☰Dolphin Coast

The stretch of Indian Ocean shoreline running roughly 80km north of Durban, from Umhlanga to the Tugela River mouth. Once nothing but sugar cane plantations, the coast is now lined with small holiday towns — Ballito, Salt Rock, Umdloti — and some of the most expensive beachfront in South Africa. The name comes from the bottlenose dolphins that ride the breakers offshore year-round; you can also watch the annual sardine run from these beaches in June and July, when whales, sharks and seabirds descend on the migrating shoals.