These beaches have been used for their natural resources and as a convenient route for travel since the first Nguni people migrated down the east coast of Africa. There is evidence in the dunes, in the form of pottery dating back to 300AD and shells, of people harvesting sealife, especially mussels from the intertidal zone for centuries. 

The Thonga people are unique among the tribes on the KwaZulu-Natal coast in their harvesting of sea creatures for food and they still use the fish kraals in the channels of the Kosi Bay system, the rights for which use have been handed down from father to son for hundreds of years. More recently they have become popular holiday destinations for sunseekers, fishermen, scuba divers and ski-boaters from South Africa And abroad. Some of the northern beaches are incorporated into marine reserves which protect fish stocks, breeding turtles and the unique ecosystems off this sub-tropical coast.