Hot Spot: Prizes of the South

Shelley Seid explores 10 of the South Coast's best attractions

Starting at Amanzimtoti and ending at Port Edward, the 150km stretch of coastline that is KZN's South Coast has something for everyone. From the cheap and cheerful family holiday to exclusive resorts, from golf to adventure sports, it's the place to be this Easter.

Fishy tale

Thrill seekers can get their jollies going out to Aliwal Shoal and then going down in a metal cage to commune with blacktip, dusky, spinner, tiger and Zambezi sharks. The truly daring - or foolhardy - can dive without the cage and swim among those same tiger sharks, the less aggressive ragged-tooth sharks, or even manta rays. You will find two legal, SAMSA-approved, shark cage dive operators at Rocky Bay and Shelly Beach.

Hit or spot a birdie

It's not necessarily a family outing but 11 golf courses over a 90km stretch from Umkomaas to the Wild Coast Sun are hard to ignore. They're all top class with stunning sea views, but Umdoni Park, just outside Pennington, is something special. The course is flanked by the imposing Botha House, built in 1919 as a retreat for then-prime minister Louis Botha, and is surrounded by a 210ha conservation site, one of the last remaining indigenous coastal forests in the country. Take a trail walk on your own or book a guided tour. It's chock-a-block with insects and butterflies and you won't be able to hear yourself speak above the noise of the birds.

Phone Marilyn on 0399751615.

Zip it

The Wild Five, the extreme activities at Oribi Gorge that include the highest swing in the world, are the stuff of legend. But now there is a newer, cooler activity for adrenalin seekers. It's called the Zip Line, and at 4.5km it is the longest, highest and fastest foefie slide in Africa.

It takes over an hour to complete the 18 stations. One takes you 250m off the ground while another skims you across the surface of Lake Eland. This heady experience is part of the beautiful Lake Eland reserve, where you can view game, cross the suspension bridge, play paintball and have a venison burger at the Lake Eland restaurant.

Phone Lake Eland on 0396870395. For info on the Zip Line, phone 0832156744.

To market

There's a brand-new Easter Friday Market planned for Pennington with stalls selling handicrafts, arts, fudge and fresh produce; an Easter-egg hunt for under-10s as well as a bungee trampoline, ferris wheel, swing carousel and bouncy castle. Grown-ups get to enter the crossbow-shooting competition. More of the same but on a much larger scale is the annual Margate Mardi Gras.

This runs once a week over the Easter season. It's an evening affair and is probably one of the biggest open-air markets in the country with hundreds of stalls staffed by vendors from all corners of the land. Bands play, food is for sale and drink is available while Margate shows you how to party.

Pennington Flea Market (March 29)

Margate Mardi Gras (March 27, April 3)

Howdy, partner

Ramsgate is an odd place to find the Pistols Saloon and Wild West Museum.

Odder still is that is it owned by a German (there is an excellent eisbein on the menu) but oddest of all is that Huckleberry the donkey is a regular customer who can be found at the bar waiting for his regular Coke and carrot. It's great fun, and so authentic you almost expect Wyatt Earp to swing through the spring doors. The museum houses a collection of Wild West memorabilia and the family-friendly restaurant offers pizzas, steaks and German fare. Spike's 500g of marinated ribs at R89 are a bestseller.

Old Main Road, Ramsgate, 0393168463.

 Float your boat

Tidal pools litter the South Coast - there is a revamped one in Umkomaas, a fun one at Ifafa and a very busy one at Mtwalume - but the most attractive of all has to be Granny's Pool in Southbroom, with a cove to one side that seems almost to breed pretty shells. It's half-natural, half-manmade and it is swept clean by the surf each day - just perfect for a bit of snorkelling at low tide. It is also completely safe at high tide when the waves rush in.

Lewin Road, to the right of the Admiralty apartments, Southbroom.

Horse ride on the beach

Selsdon Park Estate, 15 minutes from Margate, is a working sugar-cane farm with 19 horses ready and willing to take you for a ride along Trafalgar beach. From ponies for the kiddies to draft horses for the well built, there is neither weight nor age restriction and the rides cater for novices and experienced riders. What you'll get is 90 minutes on a guided ride with experienced and helpful grooms, through a cleared wetland and onto a pristine beach. The horses are relaxed, gentle giants, and it's an experience you will never forget.

Selsdon Park Farm, Marina Beach, 0833012941.

Going bananas

Macbananas could happily bill itself as the entertainment centre of the South Coast. It was initially a banana farm that opened a farm stall, which soon grew to stock arguably the biggest and best collection of homemade pickles, preserves, honeys, sweets, chutneys, and biscuits in the province.

There is also an excellent range of fresh produce, a decent wine cellar and the Banana Café, famous for its pancakes.

 But that's not all - there's Mac Venture golf (a sprawling miniature golf course), a giant trampoline, a playground, a Mac Barnyard filled with farm animals, pony rides, quad biking, and the latest edition, Mac Butterflies, a magnificent dome where you can follow a trail over rivers and past a waterfall while gasping at the vast collection of indigenous butterflies.

R61 National Rd between Palm Beach and Munster, 0393191454.

Full of old fossils

Without doubt, a visit to the Mzamba fossils and petrified forest is well worth the two-hour drive to the Wild Coast Sun, especially for budding palaeontologists. Benny Mbotho, a font of information and a first-class entertainer, runs guided beach walks over the petrified forest, which is filled with fossils estimated to be over 85 million years old.

You and the kids will be blown away by the collection of petrified trees, giant clams, ammonite fossils and ancient sharks' teeth. You might even find the occasional fossilised dinosaur bone.

Meet in the Wild Coast Sun Hotel lobby, 9am from Tuesdays to Saturday. For more info, phone the hotel on 0393059111.

Pick a Trail

The Clearwater Trail Centre alongside the Umtamvuna Nature Reserve caters for the whole family. The centre has been named one of SA's top 100 mountain-biking-trail sites; there are a number of walking trails (dogs are welcome); a dam to fish in; and a viewing deck over the Umtamvuna River Gorge.

An added bonus, the little ones have their very own trail, an 800m circular footpath, specially for ages 2 to 8. It's called the Amazing Trail and features beautiful, life-size cutouts of birds and animals endemic to the area, all placed in their typical positions: a ground hornbill in the grasslands for example, a bushbuck under the trees or a Loerie perched on a branch.

A checklist is provided and it's loads of fun. Whatever activities you choose, finish off with a snack, a milkshake or something stronger (they are licensed) at the café in the shade of the fig trees.

Trail Centre, District Road D595; Port Edward. Phone 0835496710 or visit www.clearwatertrails.co.za.

• Visit www.southernexplorer.co.za for more details on visiting the South Coast.