Great Fish River

The Great Fish River (called great to distinguish it from the Namibian Fish River) (Afrikaans: Groot-Visrivier)[1] is a river running 644 kilometres (400 mi) through the South African province of the Eastern Cape. The coastal area between Port Elizabeth and the Fish River mouth is known as the Sunshine Coast. The Great Fish River was originally named Rio do Infante, after João Infante, the captain of one of the caravels of Bartolomeu Dias. Infante visited the river in the late 1480s.[2]

The name Great Fish is also a misnomer, since it is a translation of the Dutch Groot Visch Rivier, which was the name of a tributary in the vicinity of Cradock, which at its confluence with the Little Fish (Klein Visch Rivier) forms what is properly called the (Eastern Cape) Fish River.

The Great Fish River originates east of Graaff-Reinet and runs through Cradock. Further south the Tarka River joins its left bank. Thence it makes a zig-zag turn to Cookhouse, from where it meanders down the escarpment east of Grahamstown before its final near-straight run to its estuary 8 km northeast of Seafield, into the Indian Ocean.[3]

The river is generally permanent, having water all year round, although its headwaters rise in an arid region, and the natural flow can be sluggish in the dry season beyond the ebb and flow of the tidal reaches; now, water from the Orange River system can be used to keep up its flow in dry periods. The river is tidal for roughly 20 km.

Its main tributaries are the Groot Brak River, the Tarka River and the Kap River on the left side, and the Little Fish River (Afrikaans: Klein-Visrivier) on the right side. The Great Fish River is part of the Fish to Tsitsikama Water Management Area.[4]