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Cape Town beaches - almost every day can be a beach day.
You just have to know the Cape Town beaches! You'll find me on the beach in every kind of weather, from baking sunshine to foggy dusk. And if you know Capetown, you'll recognise that there are definitely beaches for every season.
If the weather looks a little dodgy to you, check out my Cape Town weather tips to make sure you choose the beach with the sunniest skies! If you just want to cut to the chase here's our shortlist of favourite beaches in Cape Town, together with why we think they're great.
Best little beach - St James
St James is one of the beaches (Muizenberg is the other) that has these quaint little bathing huts on it. They are a carryover from the Victorian days when modesty was everything and very little skin was bared on the beach. Now they are just rented by people for storage. Boring! St James is on the False Bay side of the peninsula. That means - warmer water. This is a big factor because on the Atlantic seaboard side, the water can be c-o-l-d! This beach is a gem. It's great for sunbathing, swimming and rock-pooling. There's a tidal pool which is great for kids. Parking can be tricky, but it's well worth it. (Get there early - 9.30-ish - and parking is a cinch.)
Best walking beach - Kommetjie
We tend to walk because we have friends who live right ON the beach, so we sun ourselves and swim at their place and then venture out to stretch our legs! Kommetjie beach links up with Noordhoek Beach, also known as long Beach. Together they offer some 6kms of fine silvery sand against beautiful mountain backdrops. It is popular with surfers and a great place to go horseriding. En route to Long Beach (after passing our favourite guest house in the whole of Cape Town!) you can visit what remains of the wreck of the Kakapo and watch surfers at the popular Dunes surfspot. We don't often brave the pebbles in the opposite direction, but if you do, you can make your way to Slangkop Point and the lighthouse there.
Best sundowner beach - Clifton 4th Beach
Clifton beaches are unimaginatively named 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. It's probably because whoever named them was too dazzled by the sunsets to think any further! This is see-and-be-seen territory amongst Cape Town beaches! Minute bikinis and beach volleyball are the order of the day. Firm young bodies bouncing after balls... (That's why we time our arrival for late afternoon - can't keep up with the competition!) This string of smaller beaches is our favourite sundowner spot. They are also the most sheltered Cape Town beaches when the South Easter is blowing. We prefer Clifton 3rd or 4th to because of their character - they are overlooked by so-called 'beach bungalows' (actually some of the priciest real estate in Africa) rather than by blocks of flats. And Clifton 4th has blue flag status. Be warned! To reach the beaches you make your way down, down, down narrow walkways. But it's all worth it when you get to the bottom. With turquoise water and dazzling sand and maybe a yacht anchored in the shallows, the setting is sublime.
Become a permanent Cape Town beach resident even if only metaphorically! Subscribe to my free newsletter and keep your toes in the sand! Looking for something else? Here's your chance... :o) Here are some other greats... < < Home from Cape Town Beaches
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