The Cape Metropole (greater Cape Town) has a wide variety of beaches divided into three regions by the Cape Peninsula:
The sea in False Bay is about 6 degrees warmer than the Atlantic Seaboard and the West Coast.
In 2011, Lonely Planet listed Cape Town second in its list of the world's top 10 beach cities. [1]
A long sandy beach runs more or less uninterrupted for the complete width of False Bay from Muizenberg to Gordon's Bay, forming the coast of the Cape Flats. Along the rocky Cape Peninsula, there are several smaller beaches below the mountains which are more protected from westerly swells than the beaches of the north shore. There is also a long sandy beach on the east side of the bay at the foot of the Kogelberg.
The Atlantic side of the Cape Peninsula faces West and thus is popular for expensive homes facing the sunset views. There are many beautiful beaches below the mountains of the peninsula.
The West Coast beaches are long, sandy beaches to the North of Cape Town. The wind and surf conditions make these beaches popular for surfing and kite-surfing.
Cape Town is the legislative capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the country's second-largest city, after Johannesburg, and the largest in the Western Cape. The city is part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality.
Fistral Beach is in Fistral Bay on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated half a mile west of Newquay at grid reference SW 797 620.
Camps Bay is an affluent suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, and the small bay on the west coast of the Cape Peninsula after which it is named. In summer it attracts many South African and foreign visitors.
Strand is a seaside resort town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It forms part of the Eastern Suburbs of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, situated on the north-eastern edge of False Bay and near the foot of the Helderberg Mountains. Its geographical position is between Somerset West and Gordon's Bay, and is about 50 km southeast of Cape Town City Bowl. Strand has a population of approximately 50,000. Strand's main attraction is the beach; 5 km of white sandy beach off False Bay.
Kommetjie is a small town near Cape Town, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It lies about halfway down the west coast of the Cape Peninsula, at the southern end of the long wide beach that runs northwards towards Chapman's Peak and Noordhoek. The community of Ocean View is located to its immediate south east.
The Cape Peninsula is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. On the northern end is Table Mountain, overlooking Table Bay and the City Bowl of Cape Town, South Africa. The peninsula is 52 km long from Mouille point in the north to Cape Point in the south. The Peninsula has been an island on and off for the past 5 million years, as sea levels fell and rose with the ice age and interglacial global warming cycles of, particularly, the Pleistocene. The last time that the Peninsula was an island was about 1.5 million years ago. Soon afterwards it was joined to the mainland by the emergence from the sea of the sandy area now known as the Cape Flats. The towns and villages of the Cape Peninsula and Cape Flats, and the undeveloped land of the rest of the peninsula now form part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The Cape Peninsula is bounded to the north by Table Bay, to the west by the open Atlantic Ocean, and to the east by False Bay in the south and the Cape Flats in the north.
Fish Hoek is a coastal town at the eastern end of the Fish Hoek Valley on the False Bay side of the Cape Peninsula in the Western Cape, South Africa. Previously a separate municipality, Fish Hoek is now part of the City of Cape Town. As a coastal suburb of Cape Town, Fish Hoek is popular as a residence for commuters, retired people and holidaymakers alike. The traditional industries of 'trek' fishing and angling coexist with the leisure pursuits of surfing, although nearby Kommetjie is usually favoured, sailing and sunbathing. There is an active lifeguard community who utilise the beach and bay for training.
False Bay is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcated by Cape Point to the west and Cape Hangklip to the east. The north side of the bay is the low-lying Cape Flats, and the east side is the foot of the Hottentots Holland Mountains to Cape Hangklip which is at nearly the same latitude as Cape Point. In plan the bay is approximately square, being roughly the same extent from north to south as east to west, with the southern side open to the ocean. The seabed generally slopes gradually down from north to south, and is mostly fairly flat unconsolidated sediments. Much of the bay is off the coast of the City of Cape Town, and it includes part of the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area and the whole of the Helderberg Marine Protected Area. The name "False Bay" was applied at least three hundred years ago by sailors returning from the east who confused Cape Point and Cape Hangklip, which are somewhat similar in profile when approached from the southeast.
Muizenberg is a beach-side town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated where the shore of the Cape Peninsula curves round to the east on the False Bay coast. It is considered to be the main surfing spot in Cape Town and is currently home to a surfing community, centered on the popular 'Surfer's Corner'.
Table Mountain National Park, previously known as the Cape Peninsula National Park, is a national park in Cape Town, South Africa, proclaimed on 29 May 1998, for the purpose of protecting the natural environment of the Table Mountain Chain, and in particular the rare fynbos vegetation. The park is managed by South African National Parks. The property is included as part of the UNESCO Cape Floral Region World Heritage Site.
Melkbosstrand is a coastal town located on the South West Coast of South Africa, 30 km north of Cape Town. It forms part of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, the municipality governing Cape Town and its greater metropolitan area.
Clifton is an affluent suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. It is an exclusive residential area and is home to the most expensive real estate in South Africa, with dwellings nestled on cliffs that have sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean.
Milnerton is a seaside town on Table Bay and is located north of Cape Town in South Africa. It is located 11 kilometres to the north of the city's centre.
Llandudno is a seaside suburb of Cape Town on the Atlantic seaboard of the Cape Peninsula in the Western Cape, South Africa. There are no street lights, shops or commercial activities, and the town has some of the most expensive residential property in South Africa.
The Southern Line is a commuter rail line operated by Metrorail Western Cape, connecting Cape Town station in central Cape Town, South Africa with the Southern Suburbs and the towns on the west coast of False Bay, terminating in Simon's Town.
Cape Town lies at the south-western corner of the continent of Africa. It is bounded to the south and west by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the north and east by various other municipalities in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
St James is a seaside village on the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, situated on the False Bay coast between Muizenberg and Kalk Bay. The village is situated between the rocky shore and a steep mountain, and measures about 200m by 2 km. Its name derives from the early St James Catholic Church, built circa 1880. Most of the suburb was built between 1910 and 1950, after the railway line was built connecting Cape Town to False Bay.
The Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area is an inshore marine protected area around the Cape Peninsula, in the vicinity of Cape Town, South Africa. It was proclaimed in Government Gazette No. 26431 of 4 June 2004 in terms of the Marine Living Resources Act, 18 of 1998.
The Helderberg Marine Protected Area is a small marine conservation area on the north-eastern side of False Bay in the Western Cape province of South Africa, It lies between the mouths of the Lourens River in the Strand, and the Eerste River in Macassar.