Richards Bay

From CruisersWiki

A cruising guide to assist yachts sailing in to Richards Bay, South Africa.

Richards Bay is a city encompassing one of South Africa's largest harbours. It is situated on a 30 square kilometre lagoon of the Mhlatuze River, on the northern coast of KwaZulu-Natal.

There is reasonable access to the Kwa Zulu Natal Safari parks from Richards Bay so it makes for a popular stop-over for cruising yachts.

Add here any background, cruising, and brief historical comments.

Charts

S.A.N.

1033 - Richards Bay Harbour

1032 - Approaches to Ricahrds Bay

Weather

Give local weather conditions or refer to another page (a region or island group) that covers these conditions.

Sources for Weather forecasts:

Passages

• Richards Bay to Cape Town
• Richards Bay to Durban
• South East Asia to South Africa

Communication

• SA Maritime Net: The South African Maritime Net operates 7 days a week, and provides weather reports from around the coast, and maintains contact with boats off the coast of South Africa and up into the Mozambique channel. There are two regular schedule times as follows:
  • 06:30 UTC: Starts on 14316 kHz for 5-10 minutes, and then moves to 7,120 kHz.
  • 11:30 UTC: Starts on 14316 kHz for approx. 30 mins and then moves down to 7,120 kHz.

Also see World Cruiser's Nets

Navigation

Before entering the harbour channel, all yachts must call "Richards Bay Port Control" or "Richards Bay VTS" on VHF channel 12 or 16 to request permission to enter the port.

Entrance

On arrival, foreign yachts MUST proceed to the Customs Dock and await the arrival of personel from Immigration, Customs and Health. This could take up to 24 hours and a friendly reminder on VHF to Port Control to re-notify these departments of your arrival is often helpful. Do not leave the vessel until ALL the authorities have visited your vessel and completed their documentation.

Update 2011/08: Health does NOT always come, probably depending on last port of call. Several yachts reported waiting up to 4 days for Immigration to show up. Calling Port Control several times/day did NOT help. The Zululand Yachtclub has the phone of a supervisor at Immigration, calling him helped.

There is no cost for these check-in procedures and no cost for berthing at the Customs Dock. Beware of cockroaches!

For entrance details see South Africa.

Note: Anyone wishing to visit a neighbouring country must obtain a re-entry visa before leaving.

Berthing

Marinas & Yacht Clubs

• Tuzi Gazi Marina - A full-service, secure marina that is situated directly opposite the Customs Dock

  Website; [email protected]; Phone : +27 082 573 9910

• Zululand Yacht Club - The ZLYC is a full-service marina that welcomes all foreign and returning South African yachts

  Location map; Website; [email protected]; Phone: +27 (0)35 788 0256, Fax: +27 (0)35 788 0254; P.O. Box 10387, Meerensee, Richards Bay, 3901

Anchorages

Yacht Repairs and Services

Marine Stores

Submit addresses and contact details of marine related businesses that are of interest to cruisers.

Repairs/Yards

Fuel, Water, & Electricity

Fuel

Give details on fuel

Water

Give details on water

Electricity

Give details on electricity

Things to do Ashore

Tourism

Laundry

Grocery Stores

Eateries

Motorbike & Car Rentals

Garbage Disposal

Info?

Transportation

Transportation - local and/or other countries, etc.

Friends

Contact details of "Cruiser's Friends" that can be contacted for local information or assistance.

Forums

List links to discussion threads on partnering forums. (see link for requirements)

Links

• Richards Bay at the Wikipedia

References & Publications

See South Africa.

Comments

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Names: Lighthouse