Shelly Beach is a coastal resort town on the South Coast of the

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, located approximately halfway between

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

(8.5 km) and

Port Shepstone Port Shepstone is a large town situated on the mouth of the Mzimkhulu River, the largest river on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast of South Africa. It is located halfway between Hibberdene and Margate, KwaZulu-Natal, Margate and is positioned 120&nbs ...

(7.1 km).

Geography

Shelly Beach is situated between the Zotsha Creek to the north, the Mhlangeni River to the south and the R61 freeway to the west. Its neighbouring areas are

Oslo Beach Oslo Beach is a small coastal suburb located along the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and forms part of the coastal town of Port Shepstone. Geography Oslo Beach lies just 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of Port Shepstone CBD and lies ...

to the north and St Michael’s-on-Sea and

Uvongo Uvongo is a seaside resort town situated along the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast at the mouth of the Vungu River in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Situated 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of Margate, Uvongo is the largest upmarket residential area on the ...

to the south.

Economy

Economic Development

The opening of Shelly Centre in 1985 placed Shelly Beach as a prime shopping destination on the KZN South Coast followed by the developments of Southcoast Mall in 2005, Shelly Beach Business Park in 2007, the Shelly Beach Day Hospital (now a 24-hour hospital) in August 2010 and the reopening of McDonald's in Shelly Beach in 2021 since the 1990s. Today Shelly Beach has become the gateway to shopping on the Lower South Coast, host to the two largest malls in the region, namely Shelly Centre and Southcoast Mall.

Retail

The main retail thoroughfare in the town, Marine Drive, is the location of several local shops, car dealerships, restaurants, and shopping centres. Shopping centres in Shelly Centre include Shelly Centre, which is the largest shopping centre on the South Coast, Shelly Boulevard and Southcoast Mall, which is the second largest shopping centre on the South Coast. The latter is not located on Marine Drive, but on the border of Shelly Beach, at the intersection between the

R61 R61 may refer to: * R61 (South Africa) The R61 is a long provincial route in South Africa that connects Beaufort West with Port Shepstone via Graaff-Reinet, Komani (previously Queenstown), Mthatha and Port Edward. The R61 is co-signed with th ...

and Izotsha Road.

Tourism

Beaches

Shelly Beach is host to two beaches along its coastline, namely Shelly Beach and Windsor on Sea Beach. The name "Shelly Beach" refers to the many shells on the beaches in which there are. Here, the finest miniature pink lady shells can be found among many other varieties. 1961 Metropole

Snorkelling & diving

Shelly Beach boasts numerous popular diving and snorkelling sites, where the most spectacular varieties of tropical fish, sharks, corals as well as mystical underwater caves can be discovered. These popular sites include Potato Reef, The Caves, Deep Salmon, Arena Reef, Bo Boyi Reef, and Adda Reef.

Infrastructure

Healthcare

Private healthcare

Established in August 2010 as the Shelly Beach Day Hospital, the Shelly Beach Hospital is the sole hospital serving Shelly Beach. Owned by Shelly Health Consortium (Pty) Ltd, it is a private hospital operating 24-hour emergency services. The hospital is located on Izotsha Road, opposite Southcoast Mall.

Public healthcare

Shelly Beach Clinic is a government-funded municipal clinic operated by the

Ugu District Municipality The Ugu District Municipality () is one of the 11 districts of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. ''Ugu'' is isiZulu for "coast". It governs the KZN South Coast and its seat is Port Shepstone. The majority of its 722,484 inhabitants spok ...

. For public hospitals, residents of Shelly Beach normally use the Port Shepstone Regional Hospital.

Roads

Shelly Beach straddles along the R620 (Marine Drive) connecting

to the north with

to the south. The town also lies just off the R61 highway (future

N2 Wild Coast Toll Route The N2 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Cape Town through George, Gqeberha, East London, Mthatha, Port Shepstone and Durban to Ermelo. It is the main highway along the Indian Ocean coast of the country. Its current length of ...

) between Port Shepstone and Port Edward. Running north-west, the P55 (Izotsha Road) connects the town with

Izotsha Izotsha is a small rural settlement on the South Coast of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, just inland from Shelly Beach and approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south-west of Port Shepstone. The name ‘Izotsha’ translates to 'it w ...

to the north-west and

Gamalakhe Gamalakhe is a township situated about inland on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Geography Gamalakhe is situated north of the Vungu River, approximately 19 km (12 mi) from Port Shepstone and 15 km (9 mi) from ...

to the west (via the P200).

Tolling

The

, forming part of the South Coast Toll Route, involves the payment of

toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Toll road, a type of road which for which payment is required for passage ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road to ...

at the toll booths of the Izotsha Ramp Toll Plaza, situated on the off and on-ramps of the Izotsha Road interchange (Exit 39). Traffic arriving from the south to turn off at exit 39 and traffic joining the R61 ''S'' from Izotsha Road must pass through the respective ramp plazas. The R620 to

and

serves as the untolled alternative route to the R61.

References

{{Ugu District Municipality Populated places in the Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipality Populated coastal places in South Africa