Leisure Bay is a small seaside resort village located on the Lower South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

Leisure Bay
Leisure Bay Show map of KwaZulu-Natal Leisure Bay Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 31°1′7.32″S 30°14′20.14″E
Country	South Africa
Province	KwaZulu-Natal
District	Ugu
Municipality	Ray Nkonyeni
Main Place	Port Edward
Area [1]
• Total	24.18 km2 (9.34 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	4,409
• Density	180/km2 (470/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	30.9%
• Coloured	2.7%
• Indian/Asian	5.2%
• White	60.6%
• Other	0.6%
First languages (2011) [1]
• English	49.6%
• Afrikaans	24.0%
• Xhosa	11.8%
• Zulu	10.8%
• Other	3.8%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
PO box	4295
Area code	039

Geography

Leisure Bay is situated between Port Edward and Glenmore and 26 km south-west of Port Shepstone and 98 km south-west of Durban.[2][3]

Leisure Bay is regarded as one of the many extensions of Port Edward including Glenmore, Munster and Palm Beach. The village can also been seen as a collective with the villages of Leisure Crest to the north and Ivy Beach to the south.

Lifestyle

The village is a quiet one and remains unspoilt with most of it covered in subtropical vegetation due to the little development occurring in these villages between Port Edward and Margate. It is also popular with artists, and many of them live and work in the area due to the tranquil lifestyle of the village.[4]

Tourism

As the name implies, Leisure Bay acts very much as a holiday destination or a relaxation escape for tourists.[5]

Leisure Bay has access to three shark-protected beaches Kidds Beach (not to be confused with Kidd's Beach in the Eastern Cape), T.O Beach and Ivy Beach which are patrolled by lifeguards during school holiday periods.[6]

Transport

Leisure Bay has no access to public transport and is therefore dependent on private transportation. It is accessed by the R61 which connects to Port Edward, Mbizana and Mthatha to the south and Port Shepstone, Margate and Durban (via the N2) to the north.

Leisure Bay Conservancy

The Leisure Bay Conservancy includes the area from the Boboyi River in the south, the Thongazi River in the north, the Indian Ocean in the east and the R61 in the west and is registered with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and Conservation KZN since January 2012. The conservancy was formed to preserve the biodiversity in the natural environment of coastal and riverine forest, coastal bush, grasslands, help control the invasion of alien species, and promote the planting of indigenous vegetation in Leisure Bay. This successively assists in preserving wildlife in the area, including caracal, water mongoose, bushbuck, duiker, leopard and a wide range of bird and insect life.[7]

This is one of 6 conservancies in the Port Edward/Southbroom area including part of a broader green belt that includes the Munster, Trafalgar, Mpenjati, Marina Beach and Umtamvuna conservancies.[8]

References