Local Attractions

Check out the informative Guest Directory in each of the Hippo Hideaway chalets for an A-Z of what’s available in and around town.

St Lucia and the surrounding areas are an absolute haven for nature and adventure lovers. The iSimangiliso Wetlands was declared South Africa’s first Natural World Heritage site by UNESCO protocol. This has preserved the land as the most ecologically and historically diverse park in South Africa, with Nguni tribes as well as all the natural features living in harmony.

Five ecosystems are recognised in the site, yet they are intertwined in a natural dance so complex and perfect it takes a few days to understand this labyrinth of nature.

The Western Indian ocean’s waters are warmed with a tropical Agullas current, so that water temperatures can easily reach 30 degrees Celsius; creating the tropical reefs that are home to hundreds of fish species, turtle and dolphin. A huge migratory population of whales makes an appearance in the area every Winter.

The beaches lapped with these warm waters have mineral-rich sands that form massive dunes that protect the ancestral nesting grounds of the world’s largest reptile, the leatherback turtle. The tropical forests hide the secrets of Zulu exploration, trading routes and European expeditions. This tropical paradise is home to a variety of frogs, insects, reptiles, birds, buck and apes.

The massive coastal grassland is home to large and small mammals. This area is covered with a complex system of water tables that include the deepest peat swamp in the southern hemisphere, sacred Zulu burial lakes, tannin-rich freshwater streams and acres of verdant grassland covering ancient marine deposits formed as the sea retreated thousand of years ago.

After dark, 1200 hippo emerge from Lake St Lucia and lumber across the landscape to eat tonnes of grass from the coastal plains. In the daylight hours, they can be seen wallowing in the warm waters of the lake that they share with over 2000 crocodiles and other fish, birds and invertebrates. The hippos are the driving force of the area’s ecosystem, releasing tonnes of droppings into the lake which fertilize the warm, tropical water, creating a prolific fish and prawn nursery ground.