Explore St Lucia – Travel Tips, Wildlife & Lodge Stories

December in St Lucia is full for a reason. Families travel from all over South Africa, cars line the streets, and every beach day feels like a shared event. It's festive, busy, and for many people, exactly what they want.

But once the Christmas rush fades, something else happens.

January arrives quietly – and St Lucia changes pace. The same warm ocean. The same green summer landscape. The same wildlife moving through town. Just fewer people competing for space and time.

For South Africans who still have leave left, January is when St Lucia becomes easier to enjoy. Mornings feel unhurried. Parking is simple. Restaurants breathe again. And self-catering accommodation in St Lucia, KZN suddenly gives you options instead of compromises.

It's the month where you don't feel like you're squeezing a holiday into a calendar – you feel like you're actually on one.

Evenings in St Lucia have a certain rhythm. The air is warm, the sea hums just beyond the estuary, and somewhere along the coast, the first leatherback turtle hauls herself out of the surf. From the deck at Ingwenya Lodge, guests often watch the sky darken and know that, down the beach, one of the ocean’s oldest rituals is beginning.

Ingwenya Lodge is a family-run self-catering lodge on the outskirts of St Lucia, nestled against the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa's first UNESCO World Heritage Site). The lodge's six units each have fully equipped kitchens and modern comforts, and the property offers panoramic views of both the St Lucia estuary and the Indian Ocean. The setting is tranquil – hippos often graze on the lawns at night – giving guests a genuine wildlife experience just steps from their doorstep. The lodge is also pet-friendly.

When you book a self-catering lodge, sharing a braai is the last thing you want. At Ingwenya Lodge, every unit has its own private braai, giving guests space to relax and cook in their own time. Families like the peace of fenced gardens, couples enjoy the privacy, and groups gather on decks with sea views.

There are few travel moments as powerful as watching a whale rise from the sea. In St Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal, this isn’t a rare event — it’s part of daily life during the winter migration. The town sits on the edge of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where ocean, estuary, and forest meet.