in the lagoon and dinner without getting back in the car. It is also a natural honeymoon or anniversary address, and the lodge markets itself that way.
Travellers who want a lively base with restaurants outside the door will be better served at the Waterfront or on Thesen Islands. Our Garden Route accommodation guide compares the alternatives.
Trade-offs, honestly
Four things to weigh:
- Bollard Bay is tidal. At low water the bay empties into sandflats, which is wonderful for walking and birds and useless for swimming; check the tide before you plan a swim.
- Garden-facing rooms are noticeably cheaper and lose the view that defines the property.
- The island is residential and quiet; everything other than the beach and the lodge restaurant needs a car.
- Eleven rooms means it sells out early over Christmas, Easter and the oyster festival.
The lodge is also adult in atmosphere rather than child-focused, which is worth raising before booking if you are travelling as a family.
Explore the area
The Knysna lagoon reaches the sea between two sandstone cliffs known as the Heads, and the classic outing is the ferry across to the Featherbed Nature Reserve on the western Head, which has no road access. The eastern Head has a viewpoint and a short coastal path, and both are close to the island.
Inland, the Knysna forests are the largest indigenous woodland in the country: the Diepwalle and Goudveld sections of the Garden Route National Park have marked trails, and the Rheenendal road and Phantom Pass make a good half day. Brenton-on-Sea and Buffalo Bay are the nearest open ocean beaches, and Noetzie, with its private beach castles, is twenty minutes east.
Getting there and getting around
George Airport is about an hour away by road, with direct flights from Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. Knysna is roughly 490 kilometres from Cape Town on the N2, about six hours of driving, and around 260 kilometres from Port Elizabeth.
A car is needed. Plettenberg Bay is thirty minutes east, Wilderness forty-five minutes west, and Oudtshoorn about an hour and a half north over the Outeniqua passes. Our seven-day Garden Route itinerary shows where Knysna nights belong.
How Leisure Isle Lodge compares
Against the hotels at the Waterfront you lose the walk to a dozen restaurants and gain silence, a beach and a lagoon view. Against the golf estate above the town, Leisure Isle Lodge is smaller, closer to the water and much more intimate, with no course and no conference trade. Against a guesthouse on the island, you gain a restaurant, a spa and a pool.
Practical notes for a stay at Leisure Isle Lodge
The Knysna lagoon is an estuary, and its character changes with the tide and the season. High water on a still summer morning is the picture on the website; low water on a grey July afternoon is mud, birds and a long walk. Both are worth seeing, but only one of them is swimming.
Knysna is busiest from mid-December to mid-January, over Easter, and during the winter oyster festival, when the whole town fills. March, April, October and November give the best value, and southern right whales are off this coast from roughly June to November.
Before you book Leisure Isle Lodge
Choose the aspect deliberately: lagoon-facing and garden-facing are two different stays at two different prices. Confirm whether breakfast is included, whether dinner at the restaurant needs to be reserved in advance, and what the current cancellation window is at checkout. Ask about the spa when you book rather than on arrival, and check the lodge’s policy on children if that applies. More options across the province are in our Western Cape accommodation guide.
Current rates and availability
We do not publish rates for Leisure Isle Lodge, 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.