Zinkwazi: Where the Fish Eagles Cry

Zinkwazi: Our Quiet Corner of the North Coast

Zinkwazi is truly a special place. It's a little village town, kind of a hidden gem that helps vacation-goers get away from the more commercial and popular beach towns in KwaZulu-Natal like Ballito and Umhlanga. We're only about a 30-minute drive from Ballito, which is nice for shopping, but here, there’s not a lot of infrastructure. We have less than a thousand full-time residents for most of the year, so it's very quiet. Our beaches are still pristine and beautiful, and the subtropical vegetation and foliage are just stunning.

During winter, you can often spot whales from the main beach, and there are always dolphins passing through. It's a place where many people come to retire; the median age of long-term residents is probably 50 and over. It truly is a peaceful spot to rest and enjoy nature, which we think is its main allure.

Gathering by the Lagoon

The Ski Boat Club is really the heart of our little community. It's where everyone congregates on weekends, especially during school holidays and the summer peak season over Christmas and New Year. When our own families visit, we all get together on the beach by the lagoon. It’s a safe place for kids to play in the shallows with their fishing nets and buckets, or with boogie boards if the lagoon is flowing into the ocean.

The community here is small and tight-knit. The staff at the Ski Boat Club are all familiar faces, and that general sense of community really comes together there. The lagoon itself, right by the club, is one of the most striking features. When there's a lot of rainfall, the Zinkwazi River lagoon flows into the sea, making it a special natural talking point for why people come here.

I think what makes Zinkwazi special is the lagoon right by the ski boat club, it's one of the most striking features. For anyone that comes here, it's quite special when the river flows into the ocean.

The main beach goes on for kilometers, offering plenty of space for activities like fishing, swimming, paddle skiing, or launching a boat for fishing, whale watching, or dolphin watching.

Our Village Spots

Even though we're a small village, there are a few spots we think are pretty great. There's a shop called The Local that offers fresh organic produce, meats, and baked goods sourced and produced by community members. We also have a small convenience store and the Zinkwazi Beach Cafe for coffee, sandwiches, and basic things.

When summer rolls around, the beach parking fills up quickly, and the buzz is something we all enjoy. That's when Proud's Pizza, a pizza joint housed in a shipping container serving wood-fired pizzas, gets really busy. People love to grab a pizza to eat on the beach or take home after a long day in the sun. They even have a delivery service for R50 to homes in the village now!

Another option is the Zinkwazi Lagoon Lodge. Beyond camping and chalets, they have a padel court, a mini putt-putt course, and a lovely restaurant called the Raffia. Sitting on the wooden decking at Raffia restaurant, surrounded by subtropical trees with fairy lights, feels almost like Bali. The staff there are always very attentive and helpful, and they play good deep house music, giving it a Cafe del Mar kind of vibe. We also have the ANEW Hotel Ocean Reef Zinkwazi, but mostly it's Airbnb rentals and the Lagoon Lodge.

Our Connection to Nature

One of the first things we'd tell a newcomer to do, after grabbing a pizza from Proud's on the main beach, is to explore our nature walks. At the end of Palm Drive, there's a gate leading to subtropical forests. It's a great spot for bird lovers; you can find easy and moderate trails. The iLala Forest Trail is known for crowned eagles, and if you listen closely, you often hear the cries of fish eagles. Zinkwazi itself means "place of the fish eagle" in Zulu, which is pretty cool.

Funnily enough, we had heard about Zinkwazi being the place of the fish eagle for a long time, but we only recently heard them ourselves. It was on a very quiet Sunday afternoon, walking our dogs in the village, when we heard their cries multiple times from the forest side where the nature walks are. It was a beautiful, special moment that truly shows how ingrained with nature this little village is. We try not to build up too drastically here, aiming to maintain that balance between nature and humans living together in harmony.