Pennington

Pennington sits on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast about 60km south of Durban, on a hillside looking down onto the Indian Ocean just north of the Sezela sugar mill. The town takes its name from an English farming family who began working the land here in the late 19th century. Sugar magnate Sir Frank Reynolds later bought part of the farm and developed it into Umdoni Park, named for the mdoni water myrtle trees. Reynolds built a seaside residence intended for South African prime ministers, and the property was even offered to King George VI when his health was failing in 1952.

The character today is a mix of long-term holiday village and quiet permanent community. December sees the beach packed with Gauteng families, but for most of the year Pennington is genuinely uncrowded. The beach is a wide, sandy strip backed by vegetation, and the Indian Ocean here is warm year-round. The Sezela lagoon just south and the beaches around Scottburgh to the north give you options without much competition for space.

The town has a small commercial centre with the basics you need for a self-catering stay. The broader Scottburgh area, a few kilometres north, offers more in terms of restaurants and shops. The drive along the R102 south coast road gives you an old South Africa coastal experience that the highway bypasses entirely: small towns, cane fields, and sugar mills visible from the road.

Umdoni Golf Club, opened in 1938, is the social anchor for the permanent community. Eighteen holes in a coastal setting with ocean views, and a clubhouse that functions as the town's main gathering point.