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Before we'd even reached our room at Thonga Beach Lodge, the ocean drew us in. A four-hour drive from the port city of Durban, then an hour's jeep transfer along a sandy track and through dense coastal forest, we arrived at Mabibi Beach, part of iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Check-in could wait; we headed straight for the wooden deck that looked out over the beach and the glistening ocean beyond.
A flash of movement on the horizon caught my attention. A whale breached, rising out of the water, before crashing back down with a thunderous spray. Another whale appeared, and soon we were watching the pair of humpbacks, twisting and tail-slapping, far beyond the reef. They finished their display and sank beneath the waves. I lowered my binoculars, just in time to see a pod of bottlenose dolphins, skimming and surfing in the waves, just a few yards from the beach.
iSimangaliso Wetland Park, on the far north-eastern coast of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal, is an extraordinary coastal wilderness, and a place where land, sea, and community converge. Marine migrations, nesting turtles, forest ecosystems, endangered species and local people all play a part in the story of this World Heritage Site. The park protects such iconic African species as rhinos, lions, elephants, and leopards, as well as wonderful marine life that includes whales, dolphins, rays, sharks, and sea turtles. It was this marine world we'd come to see.
Formerly known as the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, iSimangaliso was declared South Africa's first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. iSimangaliso means "miracle" or "wonder" in Zulu, a nod to the park's extraordinary mix of ecosystems: coral reefs, dune forests, estuaries, wetlands, and savannah, all found here in one protected area.
The Tsonga (or Thonga) people have lived along this coast for generations, relying on fishing, gathering and traditional practices linked to both land and sea. For decades though, these wetlands had been drained, with plantations of exotic crops threatening natural ecosystems, and wildlife populations declining.
Now that's all changed. With serious and coordinated restoration efforts, alien plants were removed, turtle nesting sites secured, and animal reintroductions brought new life to the park. Today, iSimangaliso covers 820,000 acres and is globally recognized as a success story in balancing both biodiversity and community needs.
The eastern edge of iSimangaliso stretches along the Indian Ocean, from Kosi Bay, near the Mozambique border, to Mapelane in the south. Several species make this stretch of coast significant for conservation.
Between November and March, loggerhead and leatherback turtles come ashore here at night to lay eggs, in a ritual unchanged for millions of years. According to the Ezemvelo Turtle Monitoring Programme, about 935 loggerhead turtles and 80 leatherback turtles nest annually in iSimangaliso. Though their numbers remain vulnerable, a long-running monitoring and tagging program (dating back to the 1960s) is among the most comprehensive in the world.
Humpback whales (and smaller populations of southern right whales) migrate along this coast from June to December. Drawn to the warm, shallow waters, the whales come to breed and give birth. The sub-tropical waters here offer protection from predators like killer whales and great white sharks. This is also the ideal environment for nursing, and ensuring their young calves grow strong enough to make the long migration to the cold Antarctic feeding grounds.
Along with the annual appearances of turtles and whales, dolphins (bottlenose, spinner and humpback) and rays are found here, year-round, and frequently close in to shore.
iSimangaliso Wetland Park is also home to the most accessible population of West Indian Ocean coelacanths on the planet. Known as "living fossils" or "dinosaur fish", these elusive, deep-sea fish, each recognized by its individual spot pattern, are protected within the park's marine area. The park's marine protected areas were expanded in 2019 to include a unique deep-water environment of sponge gardens and rocky cliffs, along with their coelacanth inhabitants.
Along Mabibi Beach the sand stretches empty, as far as the eye can see. Thonga Beach Lodge, tucked into the beautiful coastal dune forest, has a front-row view of iSimangaliso's incredible coastal ecosystem.
Activities here are designed to make the most of the setting. Turtle tracking walks (during nesting season) let visitors observe leatherback and loggerhead turtles under careful supervision. Boat excursions search for humpback whales, in season, and resident pods of dolphins year-round. Snorkeling and diving on the nearby reefs, Africa's most southern coral reefs, reveals shoals of fish and wonderful corals, just a short boat ride from the beach. Exploring the tidal rock-pools highlights some of the smaller creatures that inhabit the zone between the beach and the surf. Forest walks and birding trips offer encounters with samango and vervet monkeys, along with bird species that are unique to the coastal forest.
Staying at Thonga Beach Lodge not only gives direct access to the reefs, beaches and forest, it also channels tourism revenue directly into conservation and community engagement.
The Isibindi Collection, which owns Thonga Beach Lodge, is involved in a range of conservation and community initiatives. Through their Isibindi Foundation, they support the local school with infrastructure and equipment, train and employ local residents at the lodge, work with marine scientists and the iSimangaliso Authority to monitor and protect turtle populations, and fund beach clean-ups and educational workshops. Guests can experience all the wonders of this place while directly supporting conservation and community projects.
iSimangaliso Wetland Park is more than a protected area; it's a living intersection of marine and terrestrial life. It reminds us how oceans connect to land, how turtles depend on undisturbed sand, how dolphins and whales pass just beyond reefs, and how forests are home to creatures many of us seldom see.
For travelers, iSimangaliso Wetland Park is an opportunity to see Africa differently. This isn't a traditional safari, but instead a coastal wilderness where the emphasis shifts between land and sea. Watching a whale breach, tracking turtle hatchlings scrambling to the ocean, or hearing monkeys call from the forest canopy, all within a single stay, underscores this park's unique diversity.