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  

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

There are few things more dangerous than telling a room full of Durban women that they may have been cooking curry differently all these years. I discovered this at Yudhika Sujanani’s Royal Feast Curry Masterclass, when a seemingly innocent pot of onions caused some of the biggest reactions of the afternoon. Salt went in. There were gasps. “We don’t do it like that,” came the comments from around the room. And that was when I knew this was going to be fun. Because curry in Durban is personal. You have your way of making it, but chances are it started with somebody else's way. Your mother’s. Your grandmother’s. An aunt who never measured anything but somehow produced the same curry every single time. And then there is biryani. Everyone has an opinion on biryani. So putting Yudhika in front of a room full of women, many of whom already cook these dishes at home, was always going to invite some commentary. It did. Read:The 11 best Indian restaurants in Durban A masterclass, but also a girls’ day out The Royal Feast Curry Masterclass at the Beverly Hills in uMhlanga was one of Yudhika's Heritage Month cooking experiences in Durban. Nobuhle ModiseThe Beverly Hills in uMhlanga provided the seaside setting for Yudhika Sujanani’s Durban masterclass. Royal Parda Lamb Biryani, Shahi Masala Chicken, Tamarind and Tomato Prawn Curry and Burfee Soji were on the menu. The women were ready. Quite a few had come in groups and made a day of it. There was very much a girls’ day out feeling in

The weather certainly didn't get the memo. Saturday at the Durban Street Food Festival arrived grey, wet and decidedly less spring-like than anyone would have hoped, but that didn't stop Durbanites from heading to The Pavilion with one thing on their minds: food. And there was plenty of it. The three-day festival, which ran from September 4 to 6, brought together more than 75 food, craft and lifestyle vendors, with everything from local favourites to flavours from around the world on the menu. We went along on Saturday to see what all the fuss was about and, despite the miserable weather, there was still a good crowd moving between stalls, eating, shopping and settling in for the entertainment. First stop: Thailand With so much choice, deciding where to start was probably the hardest part. We eventually made our way to Tuk Tuk by Sarah Homemade, serving authentic Thai street food. It was exactly the kind of stall a street food festival should have: something you might not order on a typical Saturday afternoon, but you're curious enough to try when it's right in front of you. Read: Kelvin Momo to headline Durban's biggest Heritage Day shisanyama festival Nobuhle ModiseTuk Tuk by Sarah Homemade brought authentic Thai street food to the Durban Street Food Festival. From there, we moved on to something considerably smokier. The festival's food line-up included Detroit Smokehouse among a long list of vendors serving everything from burgers and shawarma to tacos, curries, bao bun

The much-loved Delphi 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 outlas

We left Durban’s familiar beachfront behind for a day exploring the city through its history, communities, food, culture and sport. First stop: KwaMuhle Museum, where the stories of migration, labour and apartheid set the scene for everything that followed. If you know Durban mainly through its beaches, promenade and Indian Ocean views, there is another side of the city waiting to be explored. It is a Durban of history, communities, food, culture and sport, and you don't necessarily have to travel far to find it. That was the idea behind a township tourism experience organised by Durban Tourism, which took us on a day-long journey through the city, starting in the centre and eventually making our way to KwaMashu. The itinerary was designed to give us a taste of Durban beyond the beach, but what I particularly enjoyed was that the experience began before we even reached our first destination. The journey started in the minibus. We climbed into the minibus, and our tour guide immediately got to work. From the moment we left, we were being given context about Durban, its people, its history and the movement of communities into the city. It made the journey feel like part of the experience rather than simply transport between attractions. By the time we arrived at KwaMuhle Museum, we had already begun to understand that we were about to see a very different side of Durban. And it was the perfect place to start. Nobuhle ModiseKwaMuhle Museum is housed in the former Native Admini

If your car is already feeling expensive to run, there’s some more bad news: petrol prices are going up from Wednesday, 2 September. Both 93 and 95 petrol will increase by R1.34 a litre, according to the latest fuel price announcement from the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources. And it’s not just petrol taking a hit. Diesel drivers are facing an even bigger increase, with 0.05% sulphur diesel going up by R2.939 a litre, while 0.005% sulphur diesel will increase by R3.149 a litre.   engin akyurt on UnsplashBuckle up, Durban – another fuel price hike is on the way.       So, why is fuel going up? The latest increase comes as international oil prices climb. The department says the average Brent crude oil price rose from US$82.37 to US$87.88, with US-Iran tensions, uncertainty around oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz and higher shipping costs all contributing to the increase. There have also been increases in international petrol and diesel prices, with supply shortages and lower global inventories adding to the pressure. The rand did manage to soften the blow slightly. It strengthened from an average of R16.46 to R16.21 against the US dollar during the period under review, helping to lower some of the fuel price pressure. But there’s another factor motorists will want to know about: the Slate Levy. A levy of 83.28 cents a litre will be added to petrol and diesel prices from Wednesday, following a negative cumulative slate balance of R9.519 billion at the end

Hollywoodbets Greyville felt a little more like the Mediterranean than Durban on Friday night, as Lucky Fish Friday Night Racing brought its OPA! Greek Night theme to the racecourse. The 28 August event was the latest instalment in the Lucky Fish Friday Night Racing series, designed to reimagine the traditional night at the races. Rather than simply coming to watch the horses, guests are encouraged to make an evening of it, with each Friday bringing a different theme, food offering and entertainment line-up. The series kicked off earlier this month with a South Korean-inspired night, followed by a Ladies' Night and a Friday Night Fever theme. The idea is simple: keep the racing as the main attraction, but add enough food, music, entertainment and themed experiences to make it a destination for a Friday night out.  Nobuhle ModiseHollywoodbets Greyville provides the setting for Lucky Fish Friday Night Racing.  And Greek Night certainly embraced the brief. The racecourse was given a Mediterranean makeover, with male and female models dressed as Greek gods and goddesses adding to the spectacle and giving guests plenty to look at between races. There was also plenty happening for food lovers, with Greek-inspired dishes available around the venue. My pick for the evening was a delicious lamb souvlaki, a particularly good accompaniment to a night spent moving between the racing action, music and food stalls. On the entertainment front, Kyle Deutsch and Sketchy Bongo provided the s