Rocktail Beach Camp
Rocktail Beach CampĀ is good option for active travelers looking for a lower cost beach destination in South Africa.
Rocktail offers lots of activities, from snorkeling to scuba diving to turtle walks (seasonal) to forest walks, cultural and ATV excursions and visits to Lake Sibaya, one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world. You can fill your days exploring the stunningly beautiful Elephant Coast.
The biggest downside to Rocktail is its distance from the beach. The camp itself is a fifteen minute walk to the beach along a dirt road. The camp will shuttle you down to within a two minute walk and come get you whenever you want, but you are not stepping out of your room into the sand. Similarly, snorkeling and scuba diving take place a 15-20 minute drive away and Lake Sibaya is forty minutes. So while there are a million activities to fill your day and friendly, engaging guides who facilitate them, everything is a process. Rocktail is also on a public beach in a National Park. It is a pretty remote area so 95% of the time you will have the beach to yourself but if it is a weekend or a public holiday then there may be local South African’s relaxing and braa-ing (bbqing) with you.
The 17 rooms at Rocktail are tents with wooden floors and canvas sides and large decks. They are a good size, tastefully decorated and comfortable. We would recommend tents 10 to 13 (13 is honeymoon tent). These tents are quite a walk from the main area but have beautiful views over the forest and down to the ocean. The pool in the common area is nice and big and the service and food are solid but not outstanding.
All in all, while it is not our favorite property, if you want to add some time at the beach in South Africa without adding to a lot to your budget and you know what to expect, then you can have a great time at Rocktail.