Camps Bay and the Beach

If one were interested in paying a visit to Cape Town, Camps Bay would be a prime area to find a place to stay temporarily as it offers some excellent accommodation that will put one somewhere between the Mountain and the beach. With a vast choice of villas, flats, cottages and guesthouses, one would not be deprived of finding perfectly suitable luxury lodging.

The houses in Camps Bay stretch from the steeps down to the stunning beachfront. The scenery as you look down from Kloof Nek is breathtaking. The jagged and precipitous Twelve Apostles sweep down to a rocky shoreline. A long, wide and perfectly white beach breaks this shoreline. You feel that you would not be surprised to see a Spanish galleon taking provisions on board, moored in the bay. In contrast to the neighboring Clifton the beach is not hemmed in by steep slopes and has a very open atmosphere. Table Mountains, the cableway and the Twelve Apostles provide a majestic backdrop. The promenade of palm trees adds an ambience of a by-gone era where ladies carried parasols and held on to their lovers elbow. The beach is spacious and not usually very crowded. It is popular with families who can be seen with all their paraphernalia of happiness – deck chairs, cool boxes, colourful beach towels and umbrellas and children with their buckets and spades. A nearby sports field provides bored husbands with interest diversions, and the beach is backed by a number of shops, restaurants, chemists and banks to assuage your every need. There is as tidal pool beside a neatly mown grass verge, with shady trees and braai spots. A large tidal pool provides sheltered bathing for young children. This allows you to have the feeling of being on the beach without getting sand in your teeth and sandwiches.

You can get to the beach from Kloof Nek if you take the main road that leads down to the Atlantic side. After winding backwards and forwards you will find yourself looking at a beach trough palm trees. Alternatively from Sea point, take the beach rd (Victoria) past Clifton through to Camps Bay. Parking can be found on the road that runs past the beach. Parking is at a premium and on good summer’s days be prepared to park in a side street and walk down. The beach is separated from the road by a short grassy verge.

Activities such as swimming and sunbathing are the main pastimes on this beach. The surf is usually strong and the beach shelves steeply so keep an eye on children. Surfers usually congregate at the adjacent Glen Beach. At Camps Bay the waves dump and are useless for paddle skiers or surfers. Camps Bay has been the take off point for long haul windsurfers en route to Hout bay or Milnerton on regatta days. Even a competent board sailor would not attempt this trip without crew.

The accommodation near the beach is more than abundant and prices range but can go quite low, considering what one gets from staying in this picturesque coastal suburb. The nightlife is fun and various clubs, restaurants and pubs remain open until late, to accommodate the thriving community.