Kosi Forest Lodge
Forest suites, fully inclusive · Kosi Bay section, 4x4 transfer from Manguzi · Kosi Forest Lodge (operated by the founders of Isibindi Africa Lodges)
Top-end
Inside the park
Safari company
An eight-room lodge inside the Kosi Bay section, reached by the lodge's own 4x4 transfer from Manguzi. Its rate from R3,500 includes all meals, guided canoeing on the lakes, a walk through the raffia palm forest and a half-day boat trip; turtle tracking is R1,110 extra, sold only from 15 November to 15 January and for ages 8 and over. The site rights went to the uMvumamvubu Development Trust in 1995 and a local community holds a share; the lodge is operated by the founders of Isibindi Africa Lodges. Choose it for the lakes by canoe with everything arranged; skip it if you want to drive yourself around.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Canoeing, forest walk and boat trip in the rate
- Two family rooms
- Local community shareholding
- Turtle tracking from the lodge in season
Cons
- Turtle tracking only 15 November to 15 January, at R1,110 extra
- Basis of the rate not stated in plain terms
- 4x4 transfer from Manguzi needed
- Levy and gate fees extra
What's here
- Family rooms
Arranged from the lodge:
- Boat trips
- Guided walks
- Birding
- Community visits
Read from Kosi Forest Lodge's own website in July 2026. Anything not listed we could not confirm, which is not the same as it being absent.
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 Kosi Forest Lodge
From R3,500 per person, fully inclusive. Kosi Forest Lodge's own rate page, read 24 September 2026: 'from R3,500', basis not stated (a 30% single supplement implies per person sharing). Includes all meals, guided canoeing, a raffia forest walk and a half-day boat trip. Extra: turtle tracking R1,110 (15 November to 15 January only, age 8 and over); a levy of R121 to R150 shown on the rate page; the Kosi Bay gate fee (R34 South African, R71 international adult on the 2024/25 table; lodges in the area report R40 SADC and R78 non-SADC, not on the official table). VAT treatment is not stated.
All inclusive. The rate covers meals, drinks, activities and the transfers named below. Park fees are charged separately.
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 Kosi Forest Lodge
What does Kosi Forest Lodge cost?
Its own rate page says from R3,500, which a 30% single supplement suggests is per person sharing, with meals, canoeing, a forest walk and a boat trip included. Turtle tracking, a levy of R121 to R150 and gate fees are extra.
Can children go turtle tracking at Kosi Forest Lodge?
The lodge sells turtle tracking to ages 8 and over, from 15 November to 15 January only. The lodge has two family rooms.
How do you get to Kosi Forest Lodge?
Guests drive to Manguzi and are transferred by the lodge's 4x4. Kosi Bay is about 3h45 from St Lucia and 5h15 from Durban's airport.