Nobuhle Modise

The school holidays are here, bringing all the usual negotiations over screen time, snacks and what everyone is going to do for the day. Durban has plenty of well-known family attractions, but this list looks beyond the first places that usually come to mind. There is something for the child who wants to jump, the one who would rather dig for gemstones, and the teenager who is unlikely to be impressed by another play area. Public schools break from 24 September to 5 October 2026, although dates may differ at independent schools. Here are some of the most interesting ways to fill those days. TIME OUT DURBAN RECOMMENDS: 📍 The best things to do in Durban🍽  The best restaurants in Durban🏨 The best hotels in Durban🛏️ Where to stay in Durban📢 Latest news from Durban Follow Time Out Durban on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok! To get the coolest news, features, and things to do straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.

Planning a getaway? We’ve found some of the latest accommodation deals and specials across KwaZulu-Natal, from September escapes in the Drakensberg to glamping in the Midlands and stays on the South Coast. If your next getaway has been sitting on the wish list because of the price, it may be worth taking another look. There are currently several accommodation specials and reduced rates available across KwaZulu-Natal, covering everything from mountain retreats and countryside glamping to safari stays and coastal escapes. We’ve rounded up some of the deals currently available, with several ending later this month or in the coming months. Rates and availability can change, so check the booking terms before making your reservation. Follow Time Out Durban on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok! To get the coolest news, features, and things to do straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter. TIME OUT DURBAN RECOMMENDS: 📍 The best things to do in Durban🍽 The best restaurants in Durban🏨 The best hotels in Durban🛏️ Where to stay in Durban📢 Latest news from Durban

A family holiday sounds idyllic until you hear the words: “What are we doing now?” The trick to getting the school holidays right is finding somewhere that gives children plenty to do without parents having to plan an itinerary from breakfast to bedtime. KwaZulu-Natal has several resorts where the activities are part of the stay, so there’s no need to spend every morning searching for the next outing. We've rounded up five options across the province where families can settle in, unpack and let the kids get on with having a holiday. Follow Time Out Durban on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok! To get the coolest news, features, and things to do straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter. TIME OUT DURBAN RECOMMENDS: 📍 The best things to do in Durban🍽 The best restaurants in Durban🏨 The best hotels in Durban🛏️ Where to stay in Durban📢 Latest news from Durban

Think you need a big budget to have a good day out in Durban? Think again. The city is packed with experiences that won’t leave your wallet feeling considerably lighter, whether you’re a visitor looking to explore the city or a local in need of a fun day out without spending a fortune. From its famous beachfront and buzzing promenade to its marine attractions and long-standing family favourites, Durban has plenty to offer at pocket-friendly prices. You can get out on the water, meet some of the ocean’s most fascinating residents, explore a miniature version of a South African coastal city or take in some of Durban’s best-known sights from the top deck of a double-decker bus. And with each of these experiences costing R200 or less per person, you can spend the day exploring without having to constantly check your bank balance. So, whether you’re planning a weekend outing, looking for something to do with the kids during the holidays, or simply want to rediscover your own city, here are five things to do in Durban for under R200. Follow Time Out Durban on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok! TIME OUT DURBAN RECOMMENDS: 📍 The best things to do in Durban🍽 The best restaurants in Durban🏨 The best hotels in Durban🛏️ Where to stay in Durban📢 Latest news from Durban

Durban’s Golden Mile offers a selection of world-class hotels. Behind the polished lobbies and welcoming smiles are teams working around the clock to keep some of the city’s best-known hotels running smoothly. At the helm of four Southern Sun properties along the Durban beachfront are four women who share a passion for people and the city they call home. Lettisha Singh, Nomfundo Nzama, Nicole Munro, and Portia Msomi share their stories with us. TIME OUT DURBAN RECOMMENDS: 📍 The best things to do in Durban🍽  The best restaurants in Durban🏨 The best hotels in Durban🛏️ Where to stay in Durban📢 Latest news from Durban Follow Time Out Durban on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok! To get the coolest news, features, and things to do straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.

Tourism in KwaZulu-Natal is often reduced to its beaches, game reserves and big-name hotels. But behind those experiences is a diverse industry shaped by people working across conservation, hospitality, cultural tourism and travel, and increasingly, women are taking up space in all of it. For Women’s Month, we meet five women whose careers could hardly look more different. One works on the front lines of wildlife conservation, another leads one of KZN’s best-known luxury hotels. In contrast, others build hospitality teams, create cultural experiences, and grow their own travel businesses. Their stories also offer a glimpse into the many ways visitors experience the province. From the wilderness of iMfolozi and the shores of Umhlanga to KZN’s battlefields, heritage sites and local communities, their work helps connect travellers with the people, places and experiences that make the province distinctive. Together, they show that there is no single route into tourism and no single way to shape it. These are their stories. Follow Time Out Durban on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok! To get the coolest news, features, and things to do straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter. TIME OUT DURBAN RECOMMENDS: The best things to do in Durban The best restaurants in Durban The best hotels in Durban Where to stay in Durban Latest news from Durban  

Ask ten people in KwaZulu-Natal what heritage means to them and you are unlikely to get the same answer twice. For one person, it is the meal they can make without measuring a thing. For another, it is a surname, a song, a prayer, a place or a story repeated so often that nobody quite remembers who told it first. It can be the isiZulu expression that does not land properly in English. The family recipe nobody has written down. The outfit brought out for one important day. It can also be the uncomfortable parts of our history, the things we would rather not carry but cannot afford to forget. Over the past few weeks, Time Out Durban has spent a lot of time asking people about heritage for our series. Not always in those exact words, but the question has found its way into conversations about music, food, family, townships and the city itself. What became clear through these conversations is that heritage rarely sits still. The history of Heritage Day proves it. Before 24 September belonged to the whole country, it carried a particular meaning here in KwaZulu-Natal. The date was observed as Shaka Day in honour of King Shaka kaSenzangakhona, one of the most consequential figures in the history of this province. Shaka ruled from 1816 until his assassination in September 1828. During those 12 years, he transformed what had been a relatively small Zulu chiefdom into a powerful kingdom. He reorganised the amabutho regimental system, changed military strategy and brought numerous

The final leg of our Durban township tour took us to Princess Magogo Stadium for a Currie Cup clash between the Sharks and the Boland Kavaliers. After several hours on the road, there was no quiet arrival. The stands were filling up and the crowd was ready for rugby. The Sharks had made 4,000 tickets available free of charge, drawing more than 2,000 people to the stadium. There were families, groups of friends and plenty of children taking in the action. It was a change from the Sharks’ usual home at Kings Park and a rare rugby fixture for a stadium more commonly associated with football. READ: Durban Beyond the Beach|Part 1 of 4   Nobuhle ModiseThe crowd settles in for an afternoon of Currie Cup rugby in KwaMashu.   Who was Princess Magogo? Princess Magogo Stadium was upgraded ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and used as an official training ground for teams based in Durban. It has since staged several football competitions, including COSAFA Cup fixtures. It is named after Princess Constance Magogo kaDinuzulu, the daughter of King Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo and the mother of the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi. She was also a musician, composer and poet who played traditional instruments including the ugubhu and isithontolo. Her work helped preserve traditional Zulu music, and she was widely respected for her knowledge of Zulu customs and folklore. The background to the name is easy to miss when you are there to watch sport, but it gave our final destination an unexpected link

By the time we reached KwaMashu, we had already travelled through some of Durban’s heaviest history. Our township experience had begun at KwaMuhle Museum, before taking us through Inanda, where the stories of Mahatma Gandhi, John Dube and Nelson Mandela sit within kilometres of each other. It had been a morning of listening, learning and looking at familiar parts of Durban differently. Then came lunch. And Mkhize Rooftop was not playing around. From history lessons to a very serious meat platter From the street, a large yellow-and-black sign is your clue that you have arrived. Head upstairs and the space opens into a laid-back rooftop overlooking KwaMashu, with covered seating, music and plenty of room to settle in for the afternoon. Then the food arrived. Nobuhle ModiseLunch arrived on a wooden board piled high with braaied meat and salad. The enormous wooden board placed in front of us was piled high with braaied meat and served with salad. This was not one of those meals that leaves you wondering whether you should order something else afterwards. It was generous, smoky and delicious – the kind of platter that turns a table full of people into a temporary family as everyone reaches in for another piece. There was garlic bread, more meat than I could confidently identify before everybody started eating, and absolutely no chance of leaving hungry. READ: Durban Beyond the Beach: The Inanda I wasn’t expecting More than a lunch stop Nobuhle ModiseThe rooftop is made for rela

The much-loved Delfi Greek Taverna, a fixture of Durban’s Windermere dining scene for decades, has been badly damaged in a fire. The blaze broke out at the corner of Lilian Ngoyi and Livingstone roads, with firefighters bringing it under control in around 20 minutes. Three people were assessed for minor smoke inhalation at the scene and did not require further treatment. Two dogs were also rescued from the building. The cause of the fire is still unknown. Delphi Greek Taverna FacebookDelphi Greek Taverna before the fire, at its long-standing Windermere premises. A piece of old-school Durban For generations of Durban diners, Delfi was the kind of restaurant that felt woven into the neighbourhood. Sisters Maria and Doddy Teranes established the small Greek taverna in 2002, but the family's connection to the building goes much further back. Their parents previously ran a supermarket and café from the same premises for around 35 years. Delfi carried that family connection forward, becoming known for its traditional Greek cooking, intimate setting and unmistakably personal hospitality. It was never the sort of restaurant built around trends. Its appeal was in the food, the family behind it and the familiarity that came with returning to the same small corner over many years. The restaurant's menu became particularly associated with Greek staples, mezze, seafood and its much-loved prawns. That longevity made Delfi part of the city's restaurant memory: a place that had outlast

Durban, warm up those laughing muscles. Trevor Noah and his hand-picked comedy squad are heading our way this weekend. Bafunny Bafunny, billed as South Africa’s national team of comedy, takes over the playTSOGO Globe at Suncoast on Saturday, September 19. Noah captains the team alongside vice-captain Eugene Khoza, with internationally acclaimed Zimbabwean comedian Learnmore Jonasi also called up for the Durban fixture. View this post on Instagram A post shared by bafunnybafunny (@bafunnybafunny) And because you cannot play a home game without local talent, Durban comedians Rory Petzer and Nonto R have been added to the line-up. The show forms part of the inaugural South African Festival of Comedy, a five-show tour stopping in Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town. It brings established names and emerging stand-up talent together on one very big stage, without forcing anyone to pretend they understand the offside rule. READ: Get out the popcorn, Durban, the European Film Festival is back! A familiar comedy squad returns The Bafunny Bafunny name may ring a bell. The comedy “national team” was first assembled in 2010, when South Africa had football fever, and Noah was still several years away from taking over The Daily Show. Sixteen years later, he returns as the team captain and lead curator, using the tour to place some of the region’s strongest comic voices in front of arena-sized audiences. Durban gets one show only, so there will be no replay if you miss it.

When flames tore through Delfi Greek Taverna earlier this month, Durban lost one of its familiar old-school restaurants. For the Teranes family, however, the loss was far more personal. The building on the corner of Lilian Ngoyi and Livingstone roads was not only home to the restaurant. Doddy, Maria and Manuel Teranes had lived there for 59 years. Their home, possessions and decades of family memories were destroyed along with the taverna. Now, a fundraising campaign is helping the family begin the daunting task of rebuilding their lives. SuppliedDelfi became a familiar part of Durban's dining scene over the decades. READ: Fire tears through much-loved Delphi Greek Taverna in Durban More than a restaurant The fire broke out on Thursday, September 3, engulfing the building before firefighters brought it under control. While our first report focused on the damage to the restaurant, the full scale of the family’s loss has since become clearer. The property had been their home since 1967. Family records, certificates and possessions collected over several generations were among the items lost in the blaze. Long before Delfi began serving its Greek favourites, the same building housed EFI Supermarket, which was run by the family’s parents for around 35 years. Sisters Maria and Doddy Teranes later opened Delfi Greek Taverna in 2002, giving the familiar corner a new life. For many regulars, it became the kind of place where the people serving you remembered who you were. For the f

For years, many South Africans have known Rachel Kolisi through the life they saw from the outside. Falling Forward introduces us to the little girl behind the woman we thought we knew. The documentary was screened at Grace Family Church in Durban as part of a national roadshow, followed by an intimate conversation with Kolisi. A women-led market also showcased products made by small, women-owned South African businesses. The film takes her back to a childhood marked by her parents’ separation, her mother leaving, and the enormous responsibility of helping to raise her younger siblings while she was still a child herself. I did not know this part of her story. Watching it, so much of what she shares about the woman she became suddenly makes sense. The feeling of being unwanted keeps returning. So does the fear that the people she loves will eventually leave. It followed her into adulthood, even as she built a family of her own and a life that, from the outside, appeared secure. Read: What Yudhika Sujanani taught me about curry, confidence and breaking the rules The child behind the woman Her marriage and its ending form part of the story, but they are not the whole story and certainly not the centre of who she is. Anyone arriving in the hope of hearing the details behind the headlines will not find them here. Rachel tells her own story: the child she was, the mother she became, the parts of herself she lost along the way and the woman she is getting to know again. What she do

Driving through Bhambayi on our way to the Phoenix Settlement, I wasn't quite prepared for what we'd find at the end of the road. We had come to Inanda as part of our Durban Township Experience, and this was the heritage leg of the tour. I knew we were going to learn about Mahatma Gandhi's time in South Africa. What I hadn't anticipated was how much the journey to the site itself would stay with me. Then we arrived. Read: Durban Beyond the Beach|Part 1 of 4 Nobuhle ModiseThe Phoenix Settlement was established by Mahatma Gandhi in Inanda in 1904. The Phoenix Settlement is beautifully restored and peaceful, preserving an important part of Gandhi's South African story. There are museum displays, photographs, and buildings connected to the community he established here more than 120 years ago. And then you look across the road. There is an informal settlement right there. The contrast is difficult to ignore. On one side is a carefully preserved heritage site telling a story recognised around the world. On the other, families are living with the realities of poverty in present-day Durban. It was jarring. And it made me want to understand more about where we were. Gandhi's Inanda story Gandhi established the Phoenix Settlement in 1904. It became a home and a place where some of his ideas around communal living, self-sufficiency, and service could be put into practice. It was also home to the printing press that produced Indian Opinion, the newspaper Gandhi founded in South Africa

Durban: we have checked. And then checked again. There is a Durban date. Sean Paul is coming to South Africa this December, and would you look at that? Our little corner of the east coast has survived the tour announcement. The Jamaican star will perform at the Durban ICC on Sunday, December 6, after shows in Cape Town and Pretoria. All three cities. Imagine that. Read: Out and About in Durban: Things to do this weekend SuppliedSean Paul is coming to South Africa There is, however, a small matter of the ticket prices. Silver seated starts at R750, Gold seated is R950, General Standing jumps to R1,500, and Golden Circle Standing will set you back R1,750. So yes, Durban finally made the tour poster. Unfortunately, our bank accounts have also been invited. There is a little relief for said bank accounts. Blu Blood Tickets is now allowing fans to secure their Sean Paul tickets and pay them off in instalments over the next few months, rather than coughing up the full amount at once. Which means Golden Circle doesn't necessarily have to be a R1,750 problem today. Still, after all our complaining about being left out, it would be rather awkward to start acting unavailable now. Forgive our excitement, but Durbanites know how these things usually go. A major international artist announces a South African tour, we rush to the dates, and then comes the familiar combination: Cape Town. Johannesburg or Pretoria. And that’s it. Goodnight and God bless. Read: The best places to watch li

Some songs age gracefully. Others only need the first few seconds to make grown adults behave like it’s 2005 again. South Africa, prepare accordingly: Sean Paul is coming. The Jamaican star has announced three South African shows for December, kicking things off in Cape Town before heading to Pretoria and finishing the tour in Durban. And yes, Durban actually made the tour poster this time. SuppliedSouth Africa are you ready for the right temperature??? Read: Get ready, Tygas: Tyla is coming to SA! And if you’re already hearing ‘Temperature’ in your head, we suspect you know exactly what kind of night this is going to be. Sean Paul has been part of the soundtrack to nights out for more than two decades. ‘Get Busy’, ‘Like Glue’, ‘Gimme the Light’, ‘We Be Burnin’’ and ‘Temperature’ barely scratch the surface, before you even get to collaborations such as Beyoncé’s ‘Baby Boy’, Sia’s ‘Cheap Thrills’ and Clean Bandit’s ‘Rockabye’. Basically, this is not a concert where you’ll spend half the night politely waiting for a song you recognise. Read: Grammy Award-winning Brandy is coming to Pretoria! When is Sean Paul coming to South Africa? The South African leg starts at the Grand Arena at GrandWest in Cape Town on Thursday, December 3. Pretoria is next, with Sean Paul taking over the SunBet Arena at Time Square on Friday, December 4. Then it’s Durban’s turn, with the final show at the Durban ICC on Sunday, December 6. There is, of course, the small matter of what all this will cos

Heritage is not something Linda Sikhakhane leaves behind when he walks into a studio. It comes with him. It is in Umlazi, where he was born and raised. In Nongoma, where his family roots lie and where he still speaks of home. It is in the music he grew up around, the people who helped shape him and, increasingly, in the stories he chooses to tell through his saxophone. For Time Out Durban’s Heritage Series, the acclaimed jazz musician reflects on all of that through his most personal project yet: a self-titled album that turns inward while tracing the places, people and traditions that made him. “This project is very close to my heart,” Sikhakhane tells Time Out Durban. “I guess this is when I really tell my personal stories. I zoom into myself and try to express that to the listeners and the public.” It is a fitting approach for an album carrying his name. Unlike his previous projects, this one did not begin with a neatly mapped-out concept or collection of finished songs. In fact, Sikhakhane admits he was not quite ready to make an album at all. The opportunity came through acclaimed pianist and composer Nduduzo Makhathini, who was spending time with musicians visiting South Africa for mentorship. Makhathini wanted them to experience what it was like to make a body of work in a South African studio and asked Sikhakhane if he was ready to record his next album. He said yes. Then came the small matter of actually having an album to record. “There were no songs,” Sikhakhane sa

The aQuellé Tour Durban is going bigger in 2027, spreading the action across two weekends and bringing mountain biking back into the mix. It starts off-road on 11 April, when mountain bikers head into the Cornubia precinct for 10km, 20km, 40km and 60km options. The routes move through the cane fields and trails around Cornubia, Umdloti, Mount Moreland, Verulam and Waterloo. Then attention shifts back to the city. The main road race takes place on Sunday, 18 April, with 100km and 45km distances starting and finishing at Moses Mabhida Stadium. Read: Cyclists head to city for the new-look Tour Durban   aQuellé Tour DurbanTour Durban caters for different levels of riders, with 45km and 100km road race options on the 2027 programme.    For the 100km riders, this isn't simply another run up and down the M4. The new route takes the race through central Durban and past the harbour before heading south and inland towards Queensburgh, Pinetown and New Germany. Riders then make their way back towards the coast through Springfield and Riverside, before passing Durban North, La Lucia and Umhlanga and heading towards Umdloti. It's a route that puts far more of Durban into Tour Durban. Between the two race weekends, the Suncoast Dome will host a two-day Lifestyle Expo on 16 and 17 April, which will also serve as the registration venue for the road races. The Domino Foundation remains the event's beneficiary. Read: WOA Iqembu Cycle Challenge returns to Durban for 2026 team cycling race aQ