Gala Gala Eco Resort

Whether you’re a diehard diver or tempted to try it for the first time, the helpful Gala Gala Eco Resort team can fix you up, and there’s a number of classic dive spots nearby of varying depth and difficulty. Take the Three Sisters trip to see the longnose hawkfish unique to this coastline and meet the gigantic resident honeycomb eel, or if you’re up for a challenge, hang with the hammerhead and tiger sharks on the deeper Atlantis dive. When you’re ready for dry land, it’s a 50-minute drive to the west gate of the Maputo Special Reserve, 1,670 square kilometres of protected lakes, mangrove swamps and forested dunes where elephants and hippos, giraffes and zebras make their home. It’s also a haven for various forms of rare feathered life, such as African fish eagles, olive bee-eaters and white helmetshrikes. If you cross into South Africa, the Kosi Bay area (45 minutes) presents a very different kind of wilderness. Part of the iSimangaliso Wetlands Park, this region of raffia palm forests, swamps and reed channels is best explored in 4x4s and boats. Rare palm nut vultures graze in the forests, leatherback and loggerhead turtles nest on the beaches and the local Thonge people trap fish with methods thousands of years old.