Day 1
Early morning departure from our base in Ramsgate on the KwaZulu-Natal province’s South Coast for Zululand which lies in the north of the province. Your tour leader and state registered Level 4 guide is Sean Ross. The tour passes through sub-tropical landscape along the warm Indian Ocean waters lined with holiday towns. Rolling hills, sugar plantations and rural settlements characterize the setting before passing through Durban, South Africa’s third largest city with approximately 3.5 million inhabitants. The journey to Sodwana Bay takes approximately five hours, so we stop for a breakfast break after about two hours.
We arrive at our Sodwana Bay lodge around midday, unpack and then have a light lunch at a local eatery. After lunch we take a 30 minute drive to the pretty Muzi Pan, and inland water, where we meet Temba our canoe guide for a 1.5 hour paddle on this lovely lake which has many bird species resident as well as crocodiles and hippo. At the end of our paddle we watch our first tour sunset on the banks of the pan with a glass of wine and the sound of the hippos snorting. We return to our lodge for a delicious steak and red wine dinner.
Hippo's waking up in the dusk
Day 2
The day starts with a good breakfast before we head to the Bay Lodge swimming pool for an introductory SCUBA dive course, which will last about two hours. All equipment, including wetsuits, masks, BC’s and cylinders are provided. After the intro resort course we head for the warm Indian Ocean waters for our first SCUBA dive. This will be an easy, shallow dive but with Sodwana offering the best diving reefs off the east coast we will certainly see plenty of fish and other sea creatures. The dive is from a boat launch and all skippers, dive masters and top men are well qualified and skilled. After the dive we return to the Lodge for lunch. The afternoon is free to relax at the Lodge, or swimming pool, or return to the beach to snorkel in the shallows around the bay or simply just soak up the sun. Evening prawn and white wine dinner back at the Lodge
There were so many Trigger Fish at Adlams Reef, and they were so gorgeous and colorful.
Day 3
After breakfast at the Lodge we head for Adlams Reef south of the Bay, the best snorkeling reef in the Bay area offering wonderful sighting of octopus, rays and numerous fish species. Getting to Adlams is by a 10 kilometer four wheel drive along the beach, a permit from the authorities is required and we need to leave just after high tide recedes. After snorkeling we take a beautiful beach walk to Mseni Lodge overlooking the sea for lunch. The afternoon is set aside for a beautiful 1 hour ride through the semi vegetated dunes to the lovely Sibaya Lake, where we can relax with a drink and watch birds, crocodiles and hippos. Another wonderful barbeque dinner awaits us at out private Lodge.
Want to learn more about Sodwana Bay? Check my trip description here.
Gorgeous Remote Beach Area - Adlams Reef
