St Lucia Estuary

St Lucia is the estuary at the southern end of iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa's first UNESCO natural World Heritage site, and it is a genuine estuarine lake - about sixty kilometres long, shallow, and switching between fresh and saline as the mouth opens and closes. It holds one of the largest hippo and Nile crocodile populations in the country, and boat cruises from the town jetty go out among them in the afternoon. The town itself is inside the park, unfenced, and hippos graze the verges and gardens after dark; signs warn people off the streets at night and the warnings are serious rather than decorative. Around the estuary are dune forest, grassland and the highest vegetated dunes in the world along the coast behind. Turtles nest on the beaches north of here in summer, and whales pass offshore in winter.

What you actually see

• Hippos in the streets - animals grazing the town at night, with real warnings attached.
• The estuary cruises - afternoon boats among hippo pods and crocodiles.
• The UNESCO wetland - South Africa's first natural World Heritage site.
• The dune forest - some of the highest vegetated dunes anywhere behind the beach.

When to go

May to September for comfort and game; November to February for turtle nesting further north. Two days.

Honest expectations

Hippos kill people - do not walk the town at night, and keep well back at the water. Summer is hot, humid and has malaria risk in the wider area. The estuary mouth silts and opens, changing what boats can do. Crocodile presence means no swimming anywhere in the system.

Nearby

Cape Vidal is north inside the park; Hluhluwe-iMfolozi is inland.