Costa Smeralda

The Resort and Its Setting

Costa Smeralda is an independent timeshare resort in Margate, right by the beach on South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal coast. The accommodation is made up of casual 2- and 3-bedroom apartments, most with ocean views, and the property has an outdoor pool for guests who'd rather not deal with sand between their toes every day. It's an unfussy, no-frills set-up rather than a resort built around spa treatments or fine dining — the appeal here is the location and the simplicity of having your own kitchen and living space for a family or group.

Margate and the Surrounding Coast

Margate is one of the better-known seaside towns on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, with a long sandy beach, a lively promenade and a laid-back holiday-town feel that picks up considerably over the South African summer. Margate Beach is a five-minute walk from the resort, and the Margate Amusement Park is close enough for an afternoon with the kids. A short drive gets you to Ramsgate Beach, a favourite for safer swimming and a more family-oriented stretch of coast, or to the Uvongo River Mouth, where the river meets the sea in a pretty, photogenic setting good for a slow walk. For something further afield, Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve is about 25km inland — a dramatic gorge with hiking trails and cliff viewpoints that makes a solid day trip if you want a break from the beach.

Selling or Renting a Week Here

If you own a week at Costa Smeralda and want to sell or rent it out, BidMyTimeshare.com works as an owner-to-owner marketplace: you list your week, set your own asking price, and interested buyers or renters contact you directly through the platform. There's no commission taken on the sale — sellers simply pay a small one-time listing fee to get their week in front of buyers.

Costa Smeralda is an independent resort, so resale typically goes through the resort's own owners' association or on-site management rather than a branded developer process. Before agreeing a price with a buyer, it's worth contacting the resort directly to confirm the current transfer fee and the annual maintenance fee for your unit, as these figures aren't standardised across independent resorts and change over time. Ask specifically what transfers with the week — the usage rights and any banked points or credits — and whether the association holds a right of first refusal on resales, since some independent resorts do reserve this.

Practical Notes for Owners and Renters

Renters and buyers looking at Costa Smeralda are generally after a beachfront location with self-catering space rather than a full-service hotel experience — the apartment layout and ocean views are the main draw, along with easy walking access to the beach and Margate's restaurant and shopping strip. If you're renting your week out, it helps to be upfront in your listing about which season the week falls in, since the South African summer (December to February) is peak demand for this coast, and bookings for that period tend to be made well ahead of time.

Getting There

Margate has its own small regional airport with domestic connections, and the town sits on the N2 coastal route, making a self-drive trip from Durban (around two hours north) a common option for South African visitors. International visitors typically fly into Durban or Johannesburg and connect from there. A rental car is genuinely useful if you want to see more of the South Coast beyond Margate itself, as several of the nearby beaches and the Oribi Gorge reserve are easiest to reach by road.