By Sam Bradley
Durban - It seemed like the perfect plan: a relaxing weekend down the beautiful South Coast with my wife. We’d go for romantic strolls along the beach, watch the sunsets and go for swims in the warm KZN waters. We’d get our eating plan back on track and work on some fitness with a few early morning jogs on the beach.
Scrolling through the various websites, I decided Pumula Beach Hotel would be the perfect location: situated right on the beach and only 100km from Durban. The hotel even had its own gym – it seemed like destiny.
Our exercise regime got off to a pretty good start. Deciding the gym was for amateurs, we made plans for a jog along the beach. To get ourselves mentally prepared we warmed up with a game of putt-putt on the hotel course. We then decided it would be foolish to start exercising without first seeing what the swimming pool was like – a quick dip in the pool and a nap under the umbrellas and we’d be ready for some serious exercise.
In hindsight it was those delicious fruit cocktails, delivered right to our deck-chairs, that were our downfall. A few strawberry daquiris later and it become clear that this weekend was going to be relaxing in the true sense of the word. Abandoning all pretence, we spent a gloriously lazy morning not moving from the pool. And it’s just as well the diet plan didn’t get started, because the buffet meals would easily break the resistance of James Bond, never mind us mere mortals.
The breakfasts at Pumula include choices of fruits salads, cereals, bacon and eggs, omelettes and many other offerings fit for royalty. Don’t indulge too much, though, as the sounds of the waves crashing on to the beach (and a Blue Flag beach at that) are a mere stone’s throw away.
Spend the morning on the beach or by the pool, and you’ll soon have built up an appetite for the buffet lunches served on the hotel porch. Afternoons can be spent seeing some of the local attractions, or just lazing on the deckchairs keeping an eye out for the whales and dolphins.
It’s not just the amazing food that stood out for us – it’s the relaxing atmosphere that keeps customers coming back year after year. Pumula clearly knows that if the children are happy, the folks can kick back and truly relax. With this in mind, there’s more than enough to entertain the youngsters. The hotel runs an all-day entertainment programme, with activities such as beach games, outdoor sports like volleyball and putt-putt, and an evening programme with events like bingo and videos. If that doesn’t work for you then the pool, table tennis and air hockey facilities in the games room should do the trick. There are also baby-sitting facilities.
The accommodation itself is fantastic, and the sea theme of the hotel (lots of blues and whites) put me straight into the holiday mindset. Evenings are quiet and peaceful (families with youngsters on the other side of the hotel to the rest), and with most of the rooms facing the sea, it’s the perfect place to open a bottle of wine and enjoy the sunset.
So next time the family needs a holiday, Pumula could be the perfect destination. You probably won’t get your fitness or diet back on track (if our example is anything to go by), but those sort of plans can always be postponed for another month. Time away with sea, sun and loved ones will be remembered with way more fondness in any case.
If You Go...
Rates: Rates are R950 per person sharing per night (all meals included). Children’s prices range from R240 to R505 per night depending on age. Like the Facebook page (Pumula Beach Hotel - South Coast) to find out about any specials and competitions.
Contact details: 67 Steve Pitts Road, Umzumbe, 4225, 039 684 6717, www.pumulabeachhotel.co.za, [email protected]
Nearby attractions: A wide range of golf courses, the famous Aliwal Shoal dive site, Oribi Gorge game reserve, the Riverbend Crocodile Farm and the Weza-Ngele Forest are all close by. - The Mercury