Mtubatuba is a town north of Richards Bay close to the entrance of Ncivi and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (previously Greater St Lucia Wetland Park) but now the iSimangaliso Wetland Park is known to be under Mtuba town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

The name, formerly spelt Matubatuba, is Zulu for ‘creator of opportunities’, referring to a chief of the Mkwanazi tribe who died here in 1954.

[2] The town's early years were hampered by flooding.

An additional setback occurred during World War I: a ship carrying essential parts of what was to be the town's first sugar mill was torpedoed.

The mill was eventually constructed in 1916 at nearby Riverview.