Beaches - Bonanza of Beauty and Bliss
$7.78 | £14.36 | €11.48 | | Time: 2:58 |  |
Overview...Finale
Crossing the Thukela River we encounter the vast, wild beaches of Zululand...starting with the shores of the Amatikulu Nature Reserve. The first resort is some 40km away at Mtunzini, where tranquil dune forests fringe sun-drenched golden sands. Yet another paradise for fishermen, the Mtunzini beaches are also open to 4x4 adventurers...with the appropriate permission. The nearby Umlalazi Nature Reserve offers a thousand hectares of coastal forest around a lagoon and fine examples of mangrove swamp.
zoom St Lucia Photo: Uthungulu District Municipality |
Fifty or so kilometres further, the 'Tuzi-Gazi Coast' at Richards Bay is an arena for watersports enthusiasts of all persuasions. The Tuzi-Gazi Waterfront itself attracts many jet-skiers and sailboaters (and anglers, naturally!), while shark-netted, lifeguarded beaches at Newark and Alkantstrand offer safe fun for the whole family. The latter also boasts a dolphin-viewing platform for added delight.
Five Mile Beach is the departure point for 4x4 exploration of the 60 pristine and uninhabited kilometres of shoreline north to the Cape St Lucia lighthouse. As its name suggests, this landmark signals our approach to an unsurpassed ecological treasure and World Heritage Site - the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park. Stretching 150-plus kilometres north to our border with Mozambique, this is Nature Untamed - few roads and no shark nets. The meeting of sea and sand is breathtakingly beautiful and myriad further pleasures lie offshore. Game-fishing excursions are a guaranteed highlight, and the international scuba-diving community regularly descends on Sodwana Bay to reap the rewards of its world-famous coral reefs.
From the village of St Lucia to the northernmost wilderness of
Kosi Bay - via tourist facilities at
Charters
Creek,
Fanie's Island, False Bay Park, Cape Vidal and
Maputaland
Marine Reserve - our Greater St Lucia Wetland Park offers
the rare opportunity to experience 'life at the seaside'
much as
the ancient ancestors enjoyed it. And speaking of rare and
ancient,
one of the most poignant sagas in 'the greater scheme of
things' is
played out among these sands - the precarious survival of
giant
leatherback turtles. The crowning glory of
some 200
million years of
evolution, these 900kg females emerge from the sea at the
height of
every summer to lay their eggs at the base of frontal
dunes...very
often with sympathetic human 'midwives' in close
attendance. The
mothers return seawards, leaving the hatchlings to appear
simultaneously some 60 days later...easy pickings for
winged
predators as they crawl en masse to the surf...where
more danger lies in wait. Not surprisingly, the
turtles'
survival rate is less than one in five hundred! The
dedicated
conservation strategies of KZN Wildlife ensure that these -
and all
other - precious and important inhabitants of our glorious
coast are afforded the protection necessary for their
secure future.
This, in turn, guarantees delight for present and coming
generations
of human visitors to our spectacular seashore. Add
to this the
friendliness and generous hospitality of your Zulu Kingdom
hosts, and
our 'Welcome to the Beach' promises a world of experiences
way beyond
mere ice creams and sand castles...And don't forget sunrise
over the
vast Indian Ocean horizon - awesome!
Beach Database
zoom Kosi Bay Photo: Uthungulu District Municipality |
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