The Best CapeTown Beaches

Which beach in which wind?

Looking for wind sheltered CapeTown beaches? Or are you one of the surfers looking for a good breeze to do up your kite?

If you want to spend a day out at one of the wonderful Capetown beaches you will have to choose your beach on one of those windy days wisely. The South Easterly wind, also called the Cape Doctor, blows sometimes really strongly. Whether you want to avoid the wind or are desperate for a good breeze, this page is a definite must read for you.

Here are our tips which Capetown beaches you should choose when the wind blows or even howls in other parts of town.

Southerly and southeasterly wind

The strong South Easterly can ease the summer heat in town and blow the clouds away. So you have got the most splendid blue sky over Cape Town even when the weather in other parts of the peninsula is grey and overcast.

CAPE TOWN WEATHER

When the Southeaster winds howl head to:

• Llandudno and Sandy Bay, both are sheltered from the force wind by the Sentinel, which lays to the south of these beaches and protects these coves.
• Camps Bay Beach on the Atlantic Side is also one of the Capetown Beaches which experiences only a slight breeze during this time.
• Kalk Bay which is one of the few sheltered beaches in False Bay and usually quite calm during Cape Doctor Winds. 

Body Board Surfers and Kite surfers however will flock to the beaches to the North of Cape Town when the Cape Doctor calls. Milnerton Lagoon, Sunset Beach and Blouberg’s beaches are the mekka for many surfers and thus best to avoid for beach walks during southeasterly winds.

If you do not mind heading up even further north, Langebaan Lagoon is stunningly beautiful with its turkoise lagoon too and offers both sheltered and windy beaches for this time of the year.

Also the V&A Waterfront remains almost windfree, so the glorious Cape Town summer days make it easy for you enjoying the splendid afternoons and sunsets in one of the numerous restaurants and coffee shops there.

Northerly wind

Wind from the North is prevailing in the autumn and winter months mainly from Mai to September.

Then the Capetown beaches around Blouberg (or Blaauwberg) are relatively wind free during these days. The clouds amassing at the Table Mountain massif often will rain down during these months mainly in the Southern suburbs as Table Mountain holds them in this area, while the air in Blouberg remains dry but still quite chilly.

You might grin when Capetonian talk about chilly, with 15 degrees Celsius (which is 5 deg. Fahrenheit) or less, even the slightest breeze will still feel quite cool. But for us coming from the colder climates, this feels still like spring or even summer days in many parts of the world :-).

Westerly and northwesterly wind

Westerlies which blow in Cape Town during the Cape Town summer and early autumn months bring colder air from the sea and this often leads to quite heavy sea fog mainly during the morning hours.

These days are often not the ideal beach days, as the sea fog is sometimes really dense along the beaches. Maybe you could head to the Cape Winelands near Stellenbosch, Franschhoek or Paarl instead. Often already 10km inland the fog cover dissolves and you will be able to enjoy the clear blue sky we have most of the days also in Cape Town too.

Or head down South and try the False Bay resorts between Muizenberg and Simonstown. The mountain range protects this area from the wind too and leaves the sky clear there.

Need reliable wind and swell forecasts?

Click on this excellent site, South Africa's largest surfing website, to find surf reports for the the most popular CapeTown beaches around the Cape Peninsula, West Coast and other great surfing areas in South Africa.

Especially surfers will love this site! On this website you can not only check the wind direction, but on this really good source for surfers they do give you the tide times and swell info as well.

If you are looking for general information on the weather in Cape Town and learn more about the Cape Town Seasons head to our Weather pages here.

Need more practical tips for living in Cape Town?