Tag Archives: beach

Beach weather and sailing ships

Beach weather and sailing ships

Perfect bliss may well be lying on a beautiful (and windless) beach while watching sailing ships pass by at a pace significantly slower than life.

Cape Town has for many years been known as a city where the pace is somewhat slower than the rest of the country. I've noticed though that the tide has started to turn and even though there's a more relaxed feeling in parts (like at this beach), it seems to me that the pace of business has picked up. Average folk seem busier than before, working longer hours than ever, and generally being trapped in the great hamster-wheel.

The interesting thing about Cape Town is that whenever the weather is good you'll find loads of people on the beaches... and not tourists, I might add. I've come to the conclusion that these people most likely fall into four categories:

1. They worked smart and earned a lot of money, enough to retire early.
2. They're trust-fund kids.
3. They're locals on holiday.
4. They're bunking work or lectures!

And in the majority of cases, I'd place my bet on option 4. ;)

Kite surfer on Blouberg beach

Kite surfer

Kite surfing is one of those sports that looks so awesome and appears to be so much fun, but can in fact be deceptively dangerous - especially for the foolishly brave noobies who think that it's okay to go out on their own. It really isn't okay for the inexperienced to kite-surf on their own, even if the wind is calm.

The Cape Town wind has a nasty way of arriving suddenly and changing unpredictably. A friend of mine was once lifted several metres into the air, and then thumped down on the sand, severely injuring his back. It took months for the feeling in his lower back to return... and he was lucky. More than once have I heard of kite surfers being dragged around on the beach, slammed into barricades and even dragged across roads. A little while ago I heard a report of a kite surfer flying across the beach, then flying across the road, and finally being slammed against a building.

If you do plan on taking up kite surfing, make sure that you take proper lessons and get in a good few hours of surfing before going out alone. Also, take a look at the safety tips on this kite-surfing school's site. And, just before you're ready to go out and buy your first kite, do take a look at this video. (Warning: The video contains no blood, or visible damage to any person, but could be classed as horrific in nature.)

And sometimes it’s the big things :)

Table Mountain after sunset

There are so many fantastic sunset spots in Cape Town: Clifton 4th Beach, Summerville in Camps Bay, Signal Hill, Table Mountain itself, Scarborough, upstairs at Wakame in Mouille Point, Blouberg Beach (which is where today's photo was taken), the top of Tygerberg Hill, Lovers' Lane... if you live in the city, or have been here, which is your favourite? And yes, I know, that's like asking you to name your favourite dessert - but give it a try anyway.

As much as I love all the other spots, I'd have to say that the two most spectacular sunsets I've ever experienced were the two I watched from the top of Table Mountain. Clifton 4th Beach is a close second, though, and a bit more accessible, to be fair. :)

Back in beautiful Cape Town

Signal Hill and Lion's Head

On Sunday, after launching our new WordPress version of Cape Town Daily Photo, I caught a flight with four colleagues to Johannesburg (the largest city in South Africa), a mere two hours' travel time from Cape Town.

I remembered after landing how different Cape Town is from Johannesburg. It seems almost like a different country entirely. We ate lots of good food, stayed in a nice hotel, and spoke with many interesting people, but today I'm really happy to be back in sunny Cape Town.

Perhaps I've mentioned it before, but us Capetonians are often teased about how preoccupied we are with our mountains - especially Table Mountain.  Even though I'm aware of this there came a point when I genuinely realised that I missed the mountain - I just couldn't find my bearings without the landmark. Were it not for a trusty GPS I'd still be roaming the streets looking for our hotel. :) I really think Cape Town would slip into a huge emotional depression if the earth one day swallowed up our beloved mountain.

We are silly, aren't we?

The best beach in Cape Town

Clifton 4th beach

I think by now you probably know that we're quite fond of the beaches along the Atlantic Seaboard (Camps Bay, Clifton, Llandudno). Our favourite of these is definitely Clifton 4th Beach. I don't think I need to say any more really - just take a look at the photo. Doesn't it look idyllic?

After the sun has set

Dusk at Clifton 4th beach

We went down to Clifton 4th Beach this evening with a few friends. I wanted to do something to mark the one-year anniversary of my brother's death, but I wanted it to be happy and special, rather than sad and melancholy. So we took a picnic and spent a couple of hours watching the sky change colour after the sun had set.

The weather was sublime, and I even went for a swim (on my own, since no-one else had brought their costumes) just before it got completely dark. This is an experience I can totally recommend - if you live in Cape Town, you should do this at least once in your life.

It turned out to be a truly beautiful evening, spent with people I love - which is just what I'd wanted.

Girls, lifeguards and blue flags

Girls and lifeguards on Clifton beach

If you've been following this blog it will be no surprise to you which beach is being featured today. Clifton 4th beach, obviously. :)

The guy and girl sitting on the unusually high chairs are lifeguards watching over bathers. We watched for some time as about 10 people practised their lifesaving skills by dragging a "victim" from the ocean; and unlike my brief description here, watching this mock-rescue was actually fairly entertaining.

Clifton 4th is classified as a Blue Flag beach, meaning that it complies with certain quality requirements set forward by the Foundation for Environmental Education.

In this case "quality" doesn't refer to how beautiful the people on the beach are (though if it did, Clifton would retain its status, no doubt). Instead it refers to a number of criteria in the following categories:

  • Bather environmental education and information
  • Water quality
  • Environmental management
  • Safety and services

You can read the full list of measurement criteria on the Blue Flag website.