We’re all extremely greatful for the rain ! …..But yes , it does have an effect on the whale watching trips , however I’m not grumbling , as the rain at this stage is more important ….!

Danie went out on Sunday morning at 09h00 and saw an enormous amount of Humpback whales , he got about 6-7 pods of Humpback Whales which consisted of about 4-6 Humpback Whales per pod.

And then over the last week there has been an increasing number of Whale Sharks right next to the boat , the Whale Shark is ENORMOUS , about 12’m’s in length and comes SO close to the boat you can almost touch it ! However the sides of our boat is too high , so you can’t reach out and touch it , but it feels as if …..Last summer season we also had a great amount of whale sharks in our area , 2 or 3 of them that did also unfortunately wash up on the beaches in our area.

Today’s trips had to be canceled due to the strong winds that caused the sea to be ‘’upside down’’ , but we’ll operate again tomorrow.

Trips at the moment are very tide dependant , we’ve had SO much bad luck on engine damage on the sandbanks due to low tides, so we’re forced to try and operate over the high tide periods.

Many South Africans are not aware of the incredible whale watching opportunities along our coastline.

We are off course spoilt in South Africa , as not only having different species in our waters , but also numerous vantage points as well as a developed infrastructure , making South Africa one of the primary whale watching destinations in the world.

In 1998 Boat-Based-Whale Watching permits were issued to about 20 operators along the South African Coastline from Saldana Bay on the West Coast to Sodwana Bay on the East Coast.

In 1999 , Danie Bennett of the Advantage Charter , St Lucia , was successful to obtain a Boat-Based-Whale –Watching permit issued from Marine and Coastal Management , and after 8 years in the industry is the only remaining legal operator in the whole of KwaZulu Natal.

All the other legal boat based whale watching operators is along the Cape Coast.

Whale Watching season is from about mid May to 2nd week in December when the Humpback Whales migrate past this coastline to the warm watrs of the tropics off Mozambique and Madagaskar to breed and calf , before going back to the cold polar regions around the Antarctic .Over the last 30 years or so , scientific study has opened our eyes to the intelligence and magnificence of these cetaceans of the deep, and whale watching has now become a global industry.

Please do remember as from 1 November 2007 this region just north of St Lucia known now since 1999 as the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park , proclaimed a World Heritage Site in 1999 , will be renamed to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park . The town of St Lucia will remain St Lucia , Cape Vidal will remain Cape Vidal , Hluhluwe will remain Hluhluwe (pronounced hloohloowie),it’s only The Park that will be renamed.