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Month by month

iSimangaliso in October

October is the turn of the year at iSimangaliso: the rain comes back, the turtle monitors return to the beaches and the first loggerheads come ashore at the end of the month, while whales are still passing.

If you only want the answer

A month of overlap, with whales offshore and the first turtles possible late in the month. Expect 98 mm of rain on about 9 days, days of 25.5°C and nights of 19.4°C.

October weather: the rain returns

The Open-Meteo normals give 98 mm of rain over about 9 days, a sharp rise from September, with a day high of 25.5°C and a night low of 19.4°C. The bush begins to green up, and game viewing becomes harder towards the end of the month.

Turtle monitors and the first loggerheads

The community turtle monitors start their season on the beaches in October, and Thonga Beach Lodge describes loggerhead nesting from the end of October through to January. Early arrivals are a bonus rather than a plan; the season proper begins in November. The school holiday that began in late September ends in early October, and Sugarloaf campsite's high season runs to 10 October 2026.

Cape Vidal and the floods

Cape Vidal reopened to visitors on 31 October 2023 after flood damage had closed it. The camp's cabins are now due to be replaced under a 30-year private concession, with a tender scheduled for March 2026, so check what is open before you set off.

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