Forest Lodge
Guest lodge · St Lucia town (no gate fee) · Forest Lodge
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Budget
Inside the park
Ownership unconfirmed
A 17-room lodge for 34 guests in St Lucia town, listed on SA-Venues from R1,700 a room. Not to be confused with Forest Villas, a separate self-catering complex, or with Kosi Forest Lodge in the far north. The listing gives no facilities or address and does not say who owns it. From St Lucia, Richards Bay airport is 76 km (about 1h20) and Durban's King Shaka airport 207 km (about 2h40). Choose it for a straightforward room in town; ask what the rate includes before you book.
Pros and cons
Pros
- From R1,700 a room
- 17 rooms, so often available
- No gate fee
Cons
- No facility detail in our sources
- Directory price, season not stated
- Ownership not stated
What the park charges on top
The rate above buys you a bed. iSimangaliso Wetland Park charges its own entry fee for every day you are inside. Here is what that adds up to.
- Park entryGate fee and conservation levy plus the R12 accommodation levy, counted per day because no official document says whether multi-night guests pay the gate fee once.
- $9per person, per day
- VehicleR74 car fee, counted per day for the same reason.
- $5per vehicle, per day
Three nights means three days inside, so two adults sharing one vehicle pay $69 in park fees before anyone pays for a bed.
Sleeping inside the boundary is what keeps that low. Overnight guests add the R12 accommodation levy per night, against $8 a day for anyone driving in from outside.
These are the 2024/25 rates, which expired on 30 November 2025; no newer table has been published. Sodwana, the Coastal Forest and Kosi Bay charge about half (R71 per international adult). Lodges in St Lucia town are outside every gate.
The full fee schedule for iSimangaliso Wetland ParkRates at Forest Lodge
From $52 pppn (reseller rate). SA-Venues, read 24 September 2026: from R1,700 per room (R1,615 discounted), basis two people, season not stated. No gate fee to reach St Lucia town. VAT treatment is not stated.
What the rate covers is not confirmed. We do not know yet whether meals, drinks and activities are included, so read this as the bed only.
Every figure on this page is in US dollars.
Rates checked against the research dossier of 24 September 2026. State-camp prices come from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife's 2023/24 tariff (1 November 2023 to 31 October 2024), the last official camp tariff that could be read; treat them as a floor, because iSimangaliso has published none since it took the camps over on 1 March 2026. Thonga Beach Lodge, Kosi Forest Lodge, Coral Divers, Mabibi Beach Camp and Umlilo Lodge are priced from their own sites. Every figure marked 'reseller rate' comes from SA-Venues, LekkeSlaap, Siyabona or a booking agent, uses that site's 'from' price, and usually prices a room for two; we halve it to give a per-person figure. Dollar figures use R16.36 to the dollar (24 September 2026) and are rounded. Gate fees are extra everywhere except in St Lucia town: R62 per South African adult and R130 per international adult at the dearest gates on the 2024/25 table, which expired on 30 November 2025 with no successor published.
Questions about Forest Lodge
What does Forest Lodge cost?
SA-Venues lists rooms from R1,700 a night (R1,615 discounted), season not stated.
Is Forest Lodge the same as Kosi Forest Lodge?
No. Forest Lodge is in St Lucia town; Kosi Forest Lodge is a fully inclusive lodge at Kosi Bay, about 3h45 north.
Is it good for families?
We found no published child policy.