Bonamanzi Resort & Marina

One of the best if not the best place to go and have an awesome time with friends and family !!!

We have been introduced to Bonamanzi Resort and Marina one Saturday 19 years ago during an impromptu visit with our boat as day visitors . We enjoyed the resort and facilities so much that we decided to come back the following day. Our oldest son Divan only 1 and half years old then . My wife then decided to go the little shop to buy ice cream for our son and there she saw an advert for house at Bonamanzi. We decided there and then that we are going to buy it and by the following Tuesday the deal was done .This was the start of an almost live long relationship at Bonamanzi, a privately owned resort run by the Cook family.

Soon Divan started walking and got verry accustomed to the environment and all the staff became accustomed to him including Uncle Rob Cook the owner. When our son turned 2 years , he had a green John Deer battery operated gator which he drove around Bonamanzi as if he owned the place . Many a times uncle Rob would act like a true grandfather to him and would literally close the road for the little one to pass with his Gator, He always made time to speak to Divan as if it was his own grandson and this is the reason why Bonamanzi is so special to us as a family and continue to be .

A couple of years later our daughter Marize was borne and we could not wait to come and introduce her to Bonamanzi . We were put under immense pressure by Divan as he could not understand why we could not go to the dam as he started to love the place incredibly. Divan forced Marize to grow accustomed to Bonamanzi verry quickly as there was no time to sit around for him .She was also introduced to Uncle Rob and soon Uncle Rob had lengthy discussion with them both for hours .

With the years passing , uncle Rob unfortunately passed away and it was a verry sad day for our family .We all still miss his chats along the way to the boat and sometimes will only get to our boat 45 min – 1 hr later as the discussion with uncle Rob took way longer than anticipated because uncle Rob cared for everyone and the Bonamanzi kids was his passion .Bonamanzi till today makes sure that kids safety comes first hence, the verry strict rules about the speed you are allowed to drive in the resort .This legacy will always be there and is one of the reasons Bonamanzi is so popular .Kids has absolute freedom at Bonamanzi and this has certainly contributed allot to my kids independence and the fact that they would not even think twice if I ask should we go to the dam this weekend , the answer would be an  instant YES !!.

After Uncle Rob`s passing , his son Justin and Wife Sarah took over the family business. A sound , respected , kind-hearted, though strict businessman like his dad. Soon Justin and Sarah showed their utmost respect to  Uncle Robs legacy, Bonamanzi,  and started building further on that legacy .With such pride and resilience , they manoeuvred through the ever present daily obstacles to have successfully revamped the shop into a ultra-modern little deli, they have upgraded the ablution blocks to state of the art facilities that is a rare find amongst all the other resorts  allowing day visitors . They have upgraded the pool facility to a facility that will not stand back to any 5-star resort in the country . They recently upgraded the mooring wall at the day visitors terrace, and they have introduced a mountain bike trail / hiking trail . All of this are done for the residence and day visitors of Bonamanzi , a true inspiration to us as a family and to everyone visiting or have visited Bonamanzi that everyone is truly cared for. Bonamanzi will certainly continue its journey for many generations to come .

Andre Viljoen