LA MERCY VILLAGE
La Mercy is a charming seaside village steeped in the colourful Indian culture and history. Hemmed between lush sugar cane fields and the endless Indian Ocean, the Village is situated on the Dolphin Coast between Umhlanga and Ballito, approximately 25 kilometres north of Durban, home to the busiest harbour in Africa. With the building of the new King Shaka International Airport just over the hill, La Mercy is an ideal stopover for visitors and business travellers arriving or departing KwaZulu-Natal.
During the Apartheid Era ownership of properties in La Mercy was restricted to Indians only. Generations of Indian families developed market gardens on the eastern banks of the primary dune that to this day still extend down onto the beach enhancing the quaint rural appeal of La Mercy. However, with the blossoming of the new South Africa and the Rainbow Nation, people of other ethnic groups also chose to make this area their home. More recently the local African people have set up their own village on the west side of La Mercy. Government has been busy building roads and implementing water and electricity for the village, which is fast becoming a beautiful model of a community driven settlement. Enhancing this cultural diversity are a Mosque, two Christian Institutions and two Temples built side by side.
La Mercy overlooks the Indian Ocean and extends northwards from the Umdloti River along the shoreline. This beautiful section of sandy beach has a shallow inter-tidal zone where the low tides form a myriad of rocky inshore pools. The coastal waters are rich in marine life providing endless shore fishing opportunities and great offshore ski boat and paddle skis fishing. Walking along the beach you will almost always be entertained by spectacles of dolphins playing in the surf and the whales breaching in season. For the more active take a fat bike and ride the endless beaches north to Ballito or south to Durban.
Villa La Mercy looks out over the Umdloti River Valley and the La Mercy Lagoon. The river mouth opens to the sea when the rains come and in between forms a wide deep lagoon ideal for stand up paddle boarding, canoeing and kitesurfing. The estuary is lined with mangrove forest, which is home to an abundance of water fowl and resident Fish Eagles, making it a bird watchers paradise. For keen mountain bikers, take to the cane fields where Tongaat Hullets, the sugar growing company, have built rides up the valley right on our doorstep.
A wonderful new addition to the community is the La Mercy Maths, Science and Technology Academy that’s being built in the town centre. This academy is set to be home to the top maths and science learners in the country, indeed a valuable addition to this colourful neighbourhood!
With easy access to a number of big five game reserves plus the World Heritage Sites of the beautiful iSimangaliso (St Lucia) Wetland Park in the north and the majestic uKhlahlamba (Drakensberg) Mountains in the west, La Mercy is an ideal springboard to explore this remarkable Province of KwaZulu-Natal.