Munster, South Coast

Just before you reach Port Edward on the south coast lies the quaint little village of Munster, midway between Southbroom and the Wild Coast.

Munster is within walking distance of adjacent Glenmore Beach and it can get a little confusing, particularly as the swimming and surfing bay in Munster is known as Glenmore beach. But life around here is relaxed enough to cater for minor irritations, and the locals barely turn a hair should your eyebrows ascend to your hairline in confusion. There’s nothing baffling about the beauty of the coast here, however. There are long stretches of unspoilt beach, lush vegetation, wild sea crashing on to boulders, and giant rocky outcrops. It is unsurprising that there are some wonderful rock-climbing opportunities and that Glenmore Beach in Munster is one of the most incredible beaches in the country.

Munster is shark protected and an excellent surfing beach, providing hours of swimming and shell collecting. The mouth of the Itongasi River has made it a perfect place for launching boats, and Glenmore beach is often the site of beauty and fishing competitions. The annual Sardine Run, which beached in Glenmore Bay in 2000 and 2001, attracts such large schools of dolphin that need to be seen to be believed.

Besides the beach, the Umtamvuma Nature Reserve, just inland from Port Edward, is a breeding ground for a colony of Cape vultures, which build their nests in the cliffs that border the river. The reserve is also home to baboons, several buck, monkeys, the black backed jackal and a rich canopied forest, thick with ferns, lichen and indigenous plants that provides hours of birding opportunities.