With Cape Town's spectacular geography and its amazing vibe it is not hard to see why it is consistently voted amongst the world's best cities. It is also South Africa's oldest city, the point at which South Africa as we know it today started.

This spectacular aerial picture left is of the sprawling metropolis of Cape Town stretching to the southern tip of Africa. You can clearly see TABLE MOUNTAIN a 1080m peak towering above Cape Town, covered with it's table cloth cloud. The population of Cape Town is estimated to be at 3.2 MILLION people.

Thanks to the fresh water stream coming off Table Mountain, The Dutch landed first, establishing a settlement in 1652 to supply the ships of the Dutch East India company between Europe and the East. The Khoisan tribes were already in the area. The British followed the Dutch and they both brought slaves from around the world.

Here is a city with many cultures and many celebrations, part African, part European and part something new altogether. With the Winelands and the garden route nearby it is the perfect place to begin your exploration of South Africa.

The Cape has many attractions, including the V & A Waterfront shown in our picture left, Camps Bay and Clifton beaches, Greenmarket Square, the Houses of Parliament, many museums and theatres, Kirstenbosch and Ratanga Junction.

Air flights over the Cape Peninsula can be arranged, as can tours throughout the Cape including Table Mountain, the Stellenbosh and Paarl Winelands.

Sporting facilities available nearby include golf, gym, tennis, bowls, fishing, diving, paragliding, surfing and wind surfing.

In January is the time to go to the beach in South Africa and Cape Town is the place. Whether you are into baring all or keeping your clothes on, retreating behind a rock, there is a beach along the Cape Peninsula to suit you. Here you can ride a horse, fly a kite, watch penguins, sail, walk, surf the waves, snorkel, dive in the deep or just lie in the sun. Your choice of beach will depend not only on the activity you want to do but on which way the wind blows.

Cape Town lies on the Atlantic west coast where a dip in the cold fresh water can leave your teeth chattering. The water may be icy but the sand is hot and the beaches are more sheltered from the renowned ‘Cape Doctor’ south-east wind than those on the east.

A drive from Cape Town along Victoria Road to the western peninsula beaches of Clifton, Camps Bay, Llandudno and Sandy Bay provides magnificent views of the jagged peaks of the twelve apostles. But for one of the most spectacular marine drives in the world continue onto Chapman’s Peak Drive which skirts the Atlantic 600 metres above sea level.

The popular resort of Hout Bay lies at the start of this drive while at the southern end is a breathtaking view of Noordhoek's long white beach caressed by an unnaturally blue sea. Less accessible and consequently very appealing are the beaches in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve which are surrounded by more indigenous plant species per square meter than anywhere else in the world.

We occasional build the odd sandcastle. This one was built by two American guys for a competition on Camps Bay Beach. How tall do you think it is?

How about 20 feet!





 

List of Our Beaches from NORTH to SOUTH

BLOUBERG - Big Bay and Little Bay.
This popular long sandy beach is 20 kilometres north of Cape Town. From here you can take that classic photograph of the view of Table Mountain or conversely the classic shot of Robben Island.

Blouberg is one of the top board and kite surfing venues in the Cape and on a windy day the sand and waves are alive with colour as the sail boarders and kite surfers do their stuff.

13 kilometres out to sea Robben Island can be seen - once the long term prison home of the great Nelson Mandela.

 

CLIFTON BEACH
Granite boulders divide the four white sandy beaches of Clifton sheltering them from the south east wind and offering safe bathing.

Clifton's 1st, 2nd and third beaches are small and hidden away from the road by massive upmarket apartment blocks. Access is by steps winding down from the coast road. Parking is limited to the roadside and to a small parking lot on the coast road. The beach area is a favourite venue for party goers and often becomes lively after hours.

Clifton's Fourth is the largest most popular beach here and the best choice for visitors as it offers ample parking and refreshments facilities. Lifeguards and security are also provided. The sea in this area is too cold for all but the most enthusiastic swimmer, so lounging about on the white sands, playing beach games and eyeing the jet skis and yachts moored offshore is a popular pastime. Para gliders use this beach taking off from the top of Lions Head.
 

CAMPS BAY
The long stretch of fine sand and palm dotted lawn is perfect for a shady family picnic. The busy road, called Victoria Road is lined with shops and restaurants which runs along the whole length of the beach.

You can come and visit us here at Tuscany Beach Restaurant for a reviving drink and bar snacks. We also serve breakfast and lunch as well as our renowned dinner menu which starts after 7pm.

If that's not in your itinerary, try a sundowner after you leave the beach and take time out to watch our superb sunsets.

Surfers and windsurfers love the hard-breaking waves near the rocks at the northern end of the beach. Our picture shows wind surfing on Camps Bay Beach.


 

LLANDUDNO
20 kilometres south of Cape Town this spotless beach is tucked between huge granite boulders.

SANDY BAY
This unofficial nudist beach is backed by steep dunes and mountain slopes and the only way to get to it is a 20 minute walk from the car park or a clamber over rocks from the southern end of Llandudno.

HOUT BAY
A safe swimming beach and large fishing harbour offers everything you could want from a day by the sea. It gets pretty crowded but you can always find room. Launch trips to Seal Island are available where there are gift and curio shops, restaurants and bars.

Hout Bay is the headquarters of the Cray fishing fleet and home of the Snoek Festival.

The beach follows the town in a long curve of sand, ending at the bottom of the winding Chapman's Peak Drive. There's also a lagoon which is popular with children.

A good family choice for your vacation on the beaches - if you don't mind the wind which tends to gust at times.

The sail boarders and kite surfers hang out here, as well as the jet skis, and the sea temperature is bearable for bathing when the weather's hot.

 

NOORDHOEK'S BEACH
This long curved beach of fine white sparkling sand is quite unspoilt and deserted. About half way along are the remains of the ‘Kakapo' shipwreck, preserved in the sand since 1900.

PLATBOOMBAY, CAPE OF GOOD HOPE NATURE RESERVE
This long unspoilt beach is great for exploring rock pools. There are surrounding dunes and rocky slopes where many people go bird watching. Baboons lurk around the car park to steal out of open cars.

EAST COAST - FALSE BAY, NOT QUITE THE INDIAN OCEAN
The eastern shores of the Cape Peninsula which form one side of False Bay, are lapped by warmer waters.

Long stretches of sandy beaches and seaside towns False Bay are linked with the centre of Cape Town by a scenic railway.

The train offers the most relaxing way to experience this coast and it stops at all the little seaside towns and villages along the way.

 

MUIZENBERG SUNSET BEACH AND SURFERS CORNER
Popular among families and young surfers the long gentle waves are perfect to learn on and swim in. Has a parade of brightly coloured Beach Chalets. The beach features a concrete pavilion, putt putt course and swimming pool. The sea is relatively well behaved here and the temperature of the water is more bearable than at the Atlantic Cape Town beaches due to the warming influence of the Indian Ocean currents. The area is exposed and occasionally at the mercy of gusts of southerly winds.

Life savers watch over the swimmers and safe bathing zones are marked with flags. From here long stretches of sand extend far eastwards along the coastline towards another well known seaside resort - The Strand.



 

FISH HOEK BEACH
The warmer waters of False Bay and the safest swimming beach in the Cape make this very popular. This is a family favourite among the Cape Town beaches. It's situated at a well known residential area which was used as a trading post a century ago.

Fish Hoek's picturesque location in a cove offers one of the more sheltered and safer Cape Town beaches, with convenient access by road or train. There is a playground for the kids, and refreshment facilities close by. Lifesavers are on duty here as well as security personnel.
The area is popular for beach and water sports.

BOULDERS BEACH, SIMON’S TOWN
Simon’s Town is a delightful quaint old navy seaport at the terminus of the railway and the last town before Cape Point Nature Reserve.

Boulders beach is a few kilometres on from the station. The name comes from the number of Boulders which guard the beach. This is the home of a large number of Jackass Penguins.

This is the most accessible breeding colony of jackass penguins in the world and a photographic opportunity that should not be missed. Visitors flock here in there hoards and so parking can be problematical because of the popularity of  these little chaps. No, you can't take one home!

In the most southerly region of Africa lies the Western Cape’s best kept secret, the Overberg, popularly known as the Whale Coast. This is where, at Cape Agulhas the southernmost tip of the continent cleaves the oceans into the Atlantic and the Indian. It is in the numerous sheltered coves and bays that characterize this coast that the Southern Right whales appear every year in July/August and remain until November, providing visitors with some of the best land-based whale watching in the world

Ok, so we exaggerated the surf today!
Click on the picture for Cape Town Surf Forecast

Catch the big one on "Volante"?

We have plenty of superb courses & sun

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Open: 7 days a week from 07.00 hrs until late.
41 VICTORIA ROAD, CAMPS BAY. Telephone: (021) 438-1213
info@tuscanybeachrestaurant.com

Copyright @ 2005/2008 Tuscany Beach Restaurant. All rights reserved.