The stretch of KwaZulu-Natal coastline between Umdloti and Zinkwazi gets called the Dolphin Coast, and if you've only ever driven through it on the way somewhere else, you've missed the point of it. This is not a place that performs for you. It's warm water, thick coastal bush, a handful of small beaches and a slower gear.
My parents' apartment is at Thompson's Bay, just up from Ballito in Salt Rock, and I've spent enough holidays there to have opinions. Here's what I'd tell a friend planning a week.
Thompson's Bay
The beach itself is small, sheltered and much gentler than the open stretches further north. There's a natural tidal pool that fills at high tide, which is the whole reason it works so well with small children — you can sit on the rocks with your feet in the water while they splash in something that isn't going to knock them over.
Lifeguards are on duty in season. The points pick up decent surf, and people fish off the rock cliffs on either side. Walk south along the sand at low tide and you can carry on for a long way before anything stops you.
Ballito, five minutes down the road
Ballito is where you go for everything practical: the Lifestyle Centre and Ballito Junction for shops and a cinema, a Woolworths run, restaurants along the beachfront. The promenade walk from Willard Beach is an easy morning out, and there are enough coffee shops that you'll find your one by day three.
It has grown a lot in the last decade. Some people mourn that; I think it means you can have the quiet beach and still get a decent flat white and a pharmacy at 7pm.
Salt Rock and Sheffield
Salt Rock has its own tidal pool and a much older, quieter feel. Sheffield Beach is a few minutes north and worth the drive for a long walk. Umhlali is inland and pretty, Zimbali is behind its own gates if you want golf, and Umdloti south of Ballito has the best snorkelling at the right tide.
Getting there
King Shaka International Airport is about forty minutes away, which makes this one of the easiest coastal holidays in the country to reach from Johannesburg. Durban is roughly fifty minutes south. If you're driving up from Durban, the M4 coastal road is slower and far nicer than the N2.
When to come
December and January are hot, busy and full of families, and the sea is at its warmest. April and May are my favourite — still swimmable, still sunny, and you get the beach mostly to yourself. Winter here is mild enough that you'll be in a jersey at night and a costume by eleven in the morning. July brings the sardine run further south and whale sightings off the point.
Our beachfront apartment at Thompson's Bay
Four bedrooms, three with sea views, a raised balcony built for afternoon braais, and a private gate onto the beach. Sleeps eight. We take bookings directly, so there are no platform fees.
See the apartment →If you're deciding between the North Coast and somewhere further afield, the honest case for this one is that nothing about it is hard. Short flight, short drive, warm water, and a beach you can walk to barefoot. That's most of what a holiday needs to be.