uShaka World Adventure - fun in the sea

uShaka Marine World:

16-hectare (40-acre) Theme Park found in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

It was opened on the 30 April 2004 and is divided into sections: uShaka Sea World, uShaka Wet 'n Wild, uShaka Beach, and uShaka Village Walk. You will find it along the strip of land between the beachfront and the Durban harbour. It was the first phase in the much needed redevelopment of the Durban Point.

The July that we spent in Durban proved to be a week of rain and gusting winds, much to the disappointment of my three children. We did not get the opportunity to spend as much time as we would have liked to on the beach and did not actually have a chance to really have a decent swim and surf in the ocean. We did however go down to the beachfront everyday come rain and wind, just like real “Vallie” tourists in our old own hometown.

The beachfront has really changed since I was a kid and you are able to walk, run or skate for miles and hours along the beachfront. Many restaurants, shops and bars with plenty of local vibes are now found along the walk way. Some of the old “jols” are still there much to hubby’s delight as he reminisced of time gone by with our three adult children.

It is a great place to take the family and we went every day for breakfast and several cups of coffee at the Wimpy just to watch the sea and storms.

uShaka Village Walk is designed to look like an African village and includes restaurants, cafes and other shops. We found a great homemade ice-cream shop with so many different flavours, to keep the taste buds happy.

We also found a fantastic local Indian curry and spice shop and went a little crazy buying up the many outstanding curry mixes, bits and pieces (we call them Dad’s magic sticks!) to take back to Johannesburg with us. We are originally from Durban, so this was a super treat to be able to dig into the curry den and be able to cook real Durban curry with real Durban spices back home in Johannesburg.

Hubby is the curry guru in the family so he was in his element and we stopped again for a few more treats. We eat curry every Sunday night, a family tradition and many times at least three times a week you will be served curry in the Williams household. You are also able to buy a few tasty treats made with passion and love. The chilly-bites were delicious!

The Dangerous Creatures exhibition: includes various reptiles, amphibians and arachnids, some of which are venomous in their newly set-up Dangerous Creatures section, which is apart from the main aquarium and found in shopping area not far from the main entrance.

This sub-section contains both local and exotic animals, from rock pythons to Burmese pythons, Nile crocodiles, black mambas, tarantulas, scorpions, and gila monsters.

The Awesome Shows:

A really beautiful dolphin stadium which can seat 1,200 spectators will leave you in awe of these magical sea creatures that congers up childhood fantasies of “Flipper the dolphin” and tales of sea rescues of humans.

The show was really great and I managed to catch the dolphins in midair a few times. It was really awesome to watch my mom squeal in childlike delight as the dolphins showed off their tricks and wooed the crowd.

I love dolphins and they are amongst my favorite creatures. I have been fortunate to have touched one when I was on a school trip at the old Dolphinarium in Durban many moons ago. On my bucket list is to swim with the dolphins in Mozambique.

Just caught them!!

They are really difficult to capture as you have to anticipate their very move and they will still surprise you!!

The seal stadium:

The seal stadium is much smaller by contrast and can seat around 450 people. The seals don’t get as much visitors as do the dolphins which are a little sad as they are real characters and a great comical show is there for you to enjoy.

The Penguins:

We also came across the cute penguins dressed in their penguin suits chatting away. Visitors are able to feed penguins, sharks and rays at various feeding times during the day just check the boards for times – obviously for a fee.

Underwater Adventures:

There are several fantastic animal encounters which allow you to snorkel in a lagoon with about 1500 fish of all colours and sizes.

When you are in the aquarium you are able to watch as snorkelers swim in-between the little shoals of brightly colour fish as they dart in and out crevices and away from the human intruders.

Calypso is the local dive centre at Ushaka. They run “discover scuba” and “bubble maker” experiences in the snorkel lagoon. The “bubble maker” experience is for children 8- 10 year olds.

For the kiddies over 10 years of age a scuba diving course is available. Certified divers can also dive in the open ocean lagoon with pelagic fish and rays.

And then there are the super awesome, underwater adventures, where you are able to experience the mighty and stunning sharks up real close and personal by hopping into a cage and experience a shark cage dive which looked so amazing and take an underwater walk on the floor of the aquarium with an ocean diver.

Both of these adventures can be viewed from inside the aquarium. The rest of the family went down to watch my youngest son Jordan and I as we experienced the underwater seafloor walk. It was fantastic. I was a little nervous at first as I was not sure if I would manage as I suffer a bit with claustrophobia and an upside down glass “goldfish” bowel on my head did not shower me with confidence. Many years ago I also burst my eardrum and was worried I may not be able to equalize my ears. I coped with both!

The huge bubble on your head is very heavy and I was grateful for the miracles of science as we went down into the “depths” of the ocean floor and walked down a metal ladder.

Water is unable to enter into the glass bubble over your head which is really freaky, pretty much the same principle as sinking a glass upside down into a bucket of water. It sits on and presses down on your shoulders and you are able to slip your hands under to clean the glass and to help equalize your ears.

The water was quiet cold so lots of shivering and teeth chattering occurred. It was really amazing as you moved in slow motion between the swimming and darting fish. A ray swam between my legs a few times and it was surreal feeling the tips of his body brush against my legs, the first time I admit I nearly pooped myself.

Then a sand shark suddenly brushed up against my legs and decided to swim between them too, nearly knocking me off my feet, this time I nearly fainted but WOW so super cool. My son Jordan was just as lucky and also had them swim between him. A safety diver is in the water at all times in case anyone panics or gets into trouble. The “bottom” of the ocean has a sudden drop to another floor several metres below and if you step off this it is difficult to work your way back up and you would then need the help of the safety diver. Thankfully nothing like that happened and before we knew it, it was all over and we had to get back up and out.

I highly recommend it especially for those who cannot take part in deep sea diving, you should be able to cope with this even if you have ear problems. I will definitely go back and convince my two older kids to try it out.

uShaka Wet 'n Wild:

We did not have time to try out the uShaka Wet ’n Wild water park. It would pour with rain then the sun would come out continuously.
We also had my elderly mom in a wheelchair with us. And talking about that, for the most part wheelchair access is good. The only issue is going down and coming up the steep ramps on your way down and up. My two sons had to use some muscle extra power and complained that their arms and legs were stiff the next day.!! So not sure what an elderly or small person would do if they were pushing a wheelchair. uShaka world arranged to meet us at the main entrance with a wheelchair for my mother which was really fantastic.

Back to the water park, which contains everything from a lazy river ride that goes through the ship wreck, which we witnessed as we explored the shipwreck above, and past some tanks, to high speed slides, and boasts the highest water slide in the southern hemisphere and includes a large grass area for relaxing, and its own restaurants.

uShaka Beach Front:

When you go to the entrance of the Marine World too your right is the uShaka Beach front allowing direct access from the amusement park.

It has stunning sand beaches and a huge pier leading out into the ocean.While we were there many sand sculptures were busy with their craft building these huge and amazing sand animals and castles.