[2] It has been described as the area between the Howard College Campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the Burman Bush Nature Reserve.

The two main areas of the Berea are Musgrave, Bulwer, and upper Glenwood, which are separated by the N3 national route that leads into the city centre.

Durbanites who have called Berea their home include cricketer Andrew Hudson, radio personality Alan Khan, and TV presenter Imraan Vagar.

[citation needed] Since the early twentieth century, the suburb has been home to the Durban United Hebrew Congregation.

[3][4] Berea in the 1950s is described by the writer Alan Paton in the novel Ah, but Your Land Is Beautiful as being notable for its "stately indigenous trees".