In the current volatile economy, it’s safe to say that luxurious beach holidays are out of reach for many, or most, Africans. It can easily take a family a year, or much more, to save for an enjoyable, relaxing stay by the seaside.
For keen international travellers, a beach getaway to Thailand, Mauritius, Bali or the Seychelles can easily set you back between R10 000 and R30 000 per person for a short stay – and that’s for package deals on the lower end of the scale, not including spending money.
Locally, with the rising cost of petrol, even a trip to the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal or escaping the Cape’s packed beaches for a quiet retreat a few hours away can set you back a small fortune. And long trips with family, and potentially even pets, in the car can be stressful.
It’s clear, planning beach holidays is becoming more and more of a hassle – quite the opposite of what they are intended for. And when you add up the numbers, for the average South African, that relaxing break by the sea is becoming increasingly unattainable.
So what if there were more beaches, allowing access to a greater number of people? And what if it could happen on your doorstep, even if you live in the Northern Cape or Mpumalanga?
Multinational innovation company Crystal Lagoons has developed a sustainable, green technology that makes this possible, bringing the idyllic beach lifestyle anywhere in the world. The company’s innovative technology, patented in 160 countries, enables the creation of unlimited sized bodies of crystal clear water at very low construction and maintenance costs. The company currently has 400 projects underway in various stages of development in 60 countries.
For example, in Las Vegas, Crystal Lagoons is transforming Wynn Resorts on the famous Las Vegas Strip into a beautiful beach-front paradise.
The “World’s Top Amenity”, a 38-acre Crystal Lagoon (that’s 30 football fields, or close to 100 Olympic-size swimming pools) will be the centerpiece of a development featuring 260,000 square feet of premium meetings and convention space, a 1,000-room hotel tower, a small casino and extensive dining and entertainment options, including watersports and lazing on beaches – never before seen in the Nevada desert.
The lagoon replaces a 135 acre golf course and allows the developer to save water as Crystal Lagoons typically use 30 times less fresh water than golf courses.
Crystal Lagoons’ technology manages water and energy more efficiently than conventional swimming pool technology. Their lagoon in Egypt’s Citystars Sharm El Sheikh development, for example, uses just 2% of the energy required by conventional swimming pools’ centralized filtration systems despite the fact that it is now the company’s largest record-holding development at 12.5 hectares.
Crystal Lagoons´ sustainable cutting edge technology means that a lagoon consumes around half of the fresh water required by a park of the same size and 30 times less than a golf course, and they can use any kind of water – salt, fresh or brackish. Besides, these crystal clear lagoons are massively used by people from all ages, in contrast to golf courses, that apart from using a lot of land and water, are just enjoyed by a few.
With Crystal Lagoons recently entering the South African and broader African market with their African office in Cape Town, beach holidays could soon be brought much closer to home. “A Crystal Lagoon brings the idyllic lifestyle of the beach to anywhere in the world, and we look forward to adding this amenity to South African leisure resorts,” says Crystal Lagoons’ Regional Director for Africa, Alastair Sinclair, “a Crystal Lagoon can be created in second-row coastal locations, mountainous areas, in the middle of cities and even miles away from the coast. The massive bodies of water are ideal for swimming and water sports such as kayaking, paddle boarding and sailing, all in a safe and fun environment.”
