So we were fortunate enough to go back to Sodwana Bay for our third trip and every time we go, we find something new and fun to do down there. As we explore we realize that we are missing in our tourism/travel kit. For instance – the first time we went down to Sodwana Bay we tried using our Tablets and Cellphones to take pictures of all the cool things we discovered in Sodwana and that you need a back pack that you don’t mind messing up and getting full of see sand when you pick up shells! Solution to this problem – get yourself a waterproof camera if you can afford it. Its hard to carry Tablets and cellphones on the beach as you are always fearful of them getting wet. We saw a girl using a clear bag for her phone and it seemed to be water proof (I would suggest researching that before submerging your expensive phone in the water). Second pointer – Often times you wanna pick up shells on the beach. Its a fun activity to do and also pass the time, especially when your little ones are curios and excited about everything. So what should you do with all these shells and odd objects that they pick you up? Well you could just put them in your pockets (if you have some) or carry as many as you can till you have no more space, but that can be annoying if you still wanna go swim or do more activities on the beach that day. Best solution that we found was getting the cheapest bag you possibly can find that drains water easily but doesn’t necessarily drop all your treasures out again. This way if you still wanna go for a swim after shell hunting you can do so or just go dump everything in the car. Next pointer is Shoes – Shoes are really important when you wanna go to the rock pools, plus the sand can sometimes really get hot and burn your feet, but I wouldn’t suggest going with normal flip flops – 2 Reasons for that: One is I have lost 2 pairs of my flip flops due to they tend to break a lot by your toes, because of the force of the water when you walk and also they like to float away from you. Solution for this – get sturdy hardish shoes or closed airing shoes. I found a great pair of running shoes that look very similar to booties (water shoes) that are covered in small holes right down to the sole of the shoes as well. They are light weight, a breeze to walk with in the water and dry fairly quickly. Never try buy clothes and shoes at Sodwana Beach shop – Unless you don’t have a low budget and don’t mind spending R300 – R1000 on shoes I would not suggest buying clothing or shoes in Sodwana Bay unless for a memorabilia. Unfortunately as beautiful as Sodwana Bay is, it is still a tourist town, meaning almost everything that you find there will be expensive. If looking for a souvenir and don’t wanna spend all your money buying one item I would suggest go to small trinquete shops and buying small items. Snorkeling and Diving – So most people will go to Sodwana Bay to Scuba Dive, but what about the times where you are not scheduled to dive or you are not a qualified diver. I know that some people will never be able to dive for various reasons, some have or had lung diseases or their lungs are not strong enough or even some people just simply get panic attacks when going to deep under water. What can these people do while in Sodwana Bay? Well here is a great solution: Snorkeling! Snorkeling is a great way to explore the rock pools, discover some new fish and just have fun! We only took our Snorkeling gear with the second time we went down to Sodwana, but were very disheartened at first as we couldn’t see the fish on the surface, but we decided to take a leap of faith and go for a swim any way, once we had our snorkeling gear on and submerged our faces in the water we discovered a whole new world with fish and everything right under our noses. It was incredible the fish were right by us and we couldn’t even see them through the surface. Every time since then, we make sure to have our camera on hand ready to shoot for any exotic creatures we might find (in a later article we will reveal our most exciting find so far). One caution I must advise you guys on is that its not a great idea to go Snorkeling in High Tide, (you can check out the tides by googling Sodwana Bay Tides there are lots of accurate weather apps there.) When in High tide you can easily be swept onto the rocks which could cut you or even be pulled in by the current and pummeled by the sea. (We were caught like that). Well that’s all for now. Hope this info can help a few people out.
