Cheap Flights to Richards Bay (RCB) from UK Airports

Richards Bay is surrounded by Zululand’s incredible unspoilt natural diversity.

Richards Bay, uMhlatuze in Kwa-Zulu Natal, formerly known as Zululand, is becoming increasingly popular as a holiday destination due to its favourable situation and warm sub-tropical climate.

Richards Bay grew up around a 30 square kilometre lagoon at the mouth of the Mhlatuze River and is known as one of South Africa’s major harbours. What is less well-known is its potential as a holiday destination.

Regarded as an industrial backwater at the end of the coal pipeline, it has been largely ignored by tourists until now. Increasingly though, it is being recognised for its natural charms, including spectacular scenery and unspoilt beaches, lapped by the warm Indian Ocean, particularly by eco-tourists who have begun to appreciate its convenience as gateway to Kwa-Zulu Natal’s great nature reserves and game parks like Hluhluwe-Umfolozi and the St Lucia Wetlands.

Situated on the North Coast of Natal, Richard’s Bay is accessible by road from Durban (two hours) and by air, with regular daily flights from the airport, which is 6.6 kilometres from the town centre.

Kwa-Zulu Natal is incredibly diverse, its vegetation ranging from bushy plains in the areas where the game reserves protect large species like the Big Five, to coastal forest and wetland estuaries where aquatic birds, hippos and crocodiles abound.

Outdoor activities like surfing, horse riding, hiking, snorkelling, scuba diving, fishing (shore and deep sea) are ever-popular. There is also a dolphin viewing platform onshore at the North Breakwater Pier, and the Enseleni Reserve, set up to protect lagoon animals, is close by.