South Africa has more than 3,000 km of coastline, and much of this consists of some very fine beaches. South Africa's beaches are renowned for their white or golden sands, excellent surfing conditions, and clean and tidy facilities.

Hotels in South Africa

Cape Point is where the warm Indian Ocean and the cold Atlantic Ocean meet. The beaches on the west coast, and therefore by the Atlantic Sea, have much cooler waters than the beaches on the eastern cost of South Africa, in fact the waters on the western side can be surprisingly chilly.

Although the waters are colder, the Atlantic side of the Cape Peninsula, "the Atlantic Seaboard", is popular for expensive homes facing the sunset views, and there are many beautiful beaches below the mountains of the peninsula, including Camp's Bay (the Western Cape's answer to St Tropez), Clifton and Llandudno. The West Coast beaches are long, sandy beaches to the north of Cape Town. The wind and surf conditions make these beaches popular for surfing and kite-surfing. Some of the favourite beach towns include Amiston and Stilbaai.

The beaches found along the eastern coastline of South Africa include those of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces. Cape Vidal is found way north of this stretch of coast, close to Mozambique, and forms part of the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, a World Heritage site. The popular beaches of Durban further south, are huge beaches with golden sand, lovely promenades and a great deal of entertainment options. Just north of Durban are the wonderful beaches of Umhlanga, Umdloti and Ballito, while south of Durban there is Marina Beach, Margate and the attractive Ramsgate Beach. Even further south, and into the Eastern Cape, is Nature's Valley in the Tstitsikamma Forest region; Plettenburg Bay, regarded as one of the most beautiful spots on the Garden Route; the great beaches of Port Elizabeth; and those between Port Alfred and East London.

On the eastern side of Cape Town you find False Bay, a long sandy beach that runs more or less uninterrupted from Gordons Bay to Muizenberg, forming the coast of the Cape Flats. Along the rocky Cape Peninsula, there are frequent beautiful beaches in between the mountains of the peninsula.