This is a list of estuaries in South Africa. The list is in order from East (border with Mozambique) to the West (border with Namibia).
The South African coastline stretches for some 3000 km from Kosi Bay near the Mozambique border in the east to the Gariep (Orange) River at the Namibian border in the west. Some 300 river outlets intersect this coastline and these range from small water bodies that are only occasionally connected to the ocean, to large, permanently open systems, and coastal lakes connected to the sea via a narrow channel (Heydorn, 1991). Being places where rivers meet the sea, estuaries are one of the most important features of the South African coastline; they are tranquil areas of high productivity and play a vital role in the life cycles of many plants and animals. Apart from their ecological importance, estuaries are also popular sites for human activity and development. Recreational uses of estuaries include bait collection, bird watching, boating, fishing and swimming. Because of their great aesthetic value, areas around estuaries are often favoured for housing and tourist developments.
||The Gourits estuary (34ð 21' S; 22ð 33âÂÂE) drains into the Indian Ocean, and lies southwest of the coastal town of Mossel Bay in the Western Cape. The river is approximately 416 km long with a catchment area of 45 715 km<sup>2</sup>. |- | Goukou Estuary (kafferkuils)||1550||Western Cape, west of Mossel Bay||Goukou River||||The Goukou system (34ð 23' S; 21ð 25âÂÂE) drains into the Indian Ocean, and lies west of the coastal town of Mossel Bay in the Western Cape. The river is approximately 67 km long with a catchment area of 1 550 km<sup>2</sup>. |- | Duiwenhoks Estuary||1340||Western Cape, west of Mossel Bay||Duiwenhoks River||||The Duiwenhoks estuary (34ð 22' S; 21ð 00âÂÂE) drains into the Indian Ocean, and is situated west of the coastal town of Mossel Bay in the Western Cape. The river is approximately 83 km long with a catchment area of 1 340 km<sup>2</sup>. |- | Breë Estuary||12384||Western Cape, west of Mossel Bay||Bree River||||The Breë estuary (34ð 24' S; 20ð 51âÂÂE) drains into the Indian Ocean, and lies west of the coastal town of Mossel Bay in the Western Cape, near Cape Infanta. The river is approximately 337 km long with a catchment area of 12 384 km<sup>2</sup>. |- | Heuningnes Estuary||1400||Western Cape, Cape Agulhas||Heuningnes River||||The Heuningnes system (34ð 43' S; 20ð 07âÂÂE) drains into the Indian Ocean, and is the southernmost estuary in South Africa, situated near Cape Agulhas. The catchment area that feeds this system is approximately 1 400 km<sup>2</sup>. |- | Klein Estuary||906||Western Cape, near Hermanus||Klein River||||The Klein estuary (34ð 25' S; 19ð 18âÂÂE) drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and is located near the coastal town of Hermanus in the Western Cape. The river is approximately 66 km long with a catchment area of 906 km<sup>2</sup>. |- | Bot Estuary||920||Western Cape, northwest of Hermanus||Bot River||||The Bot system (34ð 21' S; 19ð 05âÂÂE) drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and is situated just northwest of the coastal town of Hermanus in the Western Cape. The river is approximately 54 km long with a catchment area of 920 km<sup>2</sup>. |- | Palmiet Estuary||535||Western Cape, west of Hermanus||Palmiet River|||The Palmiet estuary (34ð 21' S; 19ð 00âÂÂE) drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and is located west of the coastal town of Hermanus in the Western Cape. The river is approximately 73 km long with a catchment area of 535 km<sup>2</sup>. |- | Diep Estuary||1495||Western Cape, near Cape Town||Diep River||||The Diep estuary (33ð 53' S; 18ð 28âÂÂE) drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and is situated near the coastal city of Cape Town in the Western Cape. The river is approximately 87 km long with a catchment area of 1 495 km<sup>2</sup>. |- | Berg Estuary||7715||Western Cape, north of Cape Town||Berg River||||The Berg estuary (32ð 46' S; 18ð 09âÂÂE) drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and is located in the Western Cape and is found on the west coast, north of the coastal city of Cape Town, in fact north of Saldanha Bay. The river is approximately 294 km long with a catchment area of 7 715 km<sup>2</sup>. |- | Verloren Estuary||1895||Western Cape, north of Cape Town||Verlorenvlei River||||The Verlore system (32ð 19' S; 18ð 20âÂÂE) is located in the Western Cape and is found on the west coast, north of the coastal city of Cape Town, south of Lamberts Bay. The river is approximately 101 km long with a catchment area of 1 895 km<sup>2</sup>. |- | Olifants Estuary||46220||Western Cape, north of Cape Town||Olifants River||||The Olifants estuary (31ð 42' S; 18ð 11âÂÂE) is located in the Western Cape and is found on the west coast, north of the coastal city of Cape Town, north of Lamberts Bay. The river is approximately 285 km long with a catchment area of 46 220 km<sup>2</sup>. |- | Orange Estuary (Gariep)||549,700||Northern Cape border Namibia north of Port Nolloth||Orange River||||The Gariep (Orange) system (28ð 38' S; 16ð 27âÂÂE) is situated just north of the coastal town of Port Nolloth in the Northern Cape and forms the border between South Africa and Namibia. The Gariep (Orange) River is the largest in southern Africa and drains most of the western part of southern Africa including parts of Namibia and Lesotho. The river is approximately 2 173 km with a catchment area of about 549,700 km<sup>2</sup>.