Your guide to South African beaches

Northern KZN

It gets wild up here, with endless beaches where turtles breed, wildlife roams in the Isimanagaliso Wetland Park and Africa’s southern-most coral reefs attract snorkellers and scuba divers. it’s warm here even in the middle of winter but can be wet and muggy in summer. Although the water’s warm the coastline doesn’t provide sheltered bays for swimming.

Famed for: turtles laying eggs

Durban and surrounds

For a combination of beaches, warm water for swimming & surfing, shopping & entertainment, this is your zone. Ballito, Umhlanga and other towns offer lots to do, and are well served by Durban’s gleaming new airport. Durban has a well laid out beachfront promenade filled with cyclists, swimmers, runners & surfers, but accommodation is all large hotels so Portfolio recommends staying a little inland in the Berea area. if you don’t like crowds, avoid school holiday seasons.

Famed for: Beachfront promenades

Southern KZNLots of sheltered bays for swimming in the warm water have made this a popular place for South Africans to build holiday homes, so there are lots and lots of small and relaxed seaside towns which are family orientated. Pleasant climate year-round, but the rain falls in summer. Well served by an immaculate highway running close to the coast. Like much of KZN, beaches are quite sloped with coarse golden sand, and face the morning sun.

Famed for: The Waffle House

Wild CoastThe main national highway cuts far inland here, and so to reach a coastal place you have to drive a long way off the beaten track, and the roads can be rough roads. Difficult access is what has kept it wild, with more remote Zulu villages than tourists along this magnificent coastline of sandy beaches, rugged cliffs and rivers.

Famed for: cows on the beach

Eastern CapeWide beaches of fine but firm sand, backed by forested dunes, only occasionally interrupted by small lagoons or rivers, around which there may be a village of holiday homes. You can walk or run for miles without seeing another soul. There are a few larger towns, and the cities of Port Elizabeth and East London are well served by flights. Pleasant for swimming in summer, but winter here gets chilly. Perhaps SA’s most underrated beach destination, but the surfers know it – Jeffrey’s Bay is world famous.

Famed for: surfing

Garden Route

A lot of this coast is rocky, with high cliffs for taking in incredible views. Where there are sheltered bays, there are beautiful beaches with good swimming, of which Plettenberg Bay (close to Knysna) is the most famous - but there are many small places which you’ll need to scour a map to find, but worth stopping at to extend a trip along the Garden Route. Popular in summer, very busy over the Christmas period, chilly and quiet in winter.

Famed for: Pansy shells

Around Cape TownThere are many small towns on pretty bays and beaches to the east of Cape Town, including Gordon’s Bay, Pringle Bay, Hermanus and Arniston. The water is cool but the scenery dramatic with mountain backdrops, and whales come very close to shore in spring-summer, when the weather’s better. Because the towns are small, you’ll be able to stay very close to the beach and walk to shops and restaurants.

Famous for: whale watching

Cape TownIconic and ridiculously photogenic beaches - palm-lined Camps Bay, the penguins at Boulders, beautiful girls on Clifton 4, gay boys on Clifton 3, beach sports on Clifton 2, hippie Noordhoek, nudist Sandy Bay and many many more – plus shipwrecks, whales, kayaking, diving, surfing and scenic drives. But the water is cold (slightly warmer on the Muizenberg side, but not by much). Unlike the rest of the country, the climate is Mediterranean, with dry summers. Beaches are at their finest from December to April, when the evenings are long too.

Famed for: instagram heaven

West CoastHeading north from Cape Town, there are no more mountains, just long and starkly beautiful white beaches. The water is very cold, and it can be windy, but it’s peaceful. Langebaan has boating, sailing and kitesurfing, and as you go further north, the villages get tinier and more remote. The spring flowers just inland are spectacular.

Famed for: fishing villages & seafood

Thanks to wildcoast.co.za, Sean J & Isimangaliso.com for pics