Muizenberg   -   The beach with the "warmest" water
 

Muizenberg is located south of cape town at the False Bay and you can go there by Metro in approximately 1 hour. At the beginning of the 20^th century Muizenberg had the reputation of a glamorous lido. The great imperialist Cecile Rhodes had a house here and he lived here for the last years of his life. Today the house is a museum.
Today there is not much left of this great lido. Nevertheless it’s worthwhile to come here: The long beach is one of the most beautiful and safest beaches around Cape Town and the water is not that cold as in the Atlantic Ocean. Although the Capo of good Hope is not the southern-most tip of Africa (it’s Cape Aghulas, 150 km to the east), the warm currents from the Indian Ocean come here together with the cold currents from the Atlantic Ocean. And therefore the water is warmer here and there is less wind then directly in Cape Town.

Very nice is the walk from Muizenberg via St. James to Kalk Bay. Directly at the shore line (be careful, if there are some waves you can get wet feet). Starting at the railway station you walk to the right along the beach. Sometimes you have to walk close to the railway track and you need to take care of the trains.
In St. James (after 1,5 km) you will find the well known colourful beach huts everybody knows from the picture postcards. You also find this picture inside every travel book. It’s a great view, especially at dawn when there is less sun light and in the back you can see the ocean.
There is a small strip of sand, otherwise the rocks go directly into the sea. There is a grassed area as well where you can relax from the walk.

From St. James it is not far to Kalk Bay. Here you need to go to the harbour because of the great takeaway selling Fish & Chips. Normally I could not go past this takeaway because of the great smell, but out of time constraints I had to.
Kalk Bay is much smaller and quieter than Muizenberg. Maybe that’s the reason that so many antique dealer have settled here. You should have a look inseide.

At this part of the coast sometimes you can watch whales (July to November). Unfortunately there haven’t been any whales at this time.

All three towns have a railway station and you are quite flexible where to start and where to stop. It’s worthwhile to come here.