Its crazy to see how fast a year goes, last year September 2012 we went to Cape Vidal which falls within the St Lucia Marine Reserve and is situated north-east of St Lucia within the Isimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage Site. We have just returned from our 2013 trip back to Cape Vidal and have once again created very found memories of the place.
Its always a place of beauty but I do feel that KZN wildlife is missing the point here. The park is quite strange in the sense that Cape Vidal is a resort within Isimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage Site. This means that the resort falls under KZN wild life while the Isimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage Site does not. I still don't quite understand this but I can see the problems it creates.
Firstly Cape Vidal is still predominantly focused on fishermen. They do not focus on people that want to experience the actual park. This can be seen directly in the standard of the accommodation. Its the perfect drink and fish style accommodation and it is extremely poorly maintained. The units are serviced daily but due to poor maintenance and the lack of upkeep the units always feel rundown.
Additionally if you stay at Cape Vidal you cant go on any night drives. The rangers at Cape Vidal do not offer this service and the only companies that do are external businesses that fall outside on the camp. As a nature lover this is extremely annoying. The park has so much to offer from an eco tourism perspective and to see how little is being done here is extremely discouraging. Again this is a contradiction as this might be why this is still such a beautiful place to be.
We will always return to Cape Vidal but if your looking for the best time of year I would suggest May.
Below I have added the layout of the units at Cape Vidal. I would always suggest going for the larger 8 sleeper units since they feel so much roomier and the price difference is incidental.
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Unit 8
Unit 9
Unit 10
Unit 11
Unit 12
Unit 13
Unit 14
Unit 15
Unit 16
Unit 17
Unit 18
Unit 19
Unit 20
Unit 21
Unit 22
Unit 23
Unit 24
Unit 25
Unit 26
Unit 27
Unit 28
Unit 29
