Beautiful beaches South Africa
Our favorite beaches in South Africa
Top beaches South Africa
The South-African coastal line is absolutely incredible with the most different and beautiful beaches. A list with some of my favorites you must see!
Best beaches in South Africa for swimming.
Good to know is that the North eastern coastal line is known for their rougher ocean an bigger waves, sometimes these places are not the best for swimming, but it’s filled with incredible nature around it, and that will make up for it!
which beaches are safe to visit?
Most beaches in South Africa are safe to visit, And all the beaches I chose as my favorites are safe to visit.
Brighton beach - Durban
One of the first beaches you will find if you started your trip in Johannesburg, a big beach with big but nice waves. Is beautiful to have a walk on the beach and be amazed by all the nature, birds and maybe monkeys. They have ocean pools where you can swim in, if the ocean is to rough.
Umzumbe Beach - Kwazulu-Natal
Tropical, wild and rough nature is what you will find here. This beach looks like a little jungle with clear blue water, high and rough waves, and a lot of rocks. Maybe not the perfect place to go for a swim but the dolphins and whales you will spot here will make up for that. (Whale season is from mid May - December) your chances are pretty high that you will spot mostly humpback whales here.
Coffee Bay - Eastern Cape
Rough, pure and untouched! If you travel along the coast from Johannesburg to Port-Elizabeth Coffee Bay is a place you should stop and see. It’s a bit tucked away behind local villages, with an very interesting road to get there, filled with cows, chickens, pigs and other farm animals, you will experience how a real African village is like. They have a lot of hiking trails here next to the beach, not really a place to swim but still worth seeing. Best place to stay the night here is at the Coffee Shack, there is a little beach next to it where you can swim & surf.
Jeffreys Bay - Eastern Cape
1 hour drive from Port-Elizabeth, and this is maybe not one of the prettiest of this list but sure one of my favorites, and one of the most world-famous beaches for surfers. It’s known for the perfect waves and international surf competitions. A big beach with lots of space, you should definitely check out the surfers at point beach, you will be amazed. If you feel more like swimming and sun bathing you can go to kitchen windows beach, this is also a good spot if you want to take a surf lesson. The surf competition/festival starts every year at the beginning of July so if you are around that time it’s definitely worth to go and see worlds best surfers.
Plettenberg Bay - Western Cape
Luxurious and beautiful Plettenberg Bay is a loved holiday place for the locals, you will find a lot of big beautiful summer houses here near the ocean. A perfect place to spend the day and work on your tan and cool off now an then. The restaurants on the boulevard are very good, one of my favorites is The Fat fish. Enjoy the views and the food.
Wilderness Beach - Western Cape
Wilderness beach, a very large and long beach. Beautiful and not that busy, you can go for a nice swim, visit the cave man (yes a real caveman). Just enjoy the nature around you and see for yourself why this place is called wilderness.
Victoria Bay - Western Cape
Just a few minutes drive from Wilderness you will find Victoria Bay, also a very loved beach by surfers all over the world. The water here is most of the times very clear and calm, some days the waves can get pretty high tough. A very good spot to go for a swim or paddle out for a good surf. This is a small beach so it can get very busy in the high seasons, but it’s worth it.
Best beaches South Africa, Capetown
Camps bay - Western Cape - Capetown
A breath taking beach close to Capetown where nature meets city, one of the more expensive places in Capetown, a gorgeous blue/clear ocean with very cold water. Behind you there is an massive and impressive mountain range and thats what in my opinion makes this beach so beautiful and unique. On the boulevard you will find lots of fancy restaurants and bars. And if this place couldn’t get any better, the sun sets in the ocean and gives you the most incredible sunset you’ve ever seen.
Clifton 1, 2 , 3 , 4 - Western Cape - Capetown
So there are 4 different Clifton beaches, all very popular, small and incredible beaches. You will find the most expensive houses of South-Africa amongst these beaches, and if your there you will probably see why. The sand is pure white and the ocean clear blue, water also very cold! But that can be a nice refreshment in the hot summer days. My favorite Clifton beach was number 2, this beach is the smallest of the four and less busy. You can rent beds/umbrellas on all four of the Cliftons.
Big bay beach at Blouberg - Western Cape - Capetown
This beach is also called Table berg bay, and thats not without a reason, you will have the best & incredible view of the famous Table mountain at this beach, a very large beach thats also loved by surfers.
Long beach - Kommetjie - Western Cape - Capetown
(pronounced as kommekie)
A beautiful white sanded beach surrounded by nature and mountains, a little bit further out of Capetown centre, near to Cape point. Very very cold water, one of the coldest water in South-Africa. A very loved surf spot, with a world famous wave that’s been used in quite some movies. This place is only for advanced surfers!!! So don’t try to paddle out if your not experienced enough. Enjoy the nature and calmness on this beach.
