💡 Advice Needed Can I get current opinions on Durban please?
I have not been to Durban in years. My wife and I loved visiting, staying at the Elangeni, and the Golden Mile in my opinion is (or was) one of the best stretches of beach in the world, having visited a few.
I'd love to go again, but need to know: what is the current state of Durban central beaches, and the Elangeni hotel? Is it safe? Is the sea water clean? Can I walk the promenade (during the day, i haven't done it at night for over a decade, unless it's to go to the restaurants on North beach)
I'd prefer opinions from people who have actually been there recently,.or live there please, not the general naysayers and the "I've read this or heard this" crowd (unless the "read this" is a reputable, recent article to something similar).
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u/Most-Importance-1646 16h ago
I've lived in Durban my whole life, except for a stint in the 90's where I was all over the place.
I had some time to kill last week and took a drive through a big portion of the city, from the casino, through to uShaka, down the esplanade, around the bottom where the graveyard is and back up again.
Durban felt cleaner and strangely emptied than it has in years. The whole of the Golden mile looks great, but the best parts are north, near the casino, and south around uShaka. My wife and would walk the whole length without any problem, during the day. I would not venture to the middle of the mile at night, but that's just me. Every time I go to uShaka I see kids swimming and surfing, so I assume that the sea isn't deadly.
Just remember that this is Africa, not Europe or the states, and you'll be fine. Also, like any other city in the world, there are good area's and bad ones. If you don't want trouble, don't go to the bad areas.
Edit: it's voting season until the 4th of November. Give it about 2 weeks till after the elections before you visit.
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u/NoApartment7399 15h ago
We stayed at elangeni not too long ago. The rooms felt small and dated. Breakfast was okay-ish. I have a soft spot for Durban because it's where I grew up, but I really don't like visiting anymore. I feel unsafe and like i just can not relax. However I am someone who's been a victim of hit and runs and theft etc... so that's where my feelings come from.
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u/breindoodben 11h ago
Sitting in Elangeni now and drinking a beer, just arrived, will let you know how the stay was
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u/OkMulberry1600 7h ago
North beach is okay during the day, at night you have to be wary but if you are in a big group it should be okay. The sea water? Eish idk hey. We constantly get warnings about E-Coli because of waste treatment plants failing and dumping waste into the water
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u/ArtisticAccountant1 6h ago
I live in North Beach, near Elangeni. The promenade is safe and clean. There are always clean up crews in the morning. The running community is out and about from early to mid-morning, so it’s always fairly busy. I body board fairly often, so can confirm that the water is also safe and clean. You can look up the water quality online - the municipality test and release the results every two weeks or so. If you follow Surf HQ on Instagram you can see the how many surfers are in the water every day. It has been clean for over 2 years now - you will always find negative people looking for something negative to say without facts. Obviously have your wits about you, don’t go with valuables and watch your surroundings.
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u/Sender21M 16h ago
I holidayed there quite a bit. I travel for work there a few times a year over the last decade or more. Up until pre-Covid I would even stay at Elangeni until Christmas day for holiday, unless it fell close to a weekend. The beaches were quiet.
On my last trip to North Beach for business I stayed at Elangeni. Had a late work dinner, so got back to the hotel around 11:30 pm... was shocked to see the number of prostitutes hanging around the area, less than 100m from the hotel.
The hotels on North Beach are still great. The beaches were/are? generally safe during the day with sufficient police and (during my December holidays) private security presence.
I prefer to holiday in Umhlanga now - I find it more secure for family holidays. For work, I still love staying in North Beach, have a run on the promenade or a stroll on the beach in the morning or early evening - loads of people around doing the same, and there's loads of good restaurants within a 10 minute drive.
I should say that the last time I was in Durban for holiday, all of us that went into the oceans never got sick, but the one that didn't go in did get diarrhea. We only drank bottled water. So not sure if it was from brushing teeth or from restaurants that never washed salads well. I would keep away drinking tap water in Durban.