What's on in Durban, South Africa through the year

Peak crowds — South African summer holidays, Term 4–1 (summer, year-end) break in South Africa

• Season

  Swimmable sea all year

  1 Jan – 31 DecSea warm enough

  The Agulhas current runs warm down this coast, so this is the one big South African city where people swim in July without a wetsuit. The netted beaches on the Golden Mile are patrolled year round.

Still on: Summer storm and flood season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), South African summer holidays (15 Dec – 15 Jan)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Swimmable sea all year (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Summer storm and flood season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Term 1–2 (autumn) break in South Africa, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Easter on the Golden Mile

  3–6 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook early

  The inland provinces drive down for the long weekend and the beachfront runs at capacity while the water is still warm. The N3 from Johannesburg is the busiest road in the country on the Thursday. Source ↗

Still on: Swimmable sea all year (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Summer storm and flood season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Easter on the Golden Mile, Term 1–2 (autumn) break in South Africa

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Swimmable sea all year (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Easter on the Golden Mile (3–6 Apr)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Nature

  Sardine run

  25 May – 20 Jul · usuallyWildlife season

  Cold water pushes shoals of sardines up from the Eastern Cape with gannets, dolphins and sharks behind them, most reliably in the last two weeks of June. The KwaZulu-Natal leg has been patchy since the 2000s, so nobody sells it as a certainty. Source ↗

Still on: Swimmable sea all year (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Peak crowds — Comrades Marathon, Term 2–3 (winter) break in South Africa

• Nature

  Humpback migration

  1 Jun – 30 NovWhale season

  The continental shelf runs close in here, so the humpbacks heading north to calve pass within sight of the bluff from June, and come back south with the calves from September. No boat needed on a clear morning.

• Festival

  Comrades Marathon

  14 JunMajor festivalCrowdedClosuresBook early

  Ninety kilometres between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, direction alternating each year, with about twenty thousand runners and the whole route lined. On an up year the start is in the city centre before dawn and roads shut with it. Source ↗

• Festival

  The Durban July

  4 JulMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  The country's biggest race day at Greyville on the first Saturday of July, and as much a fashion event as a horse race. Hotels take the whole week and rates roughly double around it. Source ↗

Still on: Swimmable sea all year (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Sardine run (25 May – 20 Jul (usually))

Peak crowds — The Durban July, Term 2–3 (winter) break in South Africa

• Festival

  Durban International Film Festival

  18 Jul – 5 Aug · usually

  Africa's longest-running film festival takes over the city's cinemas for the back end of July into early August, in the dry, mild middle of winter, which is the best time to be in Durban anyway. Source ↗

Still on: Swimmable sea all year (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Sardine run (25 May – 20 Jul (usually)), Humpback migration (1 Jun – 30 Nov), The Durban July (4 Jul)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Swimmable sea all year (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Humpback migration (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Durban International Film Festival (18 Jul – 5 Aug (usually))

Peak crowds — Heritage Day, Term 3–4 (spring) break in South Africa

• Holiday

  Heritage Day

  24 SepNational holidayCrowdedClosures

  A public holiday that South Africa has quietly turned into a national braai; the beachfront and the parks fill from mid-morning and the shops keep Sunday hours. Source ↗

Still on: Swimmable sea all year (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Humpback migration (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Peak crowds — Diwali, Term 3–4 (spring) break in South Africa

• Festival

  Diwali

  15 Oct – 15 Nov · usuallyCrowded

  Durban has one of the largest Indian communities outside India and the festival shows in Chatsworth and Phoenix rather than downtown — lights, sweets and fireworks for the best part of a week. Source ↗

Still on: Swimmable sea all year (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Humpback migration (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Busy — Diwali, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Summer storm and flood season

  1 Nov – 31 Mar · usuallyStorm season

  KwaZulu-Natal's rain comes as violent afternoon storms and, every few years, as the kind of flooding that takes out roads and closes the beaches to swimming for days on hygiene grounds. Source ↗

Still on: Swimmable sea all year (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Humpback migration (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Diwali (15 Oct – 15 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — South African summer holidays, Term 4–1 (summer, year-end) break in South Africa

• Holiday

  South African summer holidays

  15 Dec – 15 JanSchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  The single busiest month here: Gauteng empties onto this coast, the beachfront is shoulder to shoulder, and every apartment on the north and south coasts is let. Book by winter or take February instead. Source ↗

Still on: Swimmable sea all year (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Summer storm and flood season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))