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Sodwana Bay lies in the cultural heartland of KwaZulu Natal's Elephant Coast and is globally renowned for its bio diversity, both on land and below the oceans surface. The spectacular coral reefs are amongst the southern most tropical coral reefs in the world and the shallowest sighting of a living "fossil", the coelacanth was filmed and documented in the off shore canyons. While on land, Lake Sibaya which is South Africa's largest natural freshwater lake is situated 20km north of Jesser Point.
ReefThe healthy coral reefs are home to over a thousand species of fish, inverterbrates and coral and are situated in a national marine protected area, between Jesser Point in the south to Nine Mile Beach up north in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa's first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The coastline is largely undisturbed and natural migrations still occur with sightings of whale sharks, ragged tooth sharks, nesting turtles, whales, mantas and dolphin being reported at different times through out the year.
The Sodwana reef system may be a fraction the size of the Great Barrier Reef, but it is estimated to contain more than 2/3rds the amount of fish species - 1200 in Sodwana as opposed to 1500.
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