Umkomaas, a small coastal town on the subtropical south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa was formed when a harbour was built in 1861 to export sugar. The town rests beside the mouth of the navigable uMkhomazi River, also known as the Mkhomazi or Umkomaas. With the successful dredging of Durban harbour's sandbar and arrival of the railway,like Port Shepstone, the harbour fell into disuse, but the town came to life.
A large number of whales once used the estuary as a nursery, giving birth in the shallows. The Zulus named the river after this spectacle (uMkhomazi means the place of cow whales). The settlement was originally known as South Barrow, with its suburb known today as Ilfracombe then called North Barrow.
The town is located 48 km south of central Durban and is accessible by rail and by roads including the N2 Freeway and the coastal R102 or "Old Main Road."
The South African Navy mine countermeasures vessel SAS Umkomaas is named in honour of the river and town.
Additional tourist attractions include the Umkomaas Golf Course, home of Tim Clark and widely regarded as being one of the best in KwaZulu-Natal, and the beautiful Empisini Nature Reserve, a forested area that features a delightful waterfall and a number of bush walks. The nearby settlement of Clansthal was the home of Conservationist Tony Pooley in the 1980s and 1990s. Swedish tennis player Mats Wilander was a regular visitor in the 1990s, and is rumoured to have been the owner of a large hotel on the corner of Moodie and Reynolds Street.
Umkomaas is most renowned for the superb diving opportunities created by the Aliwal Shoal, a volcanic reef about 5 kilometres offshore. Ragged-tooth sharks, Rock Cod, and a number of other species can be found in the shoal.
Growth in diving-related tourism has grown dramatically in the past decade, although the Shoal features two especially fine shipwrecks, the Nebo and the Produce, that long predate the Shoal's current surge in popularity. The Aliwal Shoal was formed about 80 000 years ago. Diving and accommodation information is available in the town and online.