Beaches - Bonanza of Beauty and Bliss

How We Do Love To Be Beside The Seaside

Quick as we are to boast more than a dream-come-true for ocean- revellers and sun-worshippers - two World Heritage Sites amid teeming Bush, soaring Berg, spine-chilling Battlefields and distinctly cosmopolitan Buzz - our Beach remains a decidedly 'hard act to follow'! Six hundred golden, sandy kilometres of warm and inviting Indian Ocean shoreline guarantee the setting to fulfil any flight of fancy...

zoom Sunrise on the Dolphin Coast Photo: Dolphin Coast Publicity Association

Beaches at your doorstep...beaches a four-wheel-drive away. Beaches flanked by time-share resorts...beaches flanked by nature reserves. Beaches fronting hotels and holiday apartments...beaches fronting thatched huts and tent camps. Beaches skirted by promenades...beaches skirted by golf courses. Protected beaches for safe family outings... untamed beaches for devil-may-care surfers. Beaches to get away from society...beaches to meet special new friends. Beaches that transform into disco arenas after dark...beaches that welcome nature's shy, nocturnal creatures. Beaches for gazing serenely at dolphins and whales...beaches for being swept up in sardine-run frenzy. Beaches for the solitary angler to be alone with his thoughts...beaches for tour groups to launch deep-sea expeditions...

Our coastline has for thousands of years fostered 'beach cultures' of one type or another. The ancient San hunter-gatherers wintered here, leaving their mountain fastness in the Drakensberg range to follow game migrations before the onset of snow. Zulu monarchs would regularly head seaward with their entourages to marvel at the splendours of nature on display. The legacy of their delight lives on in havens such as Inyoni - where thousands of sea-birds gather - and Mkomazi...the 'Place of Whales' named by King Shaka.

Diaries of the first shipwrecked European explorers extol the beauty and friendly reception encountered here...these remain true to this very day. Some British adventurers even forsook King and Country in favour of an idyllic existence along our shores...lodging in nearby Zulu villages or building shacks among the dunes. This may now be less easily accomplished, but it's highly likely the thought will occur!

Our inimitable Kingdom of the Zulu may well offer enthralling experiences of Berg, Bush, Battlefields and Buzz...but to return home without being blessed by the sun, sea, sand and manifold delights of our endless Beach...what would the smiling dolphins think?

Overview || KwaZulu-Natal's Blue Flag Beaches || Beach Database

Copyright © Tourism KwaZulu-Natal