Visit Thompson Bay while booked at the North Star Micro Hotel in Umhlanga Rocks. The beach with a beautiful Hole in the rocks, and a yummy slice of pizza.
Thompson Bay on the North coast of Kwazulu Natal is home to a hidden ancient Hole in the rocks. It is a beautiful setting full of rock pools with tropical coloured coral on the ocean bed. Thompson Bay has a large tidal pool, crystal clear with a soft sea breeze on a perfect summer day. You will find parrotfish, trumpet fish, butterflyfish, blacktails, lionfish, eels, brown and white branching coral and lots of sea urchins around the edges. The tidal pool is home to many exotic species ocean life species. The tidal pool is idyllic and calm in the week. Thompson Bay has a fifty-meter tidal pool where you can snorkel safely.
The bay is perfect for swimming with minimal currents and clean ocean water protected from extreme ocean currents. The bay has local lifesavers on duty daily, to keep a watch on the swimmers entering the waves. The beach is spacious and offers many spaces for a tanning day in the sun on the beach and a splash into the salty ocean waves. The beach has showers, bathrooms and many lookout benches to sit on while snacking or watching the people walk by.
When you arrive at Thompson Bay, it is a five-minute walk from your car to the beach builds that build anticipation as the view gets more scenic. You pass local stalls selling local crafts and spread out in front of you is a little piece of heaven, tucked away in the heart of Ballito, The Hole in the Wall. As you walk towards the Hole in the rock, you pass the beautiful family-friendly beach. The beach bathrooms are clean and working, stocked with toilet paper and hand soap in ablutions.
The tidal pool and the rocks are a blogger or Instagrammer dream with angles and details all around you to photograph. The walkways are slippery. Be careful climbing and stepping over the rocks. You can hike up to one of the rocky points where you can watch the ocean. It is a romantic spot for any date hike. The hike and the tidal pool is ideal for filing with a GoPro. The bay is visual with many beautiful areas to capture, and if you dive and snorkel, there is a magical underwater world that awaits you. Even on one of the busiest days in December, the beach doesn’t feel crowded. For the history lovers, there is a high rock just across the bay written into history where the Zulu worriers used to push their enemies off the rocks.
When you visit Thompson Bay, stop at Salt Cafe for a thin based wood oven pizza or pizza slice. Make it a treat of the week to enjoy pizza on the beach. If you visit in the morning, the coffee and croissants are equally delicious. The beach lies between Ballito and Shakas rock beach known for its beauty and the famous Hole in the wall.
