You’ve seen the ad, you’ve gotten to Durbs and now you stand at the entrance to uShaka Marine World with your nearest and dearest and several excited offspring who can’t wait to smaak that shark — But before you even get through the turnstiles you lose an arm and a leg as you shell out a small fortune in foldable assets. Yup, sadly, uShaka is not for the small of wallet. Which is a shame, because it is quite a thing to see.
Admittedly you can spend less and pay for only one of the two chargeable zones — uShaka Wet ‘n Wild and uShaka Sea World — but how long does it take for the littles to get fed-up of the restrictions of staying in one place when they can see other littles having fun in the zone next door and start nagging the bigs? What choice do you have but to go for broke and unlimited access to both?
What’s it all about? Well, the Sea World part incorporates a shipwrecked, steam-freighter-sort-of-thing, which in turn houses a pretty awesome aquarium, a 1 200-seater dolphin stadium, a seal stadium and penguin rookery and some cool interactive activities in a dive tank, snorkel reef and touch pool.
Wet ‘n Wild is all water slides and swimming pools and kamikaze-type rides, with tubes and a miniature Dusi adventure. The two free zones are uShaka Beach — the beach in front of the marine park has been set aside as a beach resort with watersport activities — and uShaka Village Walk inside the park, which has shops, restaurants and fast-food outlets aplenty.
Costs at Wet ‘n Wild are R55 for adults and R40 for senior citizens (60+) and children above three. Entrance for kids under three is free. After 2.30pm the price is halved. Sea World costs R80 for adults, R70 for seniors (60+) and R50 for children above three. The ‘Phantom Ship†costs an additional R20 for adults and R10 for children, but the cost of this can be offset against a food and beverage bill if you choose to eat inside.
It’s big, certainly a lot of fun and sure to be a huge drawcard for Durbs — all we rand-earners have to do is afford it!