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camelweed Says: Sodwana is the ideal diving location, with 3 reefs (2, 5, and 7 mile), Just 5 minutes from the sodwana lodge hotel you are at the beach. From here you will be taken care of, no matter if you have your own gear or need to hire equipment. Lots of marine life from the small to...
Bushman23 Says: We went snorkelling one afternnon on half-mile reef, using one of the companies set up on the beach. The variety of tropical sea-life is incredible (we saw loads of fish, sea turtles, a stingray, and a Whale Shark), and the water is quite warm, and generally pretty clear....
MikeAtSea Says: During the summer months leather back and loggerhead turtles come to the beach to lay their eggs. A nature conservation guide takes one on a walk around that can take several hours. I came to witness a turtle laying eggs a process that took almost three hours before she...
MikeAtSea Says: Sodwana Bay boasts kilometres of unspoiled beaches – if you head out a few kilometres you may find that you are the only person around. Keep in mind that this may change in December and January when South Africans come to Sodwana Bay in their thousands. Also beach driving...
MikeAtSea Says: The wetlands region of St. Lucia and the adjacent lakes north make out the World Heritage Site in this part of the world. Lake Sibaya is a lovely lake home to many crocodiles and hippos as well as several hundred species of birds. Several view sites along the lake allow you...
MikeAtSea Says: Bikini Reef is a stunning little reef which runs parallel to 2 Mile. It is mainly flat with some caves and little valleys. Manta Rays often visit here, and on my dive I was accompanied by a Manta Ray for over an hour. Many reef fish hide in the cracks of the reef and due to...
MikeAtSea Says: This deep dive offers a complete different world. When we descended to Uniform it was like arriving on a different planet. The reef is almost entirely covered with Plate Corals and is home to many fish and exceptional large crayfish.
MikeAtSea Says: The reef is about 1.7 km long and up to 900 m wide. It is one of the most popular reefs to dive at, since it is only a few minutes away from the launch area. Many different corals, reef and mid-water fish can be found here, with eels and other creatures hiding in the many...
MikeAtSea Says: The reef has the most diverse coral community at Sodwana, hence it is a dive area reserved for advanced divers who have good buoyancy control. Extensive beds of staghorn, mushroom and plate corals ensure a fascinating community of reef inhabitants can be found here.
MikeAtSea Says: The drop-offs and mushroom shaped pinnacles, characteristic of this wonderful reef with its great diversity of marine life make it quiet popular among divers. Turtles and rays are often seen and shoals of brightly coloured goldies and other reef fish visit the coral often.
Helpfulness
The main highway in KwaZulu Natal is the N2 – coming from Durban drive as far as Hluhluwe – the turn off to Sodwana Bay is signposted. Coming from Johannesburg one would join the N2 (North - South) again the turn off to Sodwana Bay is signposted.
Written Aug 6, 2005
Bushman23 Says: Anywhere on the beaches at Sodwana, be aware of drivers using off-road vehicles... some have to use the beach in order to unload their boats into the water, which is fair enough, but others simply use the sand as an off-road adventure, tearing along at ridiculous speeds. We...
MikeAtSea Says: I have had it twice and it is not fun...! If you are traveling in this region take precautions towards Malaria. If you do not take medication in prevention and you have the following symptoms after your return go straight to your doctor and tell him you were in a Malaria...
Helpfulness
The main beach at Sodwana is very nice, a big, sweeping expanse of sand starting at the river mouth, and running around the coast to the North. But even in winter (at the weekend, in particular) it's pretty crowded, as most of the scuba diving companies run their business from this point.
Unique Suggestions: Go during the week, and not in peak season!
Fun Alternatives: Or head South. Instead of settling on the main beach, go around the point, down towards the lighthouse. The beach here goes on forever, and is much quieter than the main beach - although there are no lifeguards here, so swimmin gwould be at your own risk.
Written Feb 12, 2009
Secluded Beach and shell collecting
Bushman23 Says: If you're in Sodwana for peace and quiet, and a little relaxation, the main beach maybe isn't so great. Head down south a wee bit, bout 5 - 10 minutes walk, around the 'point', you'll find an amazing stretch of deserted beach...take a walk along this beach and you'll come to...
Incredible Quad Biking adventure
Bushman23 Says: Just outside of Sodwana ther are a couple of places that offer quad biking trips, from 1 - 3 hours long. We took the 3 hour option, and had the most amazing trip through the fields, plantations and forests, almost entirely on dirt track and paths, to lake Sibaya (South...
Bushman23 Says: After our day of snorkelling, we took a lovely stroll on the beach at sunset, and sat for about an hour watching the sea... during this time we saw at least 5 whales passing by, and it really is the most amazing site, to see such a large animal looking so graceful....
MikeAtSea Says: The enclosed map shows most of the dive sites along the coast of Maputaland as well as some of the attractions surrounding the region.
MikeAtSea Says: Diving is one of the reasons why one would come to Sodwana Bay. The best operator which I have experienced in Sodwana is Reefteach who run a small operation with very personalized and professional touch. Megan one of the Dive Masters is a walking library in terms of Fish ID...
Favorite thing: On the drive from Durban to Sodwana Bay, there are various areas of farmland and one of the crops grown are pineapples.
I don't know why, but I never knew want pineapple plants looked like. Now I know.
Written Oct 30, 2003
Divers Paradise of South Africa
Sodwana Bay is undoubtedly the diver’s paradise in South Africa. Boasting the most southern coral reef in the world many reefs can be found off the coast. Because of its warm waters brought down from...
We weren't even supposed to go to Sodwana on our holiday. We had arranged a house on the beach just north of the border, in Mozambique, and were so excited! 2 days before we left on our trip, the...
Our third stop in South Africa was Sodwana Bay, in KwaZulu-Natal province. Sodwana Bay is on the east coast of SA, north of Durban, not far from St. Lucia. There's not a whole lot there except sand,...
Sodwana Bay is 400km north of Durban and is a must for any scuba divers. I was only there for 4 nights and I wish I could have stayed for longer. I took a transfer by car from Durban which took...
I went to Sodwana to scuba dive, and stayed at Mseni lodge. Tho it has a private beach, the dive area is probly a 20 minute walk or so, and so I drove over to the launch site every day (a few minutes...
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