Sodwana Bay

South Africa

Sodwana Bay is a coral reef diving region on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast of South Africa, within the Maputaland Marine Protected Area and part of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site).

Sodwana Bay lies between St Lucia and Lake Sibhayi and forms part of Sodwana Bay National Park within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. It sits at the southern end of the tropical western Indo-Pacific marine ecoregion and is known for a 50 km reef complex containing some of the southernmost coral reefs on Earth. The area is visited by an estimated 35,000 scuba divers per year and is notable as the site of the 2000 discovery of a resident coelacanth population.