Margate

Margate is a town of 27,000 people (2011) in KwaZulu-Natal on the east coast of South Africa. Margate is one of the most visited tourist destinations in South Africa and had the third highest inflow of new visitors in December 2019 in South Africa after Plettenberg Bay and Mossel Bay in the Western Cape Province.

Understand

Margate Main beach

With Margate being a major seaside resort, majority of its economy comes from tourism. Signs of this can be found on the coastline where hotels and holiday accommodation apartments lie.

It features Blue Flag Beaches for swimming, snorkelling, and surfing. Many apartment buildings offer accommodation for residents and visitors. It also contains a shopping street and many restaurants, pubs, and nightclubs, Margate is a spot where many South Africans and foreign visitors spend their vacation.

Margate is busiest during school and public holidays when inland residents travel to the coast. Christmas and Easter are especially busy times, with Margate's main street often clogged with heavy traffic during these times.

History

In 1908, Henry Richardson, an English surveyor laid out the town and named it Margate after another seaside resort on the northern coast of the county of Kent, in the United Kingdom.

Get in

It lies 15 km south-west of Port Shepstone and 127 km southwest of Durban.

Margate is served by Margate Airport with flights from Johannesburg offered by CemAir.

Buy

Margate CBD

• Hibiscus Mall, Cnr. Wartski Drive and Windsor Ave, ☏ +27 39 312-0680, info@dumelamargate.co.za. The main shopping mall with all the usual stores and facilities. 

Sleep

• Dumela Margate Holiday Resort, St. Patricks Road, ☏ +27 39 317-3301, fax: +27 39 317-3306. 
• Margate Backpackers, 14 Collis Street, ☏ +27 39 312-2176. 
• Margate Caravan Park, Valley Rd, ☏ +27 39 312-0852, fax: +27 39 317-1269. Caravan park and camping 
• Margate Hotel, Corner of Marine Dr & Lagoon Rd, ☏ +27 39 312-1410, fax: +27 39 312-1440, info@margatehotel.co.za. From R410 per person sharing. 
• Margate Sands, William O'Connor Drive, ☏ +27 39 312-8100, fax: +27 39 312-8186. 

• Beach House at Sea Park, 10 Beachfront Road, Sea Park (22 km east of Margate). From R1850 per unit per night. (updated Apr 2021)