Vintage Destination
Rocktail Bay is situated in the northern reaches of South Africa’s Greater St Lucia Wetland Park. The area is wild and without any development. It offers a solitude that is found in few places on our planet.
Rocktail Bay is metres inland from the warm Indian Ocean and some of the most incredible beaches in all of South Africa. In total there is 30 kilometres of undisturbed private Indian Ocean coastline, which is rich in marine life. The waves meet endless and diverse beaches where it is possible to walk for hours without meeting another soul or seeing a building.
Offshore from Rocktail Bay is South Africa’s 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.
Accommodation at Rocktail is in 11 rustic "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.
Delicious wholesome home-cooked meals are enjoyed either in the main dining room, at the poolside or outdoors under a huge Natal mahogany tree.
At Manzengwenya, 11 kilometres south of the camp there is a dive centre with a diving operation that is unrivalled anywhere in South Africa. The reefs here are very special and have hardly ever been dived, in fact new reefs are continually being found! One of the highlights in 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! The snorkelling is fantastic too and snorkellers often dive with dolphins, whale sharks and even whales!
During the summer months Rocktail Bay Lodge is integrally involved in the ongoing loggerhead and leatherback turtle research that has been going on in this area since the 1960’s. 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.
Other lodge activities include fly-fishing, swimming, horse riding and drives to Black Rock, the nearby hippo pools, and to the surrounding community in open four wheel drive Land Rovers. There is also great birding with the forest turning up many of the KwaZulu-Natal birding specials.