
Camps Bay has long been a favourite destination for overseas visitors to Cape Town. Just behind Table Mountain, nestled beneath Lions Head and the majestic Twelve Apostles, and boasting a magnificent palm fringed sandy beach, Camps Bay is a real gem.
Accommodation in Camps Bay is mostly luxury houses, villas and apartments.
The cosmopolitan beachfront is vibrant throughout the year and people throng the pavement cafes and restaurants enjoying the ambience. All the attractions of Cape Town are close at hand; the V & A Waterfront, the Table Mountain cableway and the City centre, yet Camps Bay enjoys a special uniqueness.
A five minute stroll takes you down to the vibrant Camps Bay Beach for a swim, while a five minute drive will deliver you to the foot of Table Mountain, ready to board a cable-car to the top.
Just ten minutes away, Cape Town's bustling city centre and its acclaimed V&A Waterfront await. You can also meander along the coastline to Hout Bay for fish 'n'chips, or follow your nose to historic Cape winelands.
Camps Bay is 30 minutes drive from the Cape Town International Airport.
Camps Bay, Clifton, Bantry Bay, Mouille Point, Sea Point, and V&A Waterfront
Hundreds of thousand
of foreign tourists visit
It
is frequently said that Cape Town
is
The strip of the peninsula's shoreline commonly known as the Atlantic Seaboard stretches some 55 kilometres (34 miles) from the waters of Table Bay along the western coast to the nature reserve at Cape Point. The exceptional beaches and rugged mountains along this coastline not only make this a popular drive, for both locals and visitors, but also provide outstanding views across the Atlantic Ocean, with some of the most spectacular sunsets in the world. Naturally, the plush homes along the coast sell for millions.
On the slopes above the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and Table Bay is the seaside suburb of Green Point. Along with Sea Point, Green Point became home to well-heeled society. With the development of the seafront, many of the area's numerous apartment blocks are in demand once again as South Africans and wealthy foreign investors clamour for the sea views.
Green
Point Stadium has, in recent years,
also become a favoured venue for the many
international pop stars and music
acts, which are making their way
back to
The area to the west of the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront , and enclosed by the suburb Green Point, Mouille Point is most noted for its wide vista of open ocean and conspicuous lighthouse. Erected by Herman Schutte as long ago as 1824, the Mouille Point lighthouse, with its haunting foghorn, is the oldest of its kind in the country.
On the seaward side of Signal Hill lies Three Anchor Bay and Sea Point, and the coastal stretch of Beach Road. Sea Point is a hubbub of entertainment, boasting a lively strip of restaurants, all-night cafe, bistros, and trendy nightclubs.
Sun-worshippers of all shapes and sizes tend to congregate along the three kilometres of the Sea Point Promenade, popular among casual strollers, joggers and young rollerbladers. The promenade looks out over popular Rocklands Beach. Offshore, the Atlantic Ocean is dotted with young surfers braving the notoriously icy waters. The area also boasts two safe seawater pools, Saunders's Rock and Graaff's Pool, a male nudist haunt.
Southwest along the coast from Sea Point lies the band of upmarket residential property, better known as Millionaires' Mile. Stretching along winding Victoria Road from Bantry Bay through Clifton, Camps Bay and Bakoven to distant Llandudno, this strip is considerably longer than a mile, but it is clearly the playground of the wealthy.
The wind-free, sun-blessed beaches provide an idyllic setting in which to relax.
Beyond exclusive Bantry Bay, which nestles along the western slopes of Signal Hill and Lion's Head, lies sought-after Clifton, with its four immaculate beaches. Simply named First, Second, Third and Fourth, the Clifton beaches are famed the world over for their absolute splendour. The beaches are separated by granite outcrops which also act as a shelter from the south-easterly wind, which the locals fondly call 'the Cape doctor'. Clifton is ideal for sunbathing and, in summer (December to February), the white sands are usually draped with scantily-clad bodies soaking up the Cape sun. First Beach is renowned for its sun-worshiping trendy set, while Third is a favourite of the teens, and Fourth Beach, with its nearby parking and refreshment facilities, caters mostly for family outings. The sun drenches these relatively secluded stretches virtually from sunrise to sunset, and revellers often party on into the night with picnic suppers. Clifton's beaches are the place to be if you want to experience the very best the Cape has to offer.
Equally exclusive and trendy, is Camps Bay, which lies at the foot of the Twelve Apostles, the mountain rampart that constitutes the western front of Table Mountain. Hedged in by granite boulders at each extreme, the enclave that is Camps Bay embraces a palm-fringed expanse of pristine white sand which looks as if it has come straight out of a Caribbean holiday brochure. Known in the late 1700's as Die Baay van Von Kamptz after Frederick von Kamptz, the owner of the original farm, Ravenstyn, Camps Bay is a lively, stylish place, with many luxury self-catering houses, villas and apartments.
Paragliders touch down dramatically on sands that play host to an exciting annual beach volleyball season, and holidaymakers picnic on the grassy margins, while children cavort in the tidal pools. There is even a bowling green for the less adventurous.
The landward side of Victoria Road is lined with shops, bistro's and a plethora of coffee shops. One of the Cape's eternal favourites, Blues Restaurant offers equally impressive vistas over Camps Bay beach. Having celebrated its tenth anniversary, it remains one of the city's finest dining experiences.
For a taste of the lively arts, take in one of the current shows at Camps Bay's intimate Theatre on the Bay, a local landmark.
Just beyond stylish Camps Bay is a small, rather isolated little beach seemingly hidden from the throng. Lying on Bakoven Bay, tiny Bakoven beach is an ideal are for soaking up the sun.
The road from Bakoven to Llandudno and beyond is a popular scenic drive. Just outside Bakoven, there is a substantial roadside market peppered with stalls, selling curios such as seashells, carvings, biltong, and indigenous crafts. About halfway between Camps Bay and Llandudno lies a picnic area with rockpools, and a string of tiny beaches popular with scuba divers who flock to this side of the coastline to investigate the shipwreck just off the coast. The reserve at Oudekraal is also a popular recreational site.
Further along is Sandy Bay, perhaps one of the Cape's most famous beaches and Cape Town's unofficial nudist hangout.
Link to luxury villas in Camps Bay, Llundudno, Clifton, Bakoven
