South Africa diving holiday & safari
| country: | South Africa |
| location: | KwaZulu Natal |
| departures: | This trip can be arranged at any time and can be tailored to fit your own unique requirements, interests and budget. |
| price: | From £1150 (11 days) excluding flights, based on 2 people travelling. We can arrange flights from the UK. |
| offers: | We offer 2 dives on Aliwal Shoal (with air & weights) worth £55 per person for FREE. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
What better way to treat yourself to an action-packed reef & shark scuba-diving and wildlife safari extravaganza in the glorious and diverse KwaZulu Natal? Starting with diving in Sodwana Bay, South Africa's diving Mecca and marine reserve within the World Heritage Site St Lucia Wetland Park. Followed by diving on Aliwal Shoal & Protea Banks, described by Jacques Cousteau as the best shark diving site in the world, and the icing on the cake a wildlife safari in Hluhluwe/Umfolozi National Park.
KwaZulu Natal boasts a range of dramatic landscapes from sub-alpine heights to grasslands and golden beaches. As well as travelling along the coastline of KwaZulu Natal this trip takes you under the waves. There is an opportunity to dive on the world renowned Aliwal Shoal. You are likely to see Ragged Tooth Sharks amongst the rocks. On the surface there is every chance your dive boat will be passed by migrating whales making their annual trip along the coastline or pods of dolphins.
The land-based wildlife of the region is also encountered with an opportunity to take a full day's game drive in Hluhluwe/Umfolozi National Park. This is South Africa's oldest national park and is renowned for its rhino conservation programme. There is an opportunity for a guided Rhino trek on foot in the park or alternatively take a horse ride through the bush outside the park. A boat ride down the river is the ideal way to experience Hippo up close.
Dive qualification: PADI Open Water if Protea Banks not dived, otherwise PADI Advanced Open Water or at least 20 logged dives.
KwaZulu Natal boasts a range of dramatic landscapes from sub-alpine heights to grasslands and golden beaches. As well as travelling along the coastline of KwaZulu Natal this trip takes you under the waves. There is an opportunity to dive on the world renowned Aliwal Shoal. You are likely to see Ragged Tooth Sharks amongst the rocks. On the surface there is every chance your dive boat will be passed by migrating whales making their annual trip along the coastline or pods of dolphins.
The land-based wildlife of the region is also encountered with an opportunity to take a full day's game drive in Hluhluwe/Umfolozi National Park. This is South Africa's oldest national park and is renowned for its rhino conservation programme. There is an opportunity for a guided Rhino trek on foot in the park or alternatively take a horse ride through the bush outside the park. A boat ride down the river is the ideal way to experience Hippo up close.
Dive qualification: PADI Open Water if Protea Banks not dived, otherwise PADI Advanced Open Water or at least 20 logged dives.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Internal flight from Joburg to Durban, where you will be met by our representative who will hand you your travel documents & assist you with the collection of your rental car. Make your own way to La la Manzi situated in the popular diving village of Umkomaas. Overnight La La Manzi(B & B basis). |
| Day 2-5: | Four days of diving on the Aliwal Shoal and Protea Banks (Protea Banks for advanced divers only). Included in itnerary price is 4 Aliwal Shoal dives and 2 Protea Bank dives (incl transfers) with air & weights. Gear hire can be rented locally from R30 per item. Overnight La La Manzi.(B & B basis). |
| Day 6: | Depart Umkomaas and travel up the Natal North Coast towards Sodwana Bay National Park. Sodwana is situated within the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park (South Africa's first World Heritage Site) and is renowned for its sport fishing, scuba diving and snorkeling. The park lies adjacent to Africa's southern-most coral reefs. The diversity of fish and invertebrates attract many scuba divers and there are some excellent snorkeling spots along this coast as well. In summer, loggerhead and leatherback turtles come out of the sea to nest on the beaches. Conditions are good throughout the year, but the best diving is from April through to September. On a good day visibility can reach up to 30 metres and water temperature is usually above 20°C and can reach 29°C in summer. Overnight Corel Divers - cabin (half board). |
| Day 7-8: | 5 dives with air & weights at Sodwana Bay. Some of the well know dive sites at Sodwana include Two-mile Reef (most popular site), Quarter Mile Reef (dived most often in January-February when the Ragged toothed sharks congregate here), Stringer Reef (greatest diversity of species at a depth of 14 m), Four/Five Mile (predominance of branching, table and plate corals), Seven Mile (beautiful overhangs, drop-offs and mushroom rocks) and Nine Mile (beautiful green coral tree on the drop-off on the seaward side of the reef). Optional: Visits and boat trips on Lake Sibaya (South Africa's largest freshwater lake) - a full afternoon required. Overnight Coral Divers - cabin (half board). |
| Day 9: | You will make you way to the nearby Hluhluwe / Umfolozi National Park, one of the oldest game reserves and wilderness areas in Africa. This is big game country where the white rhino was saved from extinction, today the park has the largest concentrations of both rhino species as well as plenty elephant, lion, buffalo and all the common species of game. Overnight Hilltop Camp (Half Board). |
| Day 10: | Full day in Hluhluwe/Umfolozi and plenty of chance to explore the park on a self-driver basis. Included is an early morning guided walk with a park ranger. Overnight Hilltop Camp (Half Board). |
| Day 11: | Take a leisurely drive back to Durban airport, drop off your hire vehicle and check-in for an afternoon flight back to Johannesburg in time for your international flight home. |
don't leave it too late!
Please note that due to the nature of tailor-made trips to Sub-Saharan Africa we need at least 14 days between time of booking and departure. This time is essential for you to sort out passport, visa and health requirements and for us to make all the necessary holiday arrangements.how this holiday makes a difference
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Through National Parks, such as Hluhluwe/Umfolozi and Greater St Lucia Wetland, South Africa's biodiversity is conserved for future generations. These parks provide opportunities for research into sustainability of wildlife and natural resources. Tourism provides important economic impetus into the areas surrounding national parks. KZN Wildlife are fully committed to nature conservation of the region and through conservation facilitate upliftment of local communities with job creation, training facilities & community projects. Hilltop Camp is past winner of the British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow award.
For all of our tours we provide customers with an itinerary specific responsible travel guide aprox 4 weeks before they depart. This includes a generic travellers code of conduct which emphasises basic responsible travel advice – e.g. reduction of waste and consumption of natural resources, purchase local produce where possible etc. Our holidays are specifically designed to bring guests into direct contact with locals from a range of different tribes and cultures across Africa. We also therefore provide destination specific guidance including advice on local customs and some key phrases in certain languages (e.g. Swahili). We also offer guidance on how to barter responsibly for local curios and what curios should be avoided (e.g. certain wildlife artefacts such as coral, turtle shells etc.). As all of our guides and groundhandlers are local we also give guidance on what a fair and reasonable level of tipping would be at the end of the holiday.  We support the work of Tourism Concern both in distributing their advice to customers and as an active participant in the Ethical Tour Operators Group. Our managing director sits on this group and is a regular attendee of meetings contributing to work towards developing industry wide fair trade standards. We also distribute materials to customers and make periodic donations for the following charities: Tree Aid; International Fund for Wildlife and Survival International Trust. In Southern Africa we support the Southern Africa Sustainable Seafood Initiative and forward their guidance to all customers on which seafood is sustainable when offered a choice at restaurants. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |