Sun City Review

Holidays with young kids isn’t about the holiday (because let’s face it, that’s just exhausting), It’s rather about making memories.

Why do you always go back to Sun City? A question I got asked when booking to go again. Well… because where else can everyone be entertained, where else can you walk everywhere without a worry in the world and where else, I mean where else do your kids fall asleep without anyone asking at the end of the day! SUN CITY! It is just the perfect choice for my family.

Sun City is like nowhere else I have been before. It’s a huge resort, rather than a city, but I can completely understand why they call it a city. It’s massive with its own monorail and buses to get around, a water park, golf course, shopping centre, many hotels, apartments and a ton of attractions.

It’s also located right next to Pilanesberg National Park so you can use it as a base to go on a safari. The “Sun” part also makes sense. We always visit in April and it is around 24 degrees every day (although it does cool down at night) and of course the water while refreshing can also be mightily cold and why the tubes and rides are perfect to keep the adrenalin rushing! It was great to get some sunshine and swimming in before coming back to cold JHB.

This period we chose to go during was after easter when most schools were back at school.  It was so quiet, which made everything so much more enjoyable.  It also happened to be our Wedding Anniversary.  So, because we never really celebrate we stayed at the Palace in one of the newly renovated family rooms.  OH MY WORD.

Sun City is an easy drive from Johannesburg. This makes it an easy drive from the airport too. Renting a car is the best way to do this if you are not local. It takes about 2.5 hours from the airport.

One of the top things to do in Sun City is the Valley of Waves – Sun City’s very own water park. It’s the most popular of the Sun City activities for day visitors.

As water parks go, the Sun City Valley of Waves isn’t very big but it is absolutely perfect for my kids.  The slides and rides require you to be 1.2m high which allowed my fearless 7 year old to disappear on all the body slides, tube slides and fear slides.  I thought I was far too old for these things, but having kids brings out the child in you all over again.

My 4 year old is very sad he is just below the 1.2m line but mom is quite happy with that.  There is a lazy river tube ride and adventure island which is a kids tube and slide area with a small kiddies pool. AND then there are the waves.  The big giant wave pool.  The wave pool is a massive 6500 m2 and can churn out 2m+ waves. This was a family must.  Mom and Alexander, my 4 year old… go as deep as possible lifting high with every swell just before they break and dad, my 7 year old and the other wildlings swimming back to shore with every wave. The beach is large too with lots of places to spread a towel and sit by the water.

There is a Chimp and Zee over the Valley of the Waves which my 7 year old can do over and over again.  He whizzes over the Ziplines like a pro.  I’m dreading the day he can do the Zip 2000 (the world’s fastest Zipline based in Sun City) but I know it’s coming!

The best bit, though, is the “vibe” – like a big relaxed party. With the party tunes blaring (not too loud) it feels like we could have chilled our round the beach bit all day. It felt fun just being there – even if we weren’t doing anything.

Food and drink wise there is a Steers and a Milky Lane with a range of options. Plus the very good and our absolute favourite the Brew Monkey restaurant which has some great food and a solid range of South African beers (craft and larger scale) at prices that are good value. There are also a few ice cream and drink vendors closer to the beach.

On the far side of the Cabanas and hotel/casino building lays a man-made lake that’s been dubbed Waterworld.

Most of the attractions for hotel guests are clustered around or close to the lake. There are also a bunch of water based activities for adults or families, too. You don’t need to be staying at Sun City either, they can be enjoyed if you’re just on a day trip to Sun City, too.

Para-gliding looked the most amazing but there’s also speedboat pulled tube rides or “water snake” rides (which looked like a banana boat) plus more family-friendly regular boats that you can take out. Water skiing and water skiing lessons are available, too.

In addition to Valley of Waves, there are many pools hotel residents can use when they are looking for things to do in Sun City South Africa.We stayed in the Palace which had a great pool area including a kids’ pool. The other hotels all have their own pools which all have bars too. Most things in Sun City are within walking distance so we spent a day exploring each of the pools.

There are plenty of activities to do in Sun City without even needing to go far from your accommodation. Located near the lake at the Cabanas was a cool little mini golf course. The course is simple compared to others but not too simple it’s boring. My boys enjoyed it and most kids would too unless they take their mini golf a little more seriously. Time wise, it took us 40 minutes to get around although we probably took longer than most would.

One of the many things there is to do in Sun City is the Stimela train. This miniature railway and train make a 10 minute circuit starting at the station down by the lake.

Connected to the Sun Central is the very enjoyable Maze Of the Lost City. Entering from Sun Central you have to cross a 100m long suspension bridge to reach it, which is a nice bit of immersion. The maze itself isn’t that big but it was hard. Maze of the Lost City is one of those mazes where you can spend ages going round in circles until you find the one well disguised path/turn/gap that finally takes you to the rest of it and eventually on to victory. It’s certainly a challenge.

We do enjoy a good maze and we all liked the Maze of the Lost City. Even if it did take some of us a while. Heading to Sun City without kids and think “pfft, nah”?

Well, think again because the best bit isn’t the maze, or finishing the maze (which was very satisfying). The best bit about the Maze of the Lost City a bar on the other side serving a selection of beers from local microbreweries.

Goodness.  They say that these breakout rooms are quite easy but we decided to do one as a family and it was so hard! We ended up doing the most kid friendly one which ironically was called “Kidnapping”. The Kidnapping begins with you and your fellow captives waking up handcuffed and blindfolded in a strange room. With nothing but collective brainpower (Including the 4 and 7 year old) as they were surprisingly sharp on some points, you have to uncover the clues and free yourself before the kidnapper returns.  It’s a heart pumping rush of fun.  We made it out with 4 minutes to spare.  I hope to never be kidnapped for real with the talkative kids I have!

Sun Central is like a shopping centre at the heart of sun city. Our favourite things to do is Ten Pin Bowling, Magic Company games which are far too addictive and watch a movie which is surprisingly quiet. It has a great selection of fast food places, restaurants and shops.

One of the best things to do at Sun City is to visit Pilanesberg National Park which is right next door. This is a great park to go for game drives to see the Big 5. It’s easy to organise safari drives and it only takes minutes to be in the park.

I highly recommend a safari drive here. Seeing (large) wild animals up close is an amazing experience for anyone of any age. We actually spent a magical day in Pilanesberg at a game lodge while visiting Sun City and this is a great way to do it if you have the time. Otherwise a safari drive or two from Sun City is a good alternative. Along with the Valley of Waves, a safari drive is one of the most popular Sun City day activities.

Our favourite safari drive is the night drive which starts at about 4pm and goes on to end at a dinner at the Wallows which is a restaurant at a waterhole. They have a huge selection of South African foods, a boma fire and just about anything you could ask for. It gets freezing cold on the night drives so be sure to go prepared!

There are quite a few hotels in Sun City to give you a whole range of choices. There is the Cabanas, Cascades, Vacation Club, the Sun City Hotel and The Palace. Each place has its own charm so you really need to choose something that suits the holiday you are looking for. We previously stayed at the Cabanas which is a very family friendly hotel close to the Waterworld. This time we stayed at The Palace.

Having been to many islands and countries I always look for the exotic holiday. The Palace, while being in South Africa, brought a sense of travel to me that I had been longing for. It was overly glamorous and big and sometimes over the top but just gorgeous. The newly renovated Family rooms overlook the Boabab gardens and swimming pool. They are a very good size for a family of 4. The bathroom was the size of our Cabanas room the time before. Every evening we got turndown with Lindt chocolates and the room service cappuccinos every morning were made for me! And the breakfasts. All I will say here is that a little piece of every country in the world seems to have been catered for. Trying to make everyone feel at home. I’m not sure it was a good idea to take the kids to the Palace as they will now be expecting it every time we go. The Olympic size swimming pool has a kiddies pool which wraps around the front of it with frogs, crocodiles and fish shooting water out of their mouths and really, in my opinion, makes the pool. Kings Tower was another HIT. We had to go up every day after breakfast. The Kings tower is 70m high and is the tallest of the 10 Palace towers. The Tower affords never-ending views of the crystal clear pools and lush ornamental forest that surrounds Sun City.

One huge positive is that we just had to walk down the stairs and we were in the valley of the Waves. Of course my adventurous family found a different way to get there and back everyday. We went behind waterfalls and over spider bridges, through mud rivers and even sneaked through the “adult” pool (Much to their naughty delight!)

Honestly, if you can book in advance and spend a little more, use those Discovery points and do it. It’s so worth it.

Sun City is a fabulous place for a vacation particularly if you have kids and want an easy place to go.

We loved having a few days with lots of great food choices, so many easy activities in Sun City and great accommodation. We also loved how sunny and warm it is every time we go.

If you are looking for an easy place to relax on your South African vacation, definitely consider visiting here especially if you are flying through Johannesburg. It’s a very easy drive there and it’s a good alternative to a Johannesburg stopover.

It’s also a ton of fun and we will be returning!