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Month by month

iSimangaliso in January

January is the hottest month on the iSimangaliso coast, the month the first turtle hatchlings run for the sea, and the month the school holidays end and St Lucia empties.

If you only want the answer

Come for turtles: females are still nesting and the first hatchlings emerge on the northern beaches. Expect 93 mm of rain, days of 28.5°C and a busy St Lucia until the school holidays end in mid-January.

January weather: heat and humidity

The Open-Meteo normals give 93 mm of rain over about 10 days, a day high of 28.5°C and a night low of 22.8°C, the warmest nights of the year. Game viewing in uMkhuze and on the lake shores is harder in the thick green bush, so give more of the trip to the sea and the estuary.

January rain also moves the estuary. On 10 January 2025 the mouth of Lake St Lucia breached naturally after January rains pushed the Mfolozi River through, with the lake at 2.66 m above mean sea level that day. The mouth opens and closes with rainfall, so check locally.

Turtles: nesting and the first hatchlings

January is the overlap month. Loggerheads and leatherbacks are still nesting and the first hatchlings appear, so a single night tour can show both. Go with a licensed operator only; the beaches are closed to the public at night in nesting season. Kosi Forest Lodge's turtle tracking ends on 15 January, while Thonga Beach Lodge offers turtle walks to the end of February.

Booking: the holiday tail

Sugarloaf campsite's high season runs to 11 January 2027, and Thonga Beach Lodge asks for three nights until 15 January. After mid-January the camps and town quieten noticeably. Gates run on summer hours, 05:00 to 19:00 at the main gates.

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