Makakatana Bay Lodge

We loved this place. It is a beautiful house in the wetlands. You feel isolated and wildlife is all over the place: monkeys, hippos, giraffe, antilopes. The guides were very knowledgeable and passionate especially ashton. The dinner around the bush camp fire was great. I highly recommend but it is pricey.

We had a wonderful time here. This is the only lodge on Makakatana which makes it very special place to stay. The lodge is located on the shores of Lake St Lucia and it is just beautiful. There is a main house with the restaurant, lounge area and a deck with a water hole in front where waterbucks and warthogs come to drink at night. From there you walk past the guest cabins and after those a supernice pool area with views of the lake. Roland was our main guide, he grew up in the bush so it is hard to find someone more experienced and knowledgeable about everything related to the bush. Next to that he is super kind, fun and has many stories related to the area and his experiences, we could listen to those for weeks. The other guide who guided us on a few tours is Ashton who, although relatively new, is super knowledgeable as well and a super enthousiastic, funny and kind person. The cool thing is the many different activities; from regular game drives to a river cruise and a trip by boat across the lake towards the vegetated sand dunes and the Indian Ocean. We saw so many wildlife that it is hard to name them all; from hyenas, giraffes, zebras, crocodiles, hippos, many different types of antilopes to maybe the most special you will ever see in your life: a Strawberry leopard. All the other staff was just as amazing; Roy does a fantastic job managing the kitchen, a magician in the kitchen ( ;-) ) and great person to have met. Larissa was supernice and was the one who guided us through the activities and all questions we had. And all the other staff members whose name we forgot were professional, cheerful and clearly passionate about their work at the lodge as well. The personal attention we received all through our stay made this an experience we will never forget.

We just arrived here for 3 days. The setting is beyond amazing, the facilities are beautiful, the people are more than welcoming and the service gets an A+. Kruger gets all the attention but this place is definitely a must. We haven't even gone out on game drives.yet and already love the place.

What a wonderful and idyllic place this is. We have been coming for nearly 20 years. It’s a stunning lodge with a very high level of service from everyone from rangers to kitchen staff. The rooms are huge with an amazing deck that you can watch the animals as they wander by. The location is quite breathtakingly beautiful and so tranquil. Super game drives and lots to see and do or not do! Superb food and great attention to detail from the team. The owners are a truly welcoming team who have turned this place into a paradise! We never want to leave. Thank you Makakatana.

We spent 3 fantastic days at Makakatana. It is a very special place in the beautiful Isimangaliso wetlands. Our room was spacious and comfortable and much nicer than the pics on the website. The food created by Roy, the chef was Michelin star standard and all the staff were lovely. Our ranger, Juandre was extremely knowledgeable and showed us many things we would never have spotted. I would highly recommend this lodge

From the moment we arrived we had a good feel about this lodge. Lovely staff and a very comfortable room with a patio but little of a view into the bush. Nonetheless we regularly saw Nyala, Red Duiker and of course the naughty vervet monkeys outside. Our guide on the game drives was a young man called Cameron who was actually a "locum" but was terrifically enthusiastic particular about birds which is the main reason for visiting this wetlands park. There are supposed to be well over 500 bird species but because of the recent rains and the developing reeds sightings were well down - not the fault of the lodge though. As it turned out the mammal sightings were excellent albeit this is not a Big Five region. The private boat trip with an elderly captain was enjoyable but again not so many birds were in evidence and the crocodiles nowhere to be seen! Back at the Lodge the food was excellent, dinner being served around the boma each night. The are and attention lavished by the staff is very good here and this is a very good place to stay in the area.