Zimbali Lodge

Zimbali Lodge sits on a golf estate on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, in coastal forest that runs down to the beach. It has 76 rooms. We use it for two nights on The KZN Golf Circuit because it puts two good courses within easy reach: Zimbali Country Club on the estate and Prince's Grant further up the coast.

You arrive by road, a short private drive up the coast from The Oyster Box. In the afternoon your caddie takes you round Zimbali Country Club, a Tom Weiskopf design cut through the forest, where the fairways open onto views of the sea. The next morning you go out early to Prince's Grant, No. 30 in South Africa for 2025, on the clifftops with the Indian Ocean in view from every hole. Your caddie gets you off before the wind builds.

Non-golfers walk the estate's forest trails down to the beach, take the morning at the lodge, and meet the golfers for lunch at the Prince's Grant clubhouse.

It suits a golf party of two to four, or a couple where one plays. After two nights on the Umhlanga beachfront, the forest is a quieter setting.

When you leave, you drive back to King Shaka International, where a Pilatus PC-12 flies you north to the Phinda airstrip for two nights at Phinda Vlei.

Good to know

• Zimbali Country Club is on the estate.
• The KwaZulu-Natal north coast is malaria-free.
• Forest trails lead from the estate down to the beach.

Country: South Africa