Cape Vidal Beach, South Africa

Cape Vidal Beach, South Africa 

Cape Vidal lies within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage Site about 30 km north of the town of St Lucia. It is a three-hour drive from Durban.

Cape Vidal offers the best of two worlds – it is situated on the exquisite Zululand coast with all its amazingly rich marine life, and it provides direct access to the Eastern Shores Nature Reserve with its populations of elephant, rhino, buffalo, crocodile, hippo and reedbuck to name but a few.

The beach and off-shore areas at Cape Vidal fall within the St Lucia Marine Reserve which is visited seasonally by humpback whales during their migrations, as well as loggerhead and leatherback sea-turtles that come to the beaches north of Cape Vidal from November to February to nest. Other marine “big game” includes the huge whale shark, marlin, sailfish and dolphin.

Cape Vidal lies on the edge of the St Lucia Marine Reserve which extends from 1 km south of Cape Vidal to the Mozambique border, and three nautical miles out to sea. Six loop roads off the main St Lucia to Cape Vidal road provide excellent game viewing and bird watching.

Cape Vidal is the site of the wreck of the wooden barque “Dorothea” which struck the reef during a storm in 1898. Artefacts from the wreck may be seen in the bay at various times, and these include a massive piece of chain that lies on the reef, and a steel mast tube lying against the inner, shallow part of the reef. The sheltered bay is a designated launch site for ski-boats, and offers good rock and surf angling. Salt water fly-fishing is a popular pastime.

Epic South Africa Culture & Adventure Route © Monika Newbound