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Rocktail Bay Lodge is situated in the northern reaches of the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park in an area of northern KwaZulu-Natal that is locally known as Maputaland. Here, between Kosi Bay and Sodwana Bay lies an area that is wild, without any development and Rocktail Bay lies in the centre.
This whole region has been declared a World Heritage Site and with nearly 40km of unspoilt pristine coastline, it is the ideal spot for diving and snorkelling amongst some of Africa’s finest and least explored coral reefs, which have only recently become accessible to divers. |
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Situated offshore from Rocktail Bay is the Maputaland Marine Reserve, which offers additional sanctuary for wildlife, engendering extraordinary diving and snorkelling with exciting encounters with huge shoals of fish, dolphins and whales.
The lodge is situated metres inland from the warm Indian Ocean and some of the most incredible beaches in all of South Africa. At Wilderness Safaris, we pride ourselves in hosting our guests in some of the most remote and pristine locations on Earth.
Rocktail Bay Lodge is one of these locations, since around the lodge there are some 30km of undisturbed Indian Ocean coastline, which is rich in marine life. Outside Magazine in the USA voted Rocktail Bay's beach as one of the best in the world! |
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Here the waves meet endless and diverse beaches where it is possible to walk for hours without meeting another soul or seeing a building. Even the Lodge is tucked away just inland amongst the trees and out of sight.
There are no power lines or telephones lines here. This solitude is a rare feature found in few places on our planet, and the value of this experience is what we offer at Rocktail Bay Lodge. |
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The lodge is built away from the coastal breeze, just inland from the beach and within the forest canopy of vegetated dunes that occur along Maputaland's coastline. Rocktail Bay itself was named after a trawler that sank off the Bay many years ago.
Accommodation is in 11 "tree-house" chalets. Each room has its own balcony, an en-suite bathroom with flush loos and hot and cold running water and an additional outdoor shower in the forest. The main area of the lodge has an inviting lounge, pub and pool. Wholesome home-cooked meals are enjoyed either in the main dining room, at the poolside or outdoors under a huge Natal mahogany tree.
Rocktail Bay Lodge is not a conventional deluxe "Bali"-style hotel on the beach with telephones and TVs; rather it is a comfortable lodge that is ideal for people who want to truly relax and unwind on one of the best coastlines anywhere in the world.
At Manzengwenya, 11km south of the camp, we have our own fully accredited dive-centre with a diving operation that is unrivalled anywhere in South Africa.
We offer boating excursions out to sea around low tide to enjoy scuba and snorkelling on the pristine coral reefs offshore.
(Please take special note that dive certification and pre-booking is compulsory for scuba activities.) |
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The reefs here are very special and have hardly ever been dived, in fact, we are continually finding new reefs! Snorkellers often dive with dolphins, whale sharks and even whales!
One of the highlights in our summer months is diving with pregnant ragged-tooth sharks when they migrate up north to our area and rest in the caves in our reefs. |
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Other lodge activities include fly-fishing, snorkelling, swimming, horse riding and drives to Black Rock, the nearby hippo pools and to the surrounding community in open 4x4 Land Rovers. Birding in the forest turns up many of the KwaZulu-Natal birding specials and one can spend time at our bird hide in the forest and enjoy great birding - especially in our winter months when birds like Flufftails often come to the water.
During the summer months Rocktail Bay Lodge is integrally involved in the ongoing loggerhead and leatherback turtle research that has been going on since the 1960s. Guests are able to accompany the resident turtle expert on research drives at low tide at night helping to monitor the turtles' nesting numbers and their behaviour.
This is not "Big Game" country, although we do have our own "Big Five": Leatherback Turtle, Loggerhead Turtle, Palmnut Vulture, Buitons Skink and Zululand Cycad. Two interesting antelope occur - Common Reedbuck in marshes and grasslands and Red Duiker in forest patches - and Hippo are found in freshwater lakes. Whales and Dolphins are seen offshore.
Birding is good and a number of rare coastal species occur - Green Twinspot, Green Coucal, Grey Waxbill, Purple-crested and Livingstone's Louries, Natal Robin, Buff-spotted Flufftail, Starred Robin, Woodward's Batis, and jewel-like Emerald Cuckoo in forests, and Pink-throated Longclaw and Rufous-bellied Heron in marshy areas.
Reservations and Enquiries |
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MAPUTALAND
Maputaland in the northern-most region of KwaZulu-Natal is a vast remote and magical place of shimmering lakes, forests, bush and pristine beaches. It is the tribal land for the Tembe people
Maputaland is home to several unique game and nature reserves.
The Sodwana Bay Coastal Reserve provides an ocean wonderland for scuba divers and snorkellers to explore the undersea forests of coral reefs brilliantly coloured and densely populated with tropical fish. The magnificent Lake Sibayi provides another water-based natural wonderland on the far north. In the far north of Maputaland the unspoilt natural area of the Kosi Bay Nature Reserve combines a marine sanctuary with a wildlife reserve for those who delight in exploring a range of environments. From the Kosi Bay Marine Reserve in the north, marine sanctuaries extend southwards to include the Maputaland Marine
Sanctuary, the Sodwana Bay National Park, and the St Lucia Marine Reserve down to Cape Vidal.
The Greater St Lucia Wetland Park is a wilderness reserve comprising Lake St Lucia and its estuary, a number of islands, a surround of wildlife reserve and a portion of the Marine Reserve along the coast.
The park has a complex eco-system with outstanding landscapes. The five inter-linked ecosystems in the park are: a marine system characterised by the warm Indian Ocean, containing the southernmost coral reefs in Africa, as well as sub-marine canyons and long sandy beaches; a coastal dune system consisting of high linear dunes and sub-tropical forests, grassy plains and wetlands; lake systems including two estuary-linked lakes of St Lucia and Kosi, plus the four large freshwater lakes of Sibaya, Ngobezeleni, Bhangazi north and Bhangazi south; the Mkhuze and Umfolozi swamps, with swamp forests and extensive reeds and papyrus marshes; an inland system which includes ancient shoreline terraces and dry savannah woodlands.
The coast of this area provides a special experience during November when the sea turtles come to the beaches to lay their eggs. Whales can also be seen off the coast from June to September as they slowly make their way southwards.
A range of accommodation types is also on offer, from luxury hotels to simple bed and breakfast venues, from tents to self-catering chalets, caravan parks, rustic bush camps and the extravagant Rocktail Bay which offers every comfort and indulgence.
By contrast the Tembe Elephant Reserve on the border with Mozambique, provides those interested in drier pursuits with close encounters with some of Africa’s largest mammals including herds of elephants. Game drives and guided walks offer the tourist the possibility of eye to eye photographs of these enormous creatures. The Ndumo Reserve, also on the Mozambique border, provides another opportunity for exploration and discovery in one of Africa’s wild places and is home to over 400 bird species.
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