A melting pot of cultures
Durban is the third largest city in South Africa and the largest urban centre in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, with a harbour that is one of the world’s major commercial ports and the main access for sea-borne cargo into the country.
Durban has rightly earned a reputation as South Africa’s sporting capital, with warm and dry winter weather conditions ensuring year-round sporting highlights. The 2025 ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Champs will take place in mid spring, when the average temperatures range from 18 to 24 degrees and the sea temperature is a toasty 22 degrees.
The good news for a downwind surfski event is that October is Durban’s windiest month with an average wind speed of 20km/h. The prevailing winds in Durban in October are north east and south west.
The city was founded in 1835 and is now regarded as the gateway to some of South Africa’s prime tourism areas, most notably the KwaZulu-Natal battlefields, Big 5 wildlife reserves, the spectacular uKhahlamba/Drakensberg mountains (a World Heritage Site) and of course the stunning KwaZulu-Natal beaches which stretch north and south of Durban.
Durban is a wild cosmopolitan mix of inhabitants with influences from Zulu, Indian, British and Dutch cultures allowing tourists to get a fascinating insight into the melting pot of history that helped shape South African society.
For those who are looking for something physically demanding before and after the ski champs, there are plenty of action activities to keep the boredom at bay. KwaZulu-Natal is packed with venues for canoeing and kayaking, mountain biking, trail running, hiking, canopy tours, kiteboarding, windsurfing, sea and fresh-water fishing, ice skating and the province has some of the country’s top-ranked golf courses.
For more info on Durban tourist venues:
