Accommodation / Eastern Cape / Ten (10) to Inspire

Best Places to Stay on the Wild Coast – South Africaโ€™s most remote & untamed seashore

Updated Wednesday, 17 April 2024

Best Places to Stay on the Wild Coast ~ The Wild Coast stretches from East London to Port Edward on the countryโ€™s east coast – a distance of shoreline that is an ode to the countryโ€™s least spoiled beaches.

A visit to the Wild Coast is to submerge yourself in cliffside vistas and long stretches of gently grassed slopes that decalcify eyes used to vastly narrowed visual fields from peering at screens.

The Wild Coast is an aspect of Africa you dream of, the part thatโ€™s missing from its more commercial centres. Here, coffee is drunk from tin mugs, pot-holed roads impinge your speed, and sunrises are of a new dimension.

Itโ€™s where you experience hours of beachside ambles, where gentle Pondo cattle admit you to river mouths and beehive Xhosa huts with clay and dung floors litter undulating hills…

In short: The Wild Coast is where you want to be.

Best thing about this list is that it caters for every budget, and there are great backpacker venues as much as there are beachside guest houses, lodges and pamper hotels. Thereโ€™s even a game reserve…

Best places to stay on the Wild Coast

Prana Lodge & Spa

We think youโ€™ll love this elegant, private beach estate and spa with direct beach access. It limits its offering to only eight individually designed suites with select pieces from famous South African artists, Persian carpets and views to match. Wow.

Best places to stay on the Wild Coast

The Estuary Hotel, Port Edward

Youโ€™re only a few sandy steps from Silver beach on the edge of a river estuary with your own balcony and the option of spa treatments. Why wouldnโ€™t you? Wake up to the beautiful views of the estuary and the call of the resident Fish Eagle, sounds that are truly Africa.

Best Places to Stay on The Wild Coast

Umngazi Hotel & Spa, Port St Johns

Thatched roof bungalows set in amongst indigenous gardens on the edge of a river with access to beaches, walks, mangrove swamps, upriver canoe trips, birds and spa treatments in the Umngazi hillside, with plenty to occupy children.

Best places to stay on the Wild Coast

Buccaneers Lodge & Backpackers, Cintsa

Set on an incline overlooking the lagoon at Cintsa West, this little backpacker village gives you wonderful views of Cintsa beach and a series of simply furnished, yet bright and delightful rooms that range from luxury suites to safari tents.

Best places to stay on the Wild Coast

Morgan Bay Hotel

Bright, sunny, simply and elegantly decorated rooms that include inter-leading family rooms make Morgan Bay Hotel a perfect family option. Set in between dramatic cliffs and miles of unspoilt beach the hotel is affectionately known as โ€˜Morgsโ€™. One of the best places to stay on the Wild Coast.

Best places to stay on the Wild Coast

Cintsa View

Want to escape hotels and resorts, then choose this self-catering double storey holiday home just 500 metres from the beach. Itโ€™s elegant, simple and sleeps up to 10 people in its five bedrooms (three bathrooms).

Best places to stay on the Wild Coast

Swell Eco Lodge, Mngcibe

On the north side of the Mdumbi River with incredible views over the sea and a glimpse of rural life, youโ€™re going to love the opportunity to stay in newly renovated Xhosa rondavels, sea view duplexes or a luxury honeymoon rondavel that doubles for use by families (thereโ€™s a loft bedroom).

Best places to stay on the Wild Coast

Zesty Guesthouse, Port Edward

This guesthouse is perfect for those at the end of their Wild Coast stay, or on business (itโ€™s conveniently close to Bizana) as you can hop on the N2 from here without any problem. There are also family units that sleep up to five, which is rather useful.

Best places to stay on the Wild Coast

Crawfords Beach Lodge, Cintsa

At Crawfords youโ€™re surrounded by tropical beach forest and rolling hills with views over the Indian Ocean and access to 35 km of unspoilt beach. Accommodation is in 20 suites each with its own balcony overlooking the sea.

Best places to stay on the Wild Coast

Haga Haga Hotel

Right at the start of the Wild Coast, this quiet little beach resort is a good place to get used to long beach walks, and incredible scenery. The hotel offers en suite rooms, whilst there are a further 15 self-catering chalets with their own decks and sea views.

Best places to stay on the Wild Coast

Freedom O Clock Backpackers, Mngcibe

This rustic, eco-minded and family-run backpackers is everything you imagine a backpackers to be with rondavels, camping space, family and double rooms as well as gorgeous views over the river, beach and sea.

Best places to stay on the Wild Coast

Inkwenkwezi Private Game Reserve, Cintsa

Where youโ€™d least expect it is a game reserve that boasts not only the big five, zebra, giraffe and other animals, but five different biomes and a tidal estuary. Extra bonus is that youโ€™re only 40 minutes from a national airport and the roads are tarred right to the reserveโ€™s entrance.

Best places to stay on the Wild Coast

Ocean View Hotel, Coffee Bay

The towering cliffs and crashing waves of Coffee Bay hint at its beauty, but nothing prepares you for this part of the coast. And the hotel offers sea view rooms or family garden units that are comfortable and effortless so that your days are filled with beach combing, surfing or lazing around the pool.

Best places to stay on the Wild Coast

Trenneryโ€™s Hotel, Qolora Mouth

This is a rugged and particularly unspoilt part of the Wild Coast with sweeping bays and wonderful hiking trails. Trenneryโ€™s offers a series of spacious chalets perfect for families or romantic holidays, all fully-catered.

Best places to stay on the Wild Coast

Explore More of The Wild Coast

We host some of the Best Wild Coast accommodation in the business (SA-Venues.comย specialises in South Africa. We know our venues!).