Thonga Beach Lodge is set on the secluded Mabibi Bay, in the heart of the iSimangaliso (formerly Greater St Lucia) Wetland Park, an internationally recognized World Heritage Site. With direct access onto the pristine shores of the Maputaland coast, this lodge is the ideal place to discover one of the last unspoilt and undeveloped wilderness beaches left on the African continent. Mabibi is a magical place of tranquil swimming bays and snorkeling reefs, coastal forests, grasslands, bush, shimmering lakes and exquisite sandy beaches. It’s clear warm waters offer superb snorkeling and fantastic offshore SCUBA diving.
The 12 thatched en-suite rooms have been carefully constructed in the coastal dune forest to ensure minimum impact on the environment and maximum guest privacy. Each room has a double vanity, indoor shower, bar fridge, air-conditioning, ceiling fan and mosquito net. Deluxe rooms have private plunge pools and both Deluxe and Family rooms have freestanding baths.
Activities at Thonga Beach Lodge include SCUBA diving, Open Ocean experiences, kayaking and sundowners at Lake Sibaya, guided snorkeling, seasonal turtle drives/walks, cultural tour of local Tsonga village and guided forest walks. Whether you are a walker or a diver, take advantage of the wealth of activities that await you in this beautiful hideaway, or simply relax with a Spa treatment or on the beach deck.
SCUBA diving at Mabibi is phenomenal. Our professional lodge diving team can accommodate enthusiasts, from the beginner to the veteran. For those who don’t dive, we have an Open Ocean Experience. An exciting launch through the surf in front of the lodge takes you beyond the breakers to a world of dolphins, whales and many other creatures. The warm Indian Ocean supports a myriad of fish and marine life.
In summer there are nocturnal walks and drives along the beach in search of the prehistoric turtles laying their eggs. Witness the culmination of an incredible journey as giant Leatherback and Loggerhead turtles come ashore to lay their eggs in carefully prepared nests. There is an additional charge for the turtle drives but no charge for the guided walks along the beach at night in search of turtles.
Your package includes 1 complimentary turtle tracking drive. The lodge has a concession to drive 22km up the beach in either direction (north or south) once per night at low tide from 1 November to 28 February. The drives are conducted in an open 4×4 vehicle. The drive leaves the lodge anytime from 5:30 in the evening to 4:00 in the morning depending on when low tide is and can last anything up to 3.5 hours. Warm blankets, ponchos and halfway refreshments are provided on the drive. The guide drives the vehicle along the beach using a strong searchlight looking for large tracks up the beach left by nesting turtles. Once a fresh track is spotted he will stop the vehicle and follow the tracks to find the female turtle and assess if it is alright for guests to get out of the vehicle and come and witness the culmination of an incredible journey as either giant leatherback or loggerhead turtles lay their eggs in carefully prepared nests. Every precaution is taken to ensure these magnificent creatures are not disturbed during the laying process and data collected from the turtle drives is submitted to the Turtle Monitoring Programme.
Typically during November and December the mothers can be seen laying their eggs which hatch 60 days later, this means that one has more likelihood of seeing the baby hatchlings appear and make their desperate rush to the sea during January and February.
