The Great Fish River

The Great Fish River is one of the great rivers of the Eastern Cape. It originates east of the town of Graaff-Reinet and, 644 kilometers later, flows into the Indian Ocean about 30km east of Port Alfred. Even though the river originates in the arid Karoo, it generally runs all year around. It is possible to use water from the Orange River (diverted through the Orange / Fish River Pipeline) to keep up the flow during dry periods. At the river mouth the river is tidal for a distance of approximately 20 km.

The Great Fish River is called “Great” to distinguish it from the Namibian Fish River. The bridge in the first picture is just behind the Karoo town of Middleton where both these pictures were taken. In the first picture the river is quiet and seemingly slow moving, but the second pic was taken barely 100 meters down stream.

This Post Has 5 Comments

  1. Marcelle

    Really amazing, you do get to visit many parts of beautiful South Africa.

  2. Gaelyn

    Looks like a strong flow. I'm sure I crossed this, amongst many others, river.

  3. Marka

    Quite a powerful river.

  4. Janet

    Jeepers! That water is moving! Do they do white water rafting there? I did it in Zimabwe on the Zambezi and somehow think u would enjoy it!

  5. WOW!! You can see from that water that there has been a lot of rain upstream of it.

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