Climbing Table Mountain
Cape Town's Table Mountain, the famous flat-topped range, has unique vegetation and stunning views across the peninsula to the Atlantic Ocean. You can either walk up or take the dizzying Aerial Cableway (www.tablemountain.net).

Exploring the Winelands
South Africa has 13 major wine-producing regions (www.winelands.co.za), with signposted wine routes. Wine estates offer tastings in the vineyards or in old Cape-Dutch whitewashed mansions, many of which have excellent restaurants.

Driving along Route 62
This scenic drive (www.route62.co.za) takes you through the Breede Valley area, and the charming little towns of Tulbagh, Worcester, Wellington and Ceres, which all have fine old buildings, interesting small museums, beautiful scenery, vineyards and fruit orchards.

Whale-watching
Migrating whales make their way along the South African coast in the winter months, from June. The best place to watch them is Hermanus, which hosts a Whale Festival (www.whalefestival.co.za) annually during the last week of September.

Scuba diving in KwaZulu-Natal
The KwaZulu-Natal coast offers superb conditions for underwater exploration. Sodwana Bay near Durban is a popular base for reef dives among turtles and tropical fish, while Aliwal Shoal and Protea Banks, further south, are superb for sharks and wrecks.

Surfing
You can take to the waves at Jeffrey's Bay (J-Bay) near Port Elizabeth, which is home to Supertubes - considered by some surfers as the world's best right hand point break (www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za).

Bungee jumping
The Bloukrans Bridge bungee jump (www.faceadrenalin.com) on the Garden Route, Western Cape, is strictly for adrenaline junkies - at 216m (709ft) above the Bloukrans River, it's one of the world's highest, more than twice the height of the jump over the Zambezi near Victoria Falls.

Golf
Golfers can play a round at any of hundreds of courses across South Africa. Many are in scenic locations and several have been designed by one of the greatest golfers of all time, South African Gary Player.

Hiking
South Africa's beautiful wilderness regions are excellent for hikers. Highlights include the Drakensberg's (www.drakensberg.kzn.org.za) many mountain trails, with refreshing mountain streams, ancient yellow-wood trees and Bushmen cave art and the Otter Trail, a multi-day coastal hike through Tsitsikamma National Park (www.sanparks.org).

Shark-diving
Several cage-diving operations in Gansbaai and Mosselbaai, Western Cape, offer shark enthusiasts close-up encounters with great whites. Near Gansbaai, Dyer Island, with its penguins, seals and large game fish, is the sharks' natural hunting ground.

Township tours
City visitors can join a guided tour of the townships (the areas where blacks were forcibly relocated during apartheid) to experience their vibrancy and sense of community. Tours run from most major cities; Soweto in Johannesburg and Cape Town's Cape Flats are most popular.

Beaches
South Africa's world-renowned beaches include popular Plettenberg Bay; Durban's attractive city beach, the Golden Mile; the family beaches at the South Coast resorts of Amanzimtoti, Scottsburgh, Port Shepstone and Margate; and Cape Town's impossibly trendy Camps Bay.

See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.