Things to Do in Umkomaas

Find out how many teeth crocodiles have and other amazing facts. Daily crocodile tours offer a fascinating experience where visitors can learn about the lifestyle of crocs from newborn hatchlings to 100-year-old giants during their feeding times at 11:00 and 15:00. The lush park comprises gardens and indigenous forest where numerous reptiles, mammals and birds can be viewed safely in their natural habitats. A farmyard section offers young visitors an experience of a variety of domesticated animals including sheep, goats and horses. On site is a curio shop and the Crocodilian Restaurant with great views over the park.

Scottburgh Beach is a hub of activity throughout the year. With shark nets in place and lifeguards on duty all year round, it is a safe bathing beach with a host of fun things to do for the whole family. Activities on the beach include a super tube waterslide, mini-golf, canoe hire (fabulous for leisurely trips up the lagoon), fishing, body board and surfboard hire. During peak season orbing and abseiling is also on offer. Scottburgh Beach is close to numerous restaurants, bars, curio shops, surf shops and takeaway outlets.

Scottburgh Golf Club offers an undulating 18 hole course that travels along the coastline through the small village of Scottburgh. With the lush sub-tropical vegetation in your surrounds and glorious ocean views in the backdrop, this golf course offers a relaxed atmosphere throughout the challenge of the course.

Warner Beach offers excellent surfing conditions and is home to some of the top surfers on the planet. It's also a popular kite surfing beach and has a lovely little beach shop and take-away outlet, ample parking and showers. Not far lies the legendary Aliwal Shoal, one of South Africa’s best dive sites. Whales and dolphins can often be spotted from the shore. The annual Sardine Run passes Warner Beach, attracting scores of tourists, divers and fishermen to the area.

Home to the Baggies Surf Pro, Baggies Beach is a hot surf spot and playground of international surfer Frankie Oberholzer. The beach kiosk makes the best 'Surfer Special' sandwiches. Sometimes called Warner Beach, the long sandy beach is popular with locals who come to watch the kite surfers or the sun go down. In season lifesavers are on duty and it is one of the best places to hang out on the South Coast during summer holidays. Baggies Beach has a stunning natural tidal pool teeming with sea life. Bring your goggles and flippers and swim amongst the fish. During June and July residents and visitors flock to the beach to witness the phenomenal annual Sardine Run, considered one of the largest migrations on the planet. This major event on the diving calendar attracts numerous international photographers and documentary film-makers eager to capture images of the spectacle.

Saddle up for a leisurely beach stroll on horseback or be thrilled by a fast gallop if you have more experience and confidence. The 12 km bridle trail meanders through some lovely bush paths and onto a peaceful beach. Fascinating and colourful birds can be spotted along the way. You may choose to ride the full distance without stopping or you could opt to dismount for a welcome half way rest with light refreshments. If the weather is good you will be able to take your horse for a swim or roll in the shallows.

Amanzimtoti Main Beach is very popular for swimming and family beach holidays. The sandy beach offers life guards all year round, lots of parking, pubs, restaurants and shops. Holiday beach activites for kids are offered during peak seasons.

Also known as the Umdoni Bird Park, the Amanzimtoti Bird Sanctuary is well worth a visit. A large expanse of shimmering water is flanked by rolling lawns and lush plantings on the one end and indigenous forests on the other. Picnic spots and pleasant 30 minute self-guided trails meanders through the forest. The sanctuary is a haven for birdlife and visitors have the chance of spotting many of the 150 bird species including resident spurwing geese, white faced duck, greenback heron, giant kingfisher, brown-hooded kingfisher and hamerkop. Look out for Narina trogons and the endangered spotted ground-thrush. Rare blue duiker and Cape clawless otter also frequent the park. +27 (0) 31 903 7498 Umdoni Road, Amanzimtoti.

Amanzimtoti's mega-size shopping centre features 12 movie houses, an ice skating rink, indoor putt-putt, sea view restaurants and Woolworths flag ship. With the launch of The Galleria, the beachfront Water World and Fun Land, Amanzimtoti is proving to be the new destination of choice. This popular holiday spot offers amazing beaches, good old-fashioned fun entertainment for families and affordable accommodation.

Rated independently by Golf Digest magazine as a top 100 South African golf course, Selborne Golf Course is one of the most spectacular 18 hole golf courses in southern Africa. Wild coastal forest frames a superbly manicured course where the only disturbance may be one of nature’s creatures. The golf course is a superb masterpiece affording golfers breathtaking scenery as they weave their way through manicured fairways and coastal forest. Selborne is also situated on South Africa’s 'Golf Coast'. Within an hour's drive of Selborne are a number of other top golf courses – 11 of them in Golf Digest’s top 100 courses. In terms of the ultimate golfing experience, Selborne is the recipient of Complete Golfer's Five-star Golf Experience Award; based on service excellence, top-class clubhouse facilities, golf course conditioning and last but not least the overall lingering experience.

Umdoni Golf Course has a considerable reputation in Kwa-Zulu Natal, being regarded as breathtakingly beautiful and hugely pleasurable to play. The course of 18 holes is over truly striking terrain, with the front 9 running alongside the sea and the back nine stretching inland through dense indigenous forest vegetation. Anything but flat, Umdoni Golf Course and it's elevation changes not only translate into an adventure of judgment and shot-making but provides any number of 'view-site moments'. On a fine day, lush fairways underfoot and with the ocean swells just breaking into whitecaps, a round at Umdoni is food for the soul - this is how golf is meant to be.

Amanzimtoti Golf Club boast a magnificent course with the 18th hole right next to the beach. The well-equipped Pro Shop has golf cart, pull cart and golf club hire facilities. Visitors are welcome every day of the week except Saturday afternoons. Special rates are given on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. A halfway house caters for the hungry and thirsty and is open from 07:00 to 16:00. All golf bookings are done at the Pro Shop: +27 (0) 31 902 4144.

With hundreds of bird species, Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve is a twitchers delight as well as a stunning place to chill out in nature for the day. This 'island' of coastal evergreen forest, bush and grassland mosaic, streams, dams, marshes in a 'sea' of sugarcane, gum plantations and tribal lands. This 2 139 ha oasis is home to over 300 bird species, 100 of which can easily be recorded in a summer morning's birding. These include a number of forest and grassland specials and the magnificent African Crowned Eagle and Martial Eagle.Other fine feathered friends to look out for are the Black Sparrowhawk, Lemon Dove, African Emerald Cuckoo, Green Malkoha, Narina Trogon, Brown Scrub-Robin, Yellow-throated Woodland-Warbler, Blue-mantled Crested-Flycatcher, Black-bellied Starling, Green Twinspot, Red-winged Francolin, Broad-tailed Warbler, Short-tailed Pipit, Plain-backed Pipit, Lazy Cisticola, Zitting Cisticola, Wing-snapping Cisticola, Pale-crowned Cisticola, Mountain Wagtail, African Pygmy-Kingfisher, Scaly-throated Honeyguide, Greater Honeyguide and Lesser Honeyguide.Need to know? The Reserve is managed by the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. Facilities include good gravel roads, walking trails, picnic sites and toilets, and a small hutted camp. Day visitor Entry fee: R10 per adult R5 per child. Gate Opening and Closing Times: Summer (October to March) 06h00 to 18h00 Winter (April to September) 06h00 to 17h00.Check out http://wiki.sabirding.co.za

Leave your shoes at the door and walk into a colourful Hindu sanctuary. The spacecraft-like exterior belies the opulent interior of marble tiles, gold-tinted windows, crystal chandeliers and lavish decorations. Ceiling frescoes and statuettes pay tribute to the divine couple, Radha and Krishna. Entrance is free and people of all faiths are welcome to spend time here meditating, praying or just to soak up the contemplative atmosphere while wandering around the lush garden and peaceful environment. Underneath the temple is a wonderful restaurant run by devotees serving scrumptious vegetarian fare to eat there or take away. +27 (0) 31 403 3328

Just a five-minute drive from Durban on the N3, The Pavilion Shopping Centre provides a premier shopping and entertainment experience. Something of a Durban fashionista hot spot, the mall merges fun, food and fashion under one roof and there’s plenty to keep you busy.Offering over 230 shops and more than 40 restaurants, the centre has one of the widest choices in KwaZulu-Natal. With 14 jewellery outlets, it’s the perfect place to pick out gifts and curios for loved ones.And there’s no end of entertainment to keep kids amused at the Amusement Area, skate park and 12 cinemas. Over 6 000 covered and open parking bays have direct access to the centre and are protected by state of the art security.So whether you're looking for a cool place to escape Durban’s hot summer or you have to watch the latest movie after a good Indian or Italian dinner, the Pavilion is an obvious choice in the greater Durban area.

Named after Jonas Bergtheil, this museum is situated in the leafy suburb of Westville midway between Durban and Pinetown. Much of the museum is housed in Westville’s oldest building featuring massive stone walls and hand-hewn timber floorboards. The park like surrounds add an atmosphere of tranquility. Exhibits mostly focus on the first German settlers that Jonas Bergtheil brought to Natal as director of the Natal Cotton Company and their associations with the settlements of Westville, Claremont and New Germany. Visiting hours are 8:30 – 16:00 Monday to Friday, 8:00 – 12:00 Saturdays. Closed Sundays and Public Holidays. Entrance is free.

Built right on Catalina flying boats' Control Tower on Wilson's Wharf, Catalina Theatre's theme and decor reflect the ambience of a creative and dramatic flying machine! Catalina Theatre is the dream of Durban thespian, director, producer and performing arts personality, Themi Venturas. New productions are staged every two to three weeks and vary from comedy and the classics to drama and rock music. At Catalina there is a seat in the house to suit every artistic taste and personality. Bar staff are funky, the drinks are cold and the harbour view is breath taking. Say no more!

With its incomparable harbour views, Wilson's Wharf is Durban's trendiest fusion of fun food, top shows and crafts, blended with the rustic interface of a boating marina and working slipways. The waterfront has something for everyone, from a fast-food court to restaurants providing funky food and fine dining, from cuisine from the four corners of the globe to an oyster bar, and from harbour cruise dining to a cosy coffee bar or festive pub atmosphere. Shops contain a wide range of quality crafts and speciality items for the discerning shopper, while the 165-seat intimate Catalina Theatre brings top shows to Durban's only stage with bay vistas. The Marina offers deep-sea fishing charters daily, or visitors may take their pick of the catch-of-the-day from a full range of seafood at the wharf-side fresh fish market.

Ever dreamt of sashaying in a sari, getting tattooed with henna or tucking into an ‘atomic bomb’ curry? Satisfy your yearning for burning and a lot more at Durban’s oldest market. Venture down to the Victoria Street Market on the corner of Queen and Victoria Streets in Durban Central and step into a sensory Afro-Indian world. Here the smell of incense and spices pervades the atmosphere where over 180 traders sell their produce. You will find all manner of delightful food and spices including a fish market. Durban’s Indian community is the largest outside of India and has influenced the character of the city immensely. Operating since 1870, Victoria Street Market still offers a dizzying whirl of colour, aromas, vibrant fabrics and the cheerful noise of bartering. Shoppers can purchase silk saris, scarves, jewellery, woven baskets, beaded and carved curios, Asian ceramics and even cheap Chinese products. Further down is the clothing mecca of Grey Street (Dr Yusuf Dadoo Street), where you will find typical Indian architecture, narrow lanes, colonnades over pavements and an array of fabric shops. Open Monday to Saturday 08:00 – 18:00; Sunday and public holidays 10:00 – 16:00. +27 (0) 31 306 4021.

Situated on the eastern slopes of the Berea ridge, Durban Botanic Gardens is renowned for the rarest original specimen of a plant in the world – a cycad named Encephalartos woodii. Initially the garden grew experimental tropical crops but today the extensive offerings include the herbarium, orchid house, cycad collection, a garden for the blind and a tea garden. Along with an extensive collection of South African cycad species, a highlight is the Orchid House, best viewed during spring. Guided tours are on offer but it’s essential to book well in advance. The charity tea garden is open from 09:30 – 16:15 daily.