Muizenberg Beach

Sitting at the western end of the huge curve of sand that make up False Bay, Muizenberg is rightfully one of Cape Town’s best known beaches. The beach is around 200 metres of soft white sand which backs onto the laid back seaside town of Muizenberg.

The sandy stretch which forms the northern shore of False bay itself goes on for ever. Well around 40km (25 miles) around to Gordons Bay at the far end. Much of the shoreline is undeveloped and from most viewpoints there is a spectacular backdrop of the landmark mountains of Cape Town. As an aside, the name False Bay comes from early sailors confusing the bay with Table Bay on the west coast, which is home to Cape Town harbour.

One of the most iconic features of Muizenberg beach are the brightly coloured Victorian beach huts which line the beach. Back in those days Muizenberg was Cape Town’s number one beach, however now-a-days it has been replaced by the likes of Clifton and Camps Bay as the place to be seen. Muizenberg is still probably the best family beach around though. Unlike the west coast beaches that face direct into the Atlantic Ocean, the beach here is wider and flatter; not only is the water much warmer (around 6°C) , but generally calmer. This makes Muizenberg the top spot to learn to surf at in the Cape Town area and there are plenty of surf schools here to help out with this at the “Surfer’s Corner” end of the beach.

Whilst Muizenberg is a great swimming and surfing beach there have been a number of well reported shark attacks here over the years. Whilst this reflects the popularity of the beach and statistically you would be extremely unlucky to be attacked, the authorities do take the threat seriously. Shark spotters are positioned overlooking the beach and will raise the alarm if a shark is spotted.

Muizenberg has recently won the prized Blue Flag award. This is as much for the facilities available as for the beach itself and as a well established beach town Muizenberg has them all, and then some. Backing onto the beach are numerous coffee shops, restaurants and surf shops along with Muizenberg Pavilion. If the beach isn’t enough to keep the kids occuppied this place will. There is a big water slide, outdoor swimming pool, putt-putt (mini-golf) course and much more.