The best way to explore St Lucia Estuary, from aboard the luxurious passenger ferry, ADVANTAGE CRUISER ( ** SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS ** )

The start of the St Lucia Estuary, the Estuary Mouth,  is situated within the town of St Lucia, the Southern most point of Lake St Lucia, within the province of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.  This area was proclaimed a World Heritage Site in 1999, and recently the adjacent Wetland Park bordering  St Lucia was renamed the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.  This entire area is marketed as the Elephant Coast.

The St Lucia Estuary is the largest estuarine system on the African Continent and boasts the largest concentration of Hippo in South Africa. St Lucia South Africa boasts with having a variety of activities within a one hour proximity from one another, from the whale watching just offshore from the town of St Lucia, to the favourite iSimangaliso Wetland Park 2km's away, to the oldest Game Reserve in Africa, the iMfolozi / Hluhluwe Game Reserves' just an hour's drive from St Lucia town.

THIS is where Danie and Riëtte Bennett operates their exclusive boat trips to view hippopotamus, crocodiles, mangrove swamps, prolific birdlife, oyster banks with stories of days gone by, the 2nd highest vegetated Dunes in the World etc.

In 1998 the couple obtained a concession from the then KwaZulu Natal Wildlife (Natal Parks Board) to operate 2hourly concession tours.  Riëtte qualified herself as the only lady skipper in St Lucia, obtained her Satour guiding badge and started taking out guests daily. With enthusiasm about what there is to be seen her tours became so popular that she had to employ other relief skipper/guides.  Over the last 9 years it’s been either herself, Dave, Berno or Steve, and in September 2007 she employed 22 year old Natasha, another lady guide.  It took her 6 weeks of grueling trips up and down the Estuary before she was comfortable that Natasha was able to do trips on her own, but as from then onwards it’s just been “plain sailing” for this young enthusiastic guide!  Over the last 10 years the company has also become BEE compliant and today employs more than 14 people from the previously disadvantaged community and the total ADVANTAGE team consists of 22 staff members, who ranges from front office personnel, to deck hands, to maintenance crew, to guides and skippers.

All the guides themselves are keen birdwatchers, so over and above seeing many Hippo and Crocs on each tour, there is an abundant variety of prolific bird life.  This is a full educational trip about the Wetlands and whatever else you see, and questions are welcome at any time!

The boat itself is a luxury ferry, with passenger safety and comfort in mind, we have upholstered spacious seats, a full bar and tuck shop, ladies and gents toilets, carpeted for children and babies, wheelchair friendly, sophisticated PA (public address) system, and then the POPULAR SUN DECK for better viewing, equipped with a bow-thruster for easy maneuverability.

It’s fitted with four (4) 115HP Suzuki smoke free and EPA standard motors and environmentally friendly, complies with all South African Marine Safety Authority Regulations and depart from a safe easily accessible jetty from within the town of St Lucia .

On departing the boat heads South towards the Honeymoon Bend islands from where you can see the 2nd highest vegetated Dunes in the World and crocodiles basking in the sun on the islands, as well as passing the oyster banks.

Thereafter the boat turns North towards the Narrows where the main sightings of Hippo will be observed, passing underneath the Bridge, seeing weavers nesting within the reeds alongside the estuary, a fish eagle flying past, and then turning into the Narrows where your guide will tell you all about the Mangrove Swamps.

This tour includes both the Southern side of the Estuary towards the Estuary Mouth area, as well as passing through the bridge to venture North towards the 1st and 2nd Narrows.

After 2 hours on the water you’ll leave the boat with much more knowledge about the Lake System and surrounding Wetlands.

Whilst keeping the environment and wild animals in mind, the boat will go as close as possible to each sighting for excellent photos.  Scrolling through just a couple of our photos on the photo page will prove why this trip is ideal, as the sightings we see in close proximity often leaves you astounded. 

Throughout the trip there is intermittent stops to give you enough time to take photos for memories that will last a lifetime. The tour is done at walking speed and is a must for the avid photographer.

Catering can be done by prior arrangement; more and more tour group especially is making use of the option to eat whilst cruising to save time on their itineraries.

ADVANTAGE CRUISER operates 7 days a week, 364 days a year (not on Christmas Day), each tour is 2 hours long, and extra tours will be done when there is a great demand, otherwise throughout our summer months normal departures is at 08h00, 10h00, 12h00, 14h00 and 16h00, and then winter departures will be 09h00, 11h00, 13h00 and 15h00. 

Our concession allows us to operate within a pristine part of the Wetland Park, and a certain percentage of your fee is paid to Wildlife Conservation, The Wetland Park Authority who enhances roads within the Park, upgrade public facilities and training of new tour guides.  Another percentage is paid to the Disadvantaged Community.

(To see the next photo, just hover over the photo to see the "previous" or "next" button.) ( double click on photo to view in colour )

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