 Centuries ago Nguni tribes migrated southwards along the Mozambique plains to the eastern shores of St Lucia, originally inhabited by primitive iron-age man. Trees from the dune forests were used to make charcoal for iron smelting. Fires were used to clear more of the forest to provide grazing which supported a variety of animals which otherwise could not have survived in the area.
In the 1500s, Portuguese explorers discovered the estuary mouth and in 1576, the lake and estuary were named Santa Lucia. In 1822, the Royal Navy sent the ships Leven, Barracouta and Cockburn to survey the coastline. The captain of the Barracouta was Lt. A. Vidal, after whom Cape Vidal was named. Leven Point was named after the sloop HMS Leven. In 1849 Douglas Angas recorded the first Nyala known to science near False Bay Park, subsequently named Tragelaphus Angasi after him. 1900s explorers and hunters encountered teeming herds of game including elephant, buffalo and rhino. By the turn of the century, most of the wildlife had been shot out.  The British thwarted the Boers of the new Vryheid Republic before claiming St. Lucia as a port and HMS Goshawk was dispatched to annex the area in December 1884. The following year St. Lucia town was proclaimed. The town soon became popular as a fishing resort with the first hotel established in the 1920s.  In the mid 1950s, a bridge was built, connecting the town to the mainland, prior to which a Pont was used. In 1898 the ship Dorothea was wrecked on the reef off Cape Vidal. The ship was rumoured to be carrying the “Kruger millions”, illicit gold bought on the Witwatersrand and smuggled out of the country to buy arms in Europe for the Boer troops. So far, numerous attempts to recover the cargo have failed. Also in 1898 a mission station was established at Mount Tabor near Mission Rocks which continued to function until the mid 1980s. In 1943, members of RAF 262 Squadron were based in the eastern shores to carry out anti-submarine patrols using Catalina flying boats. An observation building was erected at Mount Tabor, now converted into an overnight hut for the Mziki trail.
The Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park was proclaimed as South Africa's first World Heritage Site on 1 December 1999 and on 1 November 2007 the name was changed to iSimangaliso Wetland Park to reflect the area's Zulu origins. The name iSimangaliso is derived from the Zulu proverb "Ubone isimanga esabonwa uJeqe kwelama Thonga" ("If you have seen miracles, you have seen what uJeqe saw in the land of the Thonga".) | 
