On the beachfront
Stay here and the promenade, the warm sea and the surf are right outside. This is the long beachfront strip that is the centre of Durban life.
Where to stay · Durban
The Golden Mile
Durban's beachfront strip. Stay on the Golden Mile and the promenade, uShaka and the warm Indian Ocean are at the door, with the city's best-value beach hotels and easy surf and swims.
The Golden Mile is Durban at the beach. It’s the long, lively seafront promenade that runs for kilometres past piers, pools and surf breaks, with a wall of hotels and apartment blocks looking out over a sea that’s swimmable all year. Stay here and you wake up a few steps from the sand.
It’s central and the best value if you want the beach. uShaka Marine World sits at the south end, Moses Mabhida and its SkyCar are a short walk inland, and the promenade fills with walkers, surfers and rickshaws through the day. It has the raw energy the suburbs don’t, with the trade-off that you take the usual city care on the streets after dark and keep to the busy stretches.
The hotels below are along the central beachfront. Prices are indicative, per night for two, and the booking links go straight to Booking.com.
The neighbourhood
Why stay here
Central and walkable
uShaka Marine World, Moses Mabhida Stadium and the piers are along or close to the promenade, so a lot of the city is doable on foot.
The best beach value
These are the most affordable beds with sand on the doorstep, from budget hotels to comfortable mid-range chains, a step cheaper than Umhlanga.
Lively day and night
Walkers, surfers and rickshaws by day, restaurants and the Suncoast complex by night. Take the usual city care after dark and stick to the busy promenade.
Hotels
The kind of hotels
The Golden Mile is the beachfront-value end of the city. Hotels and aparthotels line Marine Parade and Snell Parade, from budget rooms to comfortable mid-range stays like Belaire Suites, Blue Waters and the Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani, plus the family-friendly Suncoast complex with its own beach. You're paying for the sea and the location rather than polish, and it shows in the price.
Around here
What's nearby
- Golden Mile promenade· On the doorstep
- uShaka Marine World· South end
- Moses Mabhida Stadium· 10 min
- Suncoast Casino & beach· On the strip
- Victoria Street Market· 10 min
- Umhlanga· 20 min
Our pick
Hotels in The Golden Mile
Belaire Suites Hotel
9.2/1012,092 reviews
from €99/ night Book→
Blue Waters Hotel
8.5/1019,920 reviews
from €135/ night Book→
Parade Hotel
8.2/1010,162 reviews
from €72/ night Book→
Suncoast Hotel & Towers
8.1/101,125 reviews
from €84/ night Book→
Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani
8.1/1010,297 reviews
from €85/ night Book→
Point Waterfront Apartments
8/102,559 reviews
from €90/ night Book→
The Balmoral - Halaal
7.9/102,178 reviews
from €52/ night Book→
Indicative prices, per night, from a one-off snapshot. We may earn a commission when you book through our partner — at no extra cost to you.