Zimbali Lakes Resort, Ballito, South Africa
Your Base for Golf on the Dolphin Coast
A two-bedroom apartment inside Zimbali Lakes Resort, with an Ernie Els Signature Course on the estate, five more of KwaZulu-Natal's best within 50 minutes, and King Shaka airport 15 to 20 minutes away.
Between King Shaka International and the Ballito beaches, on the inland side of the M4, Zimbali Lakes is the inland sister of Zimbali Coastal Resort: about 300 hectares of lake, coastal forest and raised boardwalk wrapped around an Ernie Els Signature Course that opened in April 2025. It shares a name with the Weiskopf course across the road, but it is its own estate: newer, and built around water rather than dune.
Unit 112 sits at Boulevard Edge in the estate's Boulevard precinct, planned as its retail piazza of cafes and coffee shops, with the first tee a short drive away. Two bedrooms, two queen beds, one bathroom, air conditioning and fibre. Nothing a golfer does not need; everything one does.
- King Shaka airport
- 15 to 20 min
- Nearest beach
- 10 to 15 min
- Courses within 50 min
- Six
- Sea temperature, all year
- 21 to 25 C
01 The apartment
Two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a front door inside the estate
About 48 square metres, arranged the way a golf trip actually works: two bedrooms, each with a queen bed, so two couples, or two golfers with a room each, split the space with nobody on a sofa. One bathroom. A living and kitchen space for early breakfasts and late scorecards. Air conditioning for February, fibre WiFi for the office you promised not to open. Parking is inside the estate's security perimeter, and the estate pools are yours to use.
- About 48 m2
- Two bedrooms, queen bed in each
- Sleeps four
- One bathroom
- Air-conditioned
- Fibre WiFi
- Secure estate parking
- Estate pools
02 Golf
Courses within reach
Golf is the reason to come, so here is the honest map. One course is on the estate. Three more are within about twenty minutes. Two of South Africa's most storied layouts are a morning's drive down the coast.
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Zimbali Lakes Golf Resort
The estate's own 18-hole Ernie Els Signature Course: par 72, 6,019 m from the tips, bent-grass greens, GPS carts, unveiled April 2025. The new clubhouse with Ernie's Big Easy Winebar & Grill opened in 2026. Visitor tee times Tuesday to Sunday.
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Zimbali Country Club
Tom Weiskopf's 1998 par 72 across the M4 inside Zimbali Coastal Resort: South Africa's first cart-only layout, big elevation changes, ocean views on the front nine, coastal forest on the back. SA Top 100 number 18 and rated KZN's best; open to visitors again since early 2026.
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Simbithi Country Club
Peter Matkovich's 2006 par 60 inside Simbithi Eco-Estate, South Africa's first purpose-built executive course: 13 par 3s, four par 4s and one par 5 over 3,902 m. The sharp afternoon round after a morning on the beach.
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Umhlali Country Club
A 1961 farmers' nine-holer on sugar-cane land, rebuilt to 18 by Peter Matkovich and renovated by him since: tree-lined parkland, seven water holes and a signature par-3 fourth over water. SA Top 100 number 73, with a driving range and the Ohana restaurant on site.
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Mount Edgecombe Country Club
Two par-72 courses on one estate north of Umhlanga. The Woods dates to 1924 and was remodelled to USGA spec by Hugh Baiocchi in 1992; The Lakes (1997) runs over rolling ground, indigenous bush and big water. Host of the Sunshine Tour's Mount Edgecombe Trophy, whose first winner in 1993 was Retief Goosen.
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Durban Country Club
The 1922 dunes classic behind Durban's beachfront, laid out by George Waterman and Laurie Waters. Host of more South African Opens than any other course, including Ernie Els's centenary win in 2010. Ranked number one in South Africa by Top 100 Golf Courses. Allow longer at weekday peaks.
Drive times and distances are off-peak estimates from the Zimbali Lakes gate; visitor check-in at other estates' gates can add a few minutes. The N2 and M4 toward Umhlanga and Durban slow at weekday peaks. Tee times, visitor days and green fees are set by each club: Zimbali Country Club keeps Wednesday mornings, Fridays and Saturday mornings for members.
03 The estate and the coast
Lakes, boardwalks and a coast named for its dolphins
Zimbali Lakes is an IFA Hotels & Resorts estate of about 300 hectares behind a 24-hour, smart-technology gatehouse, with uninterrupted power supply, a detail that matters in South Africa. Golf carts are permitted estate-wide. Beyond the course there is a private lake of about 20 hectares that the estate advertises for kayaking, stand-up paddle, sailing and catch-and-release fishing, and more than 10 kilometres of raised boardwalks and running trails through coastal forest, with bird hides that claim over 250 species.
The clubhouse, opened in April 2026, holds Ernie Els's Big Easy Winebar & Grill, a golf shop, a gym and a 25-metre training pool, with the bar looking over at least five holes. The estate also markets a Beach Club with pool, dining and direct beach access through an underpass beneath the M4, reached by golf cart. The Boulevard precinct on your doorstep is being built out as the estate's cafe and retail piazza.
The sea here runs between 21 and 25 degrees all year, and July, the northern hemisphere's peak golf month, is the sunniest month of the year here, in the middle of the dry season.
This is the Dolphin Coast, named for the school of roughly 200 bottlenose dolphins that feeds close inshore all year. Willard Beach, Ballito's main beach with shark nets, lifeguards and a tidal pool, is 10 to 15 minutes away; Thompsons Bay and Salt Rock are 15 to 20. Willard, Thompsons Bay, Salt Rock Main and Blythedale all hold Blue Flag status for the 2025/26 season. Come in a British winter for summer days of 28 to 33 degrees broken by short afternoon thunderstorms, or in the South African winter for dry days around 23 degrees and the clearest skies of the year.
- King Shaka International (DUR)
- 17 to 20 km, 15 to 20 min
- Ballito town and Ballito Junction mall
- 5 to 8 km, about 10 min
- Willard Beach, Ballito
- 6 to 8 km, 10 to 15 min
- Thompsons Bay and Salt Rock
- 9 to 12 km, 15 to 20 min
- Umhlanga
- 25 to 30 km, 25 to 30 min
- Central Durban
- about 40 km, about 40 min
04 Rates
A five-star stay at a mid-range price
US$140a night
About R2,200 in rand
from, low season; seasonal rates apply
The rand does the work. A night inside a premier coastal estate, with the estate course minutes away and the airport twenty minutes away, costs what a mid-range city hotel does at home, and green fees are priced in rand too. The dollar figure is a reference; the rand figure is approximate; the final price and currency are shown at checkout.
Live availability, instant confirmation and secure payment run through our Booking.com listing.
Check Availability & Book05 Guest notes
What guests say
Comfortable & beautiful stay. We only wish we could have stayed longer. Great security, extremely comfortable bed and a very kind host.
Linen and the whole house was clean and everything needed was there.
Rated 8.6, “Fabulous”, by guests on Booking.com. Five of the first seven guests scored their stay 9 or 10.
Quoted verbatim from verified guest reviews on Booking.com, where you can read every review, good and bad. Course rankings are quoted from SA Top 100 Courses and Top 100 Golf Courses.
Zimbali Lakes, Ballito
The tee sheet is the easy part. Book the base.
Check Availability & BookQuestions before you book? Write to stay@edge112.com.