Durban beachfront
The main beachfront area (one of South Africa's top 20 tourist attractions) is known as the Golden Mile as it contains a high concentration of hotel and holiday apartment blocks. The Durban beach experience is a commercial one with a paved promenade, high-rise hotels and holiday apartment blocks, restaurants, bars, Sea World Durban (aquarium and dolphinarium), Fitzsimons Snake Park and fun parks all right on the edge of the beach. One block back from the beachfront you'll find the Suncoast Casino & Entertainment World. If you want to get a bit of distance from the city we recommend nearby Umhlanga Rocks - on the outer edge of the greater Durban metropole. While still quite commercial Umhlanga has more of a family feel to it and the pace is just a bit slower.

As implied above the main tourism activity in Durban is spending time on the beach and in the ocean. The combination of a hot and humid climate, great surf close to the sandy beaches packed with sun-worshippers and the presence of life-guards all contrive to make it one of the best commercial beach destinations in South Africa. The city is extremely popular with surfers and locals are at it from as early as 05:00 in the morning 'till late at night. Various other water sports are persued with one of the latest crazes being kite surfing. Whether you want to engage in body surfing, surfing, kite surfing, sea-kayaking, scuba diving, shore-based or deep-sea fishing, yachting, etc. - Durban offers it all.

If you want to explore how officials protect bathers against sharks - always prevalent in sub-tropical seas - you may head for a very informative tour of the Natal Sharks Board (Umhlanga Rocks). Various local operators offer professional services for all of the above, some are located in Durban's huge export harbour which includes a small boat harbour and yacht basin.

Shopping malls
Away from the beachfront the city and surrounds offer a variety of large shopping malls, the biggest and best being the Gateway (Umhlanga) and Pavilion Shopping Centres. Apart from shopping, restaurant and coffee shops, the malls also offer entertainment including large movie houses. Gateway also features a huge indoor rock climbing tower and wave machine (to practice your surfing).

Durban's Indian offering
Durban has South Africa's largest Indian population originally arriving on our shores as slaves in the 1800's. The Indian community made huge contributions to the city and South Africa. Their cultural and religious heritage is alive and well.

The easiest way to explore Indian culture in Durban is by visiting the Victoria Street Market, a bustling lively market and trading in spices amongst other things. Indian residents have had a decisive influence on Durban's culinary offering and Indian restaurants are found all over the city. If you are able to stomach spicy hot meals visiting one of these restaurants is not to be missed. More in-depth tours of Indian culture and life in Durban can be organised by Africa Deluxe Tours.

Museums
Durban offers various worthwhile museums including the: KwaMuhle Museum (Apartheid & culture); Local History Museum (Victorian dress & furniture, maritime history, Ghandi exhibition, etc.); Natural Science Museum (amongst other things good display on diversity of species in South Africa); Campbell Collections (maintained by University of Natal - includes very valuable Africana) and the Old House Museum (small and simple residential house from Durban's early history in Victorian style).

Visual and performance arts
Various venues and programmes cater for visual and performance art lovers. They include the: Durban Art Gallery (a good selection of modern and contemporary South African art including works of Penny Siopis, Kendel Geers, Tommy Motswai, etc); NSA Gallery (Natal Society of Arts' gallery of contemporary South African art and photography); the Playhouse Theatre ( home to the Playhouse Company - drama, opera and dance) and the BAT Centre (contemporary or alternative visual art, theatre, dance and music). There are a host of other small theatres and galleries - for clients who request this Africa Deluxe Tours will gladly include shows and exhibitions in their itineraries.

On the more commercial side the African Art Centre at the Tourist Junction offers a fascinating collection of arty curios. While it includes traditional African wooden carved objects its collection of hand-made vibrant alternative objects from found materials (e.g. tin from soda cans, packaging, etc.) is wonderfully original. If you decide to buy one of these items you will also be supporting grass roots South Africans.

Other attractions
Of the myriad of parks in Durban the most accessible and not-to-be-missed option must be the Durban Botanic Gardens. The beautifully maintained gardens feature a wide variety of indigenous and exotic species, an orchid collection and relaxed tea garden. The Umgeni River Bird Park is also a favourite with visitors, displaying a wide variety of bird species in relaxing surroundings. For a bit of easy hiking the Krantzkloof Nature Reserve at Kloof offers short trails along a small overgrown ravine complete with small water fall. A little further out of town Phezulu Safari Park provides a glimpse of Zulu Culture, a restaurant, a smallish collection of reptiles and a good base from which to view and/or explore the Valley of 1000 Hills.

Tourists may choose between various short excursions in the Durban metropole or day tours to destinations in the larger region. This includes city tours, township tours, game reserves, battlefields (Anglo-Boer War, Anglo-Zulu War and others), Zulu cultural villages, adventure activities, etc. Africa Deluxe Tours can arrange all of this for visitors and will also cater for special interests including birding excursions, botany field trips, religious encounters, etc.

(Also see: South African history. Coming soon: Durban sport & history)