the hibiscus coast

Living up to its name, Kwazulu Natal’s Southernmost Hibiscus Coast dazzles with iridescent blooms against a lush green backdrop, meeting a perennially-warm saltwater playground along 70 kilometres of picture perfect hideaway coves and seemingly endless golden sands. It’s readily noticeable that several Hibiscus Coast resorts and hamlets were founded during our Colonial era and named after famous holiday destinations in the ‘Olde Country’.

While the inviting stretch of Indian Ocean presents the year-round delights of frolicking dolphins and majestic, cruising whales, this enchantment peaks each June or July with ‘The Greatest Shoal on Earth’ – when we offer the best possible ‘ringside’ seats for one of nature’s truly grand spectaculars. Visitors can marvel at 20-thousand dolphins plus thousands of sharks, hundreds of seals, uncountable game fish and the occasional whale – all herding and feeding from millions-strong sardine shoal, while massed squadrons of sea-birds rain down from above. The Zulu Kingdom’s annual winter Sardine Run is a wonder of the world attracting more attention from around the globe.

Apart from magnificent summers, we have good reason to lick a giant ice cream cone while strolling along a seafront promenade in the middle of winter, eyeing the bronzed sun lovers and graceful, athletic surfers at play. Anglers can stand knee-deep in the shore-break for hours on end, casting lines after some of the most varied and abundant scaled trophies to be hooked anywhere. For scuba divers, a world-class site presents a series of reefs to test the mettle and endurance of even the most experienced underwater fanatic.

Other challenges lie in wait ashore – some with panoramic sea views, others a short distance inland. The latter include white-water rafting, rock-climbing, mountain biking and one of the world’s highest abseil and cable-side locations.

For more information, please visit: http://hibiscuscoast.kzn.org.za