Port St. John’s Local Municipality is located in the OR Tambo District of the Eastern Cape Province. The municipality is largely rural/traditional in character and the main economic activity is subsistence farming. Situated at the mouth of the Mzimvubu River on the Wild Coast, a coastline of about 270 km long.

Port St Johns offers an authentic piece of Africa at the mouth of the Umzimvubu River, surrounded by subtropical rain-forests. Port St. Johns is a popular holiday destination due to the areas natural beauty and also excellent fishing spots at the river including surf fishing available.

Port St. Johns has three beaches. The Second Beach, 5 kilometers east of the village centre, is the prettiest, surrounded by evergreen rain-forest and wild banana trees.

Port St. Johns is known as the centre of tourism on the Wild Coast. It is famous for deep sea fishing and shore angling. Near to the town are three beaches. The Wild Coast is a malaria free zone.

From Mthatha in the West and Flagstaff in the North the R61 road connects to Port St. Johns. A smaller road leads the last 5 km into town. Port St. Johns has an airstrip on top of Mount Thesiger.

There are 1 053 types of plants and 164 plant families found around Port St Johns. This unique vegetation harbours rare bird species, providing evidence of the rich biodiversity in Port St Johns. The Pondoland Park is a National park and forested area 500 km² in size, including the Umzimvubu river mouth and stretching north along the coast up to the provincial border with KwaZulu-Natal.

Tours targeting world famous “sardine run” are popular as well.

Activities at Port St Johns include surfing, boat-based dolphin and whale watching, horse-riding and quad biking.

Silaka

The beautiful coastal reserve of Silaka lies in a forested valley close to Port St Johns, the jewel of the Wild Coast.

Silaka Nature Reserve covers a total of 400ha, featuring grassland and magnificent indigenous coastal forests along a dramatic piece of coastline.

The primary focus of Silaka Nature Reserve is to conserve the biodiversity of a near pristine example of the Eastern Cape Forest. Bird watchers will enjoy sightings of the Knysna Turaco, Cinnamon Dove, Half-Collared Kingfisher and Grey Cuckooshrike, while water enthusiasts will enjoy exploring the area’s marine life in the tidal rock pools and estuaries.

Key Statistics 2011