Best surf spots in Cape Town for all levels

CAPE TOWN | ACTIVITIES | surfing

best surf spots in Cape Town

Here is our list of some of our favorite surf spots in the beautiful city of Cape Town. We have a variety of waves here with a great variety of severity. From savage barreling beach breaks to gentle long boarding we have it all. Our list includes waves for beginners and advanced surfers. We offer surf tours and we know the conditions for all the spots. Contact us if you would like to join of for a guided surfing tour.

1) muizenberg beach (beginner)

Also known as Surfer’s Corner. Muizenberg is one of the best beaches in the world to learn how to surf.
Owing to the ocean floor on this beach, which has a gradual gradient meaning the water is shallow for a long distance. You can still stand at about waist deep after paddling or walking out for 100 meters. This means the waves gently and allow you to experience long rides, allowing you to practice the basics of surfing. There are normally hundreds of people there on a good day, however the playing area is massive so the crowd is not a problem. The people are used to beginners and are generally very friendly and helpful. At Kaap Tours our surfing guide (Oliver) has been surfing since the age of four and has experience as a surf instructor. Book a guided surf tour with us if you would like to ride some waves 🙂
Best Conditions:
Tide: Surfable on any tide, best for first timers at low tide
Swell Direction: S-SW
Swell Period: Mid to long period
Size: 2-4' faces
Wind: W-N or very light winds
Season: Surf all year round (most consistent in Winter months May-August)

2) big bay (beginner/intermediate)

Big Bay is a beach in Blouberg. The waves here are a little more powerful than Muizenberg. The rides are also not quite as long as what you can experience at Muizenberg. However it is still a great place to learn the basics of surfing. Offering very user friendly foamies. The conditions are also the inverse of what you need for Muizenberg wind wise so you need to choose. The weather on the day will be the deciding factor. One can often find a lovely left hander in the corner on the left side of the beach. Which works at low tide. There is a surf shop near the main parking lot which offers surfing equipment rentals, as well as kiting and foiling equipment. They are happy to take care of your keys when you are in the water.
The view from Table Mountain here is amazing and can't be experienced anywhere else.

Join Kaap Tours for a guided tour / surf lesson at Big Bay.

Best Conditions:
Tide - Works on any tide
Swell Direction - SW-W
Swell Period - Mid to long period
Size - 2-6' faces
Wind - NE-E (or very light SE winds)
Season - All year round most consistent in Summer months September - April

3) Long Beach (intermediate)

Long Beach is situated in Kommetjie and it is a lovely A-frame. Offering rippable rights and lefts. The peak is in quite a small area so it is a little more competition for waves here. This is much less of a problem during work hours in the week. Weekends can be crazy busy so if you are unused to navigating crowds give it a wide berth on weekends. The locals are friendly but I would still advise complete beginners to skip this spot. Since it will be difficult to get a wave in the smaller playing area. Best Conditions Tide: Works on any tide, best at mid generally and high if it’s a big swell Swell Direction: SW-W Swell Period: Mid to long period Size: 2-8′ faces Wind: Any Southerly wind (SW-SE) Season: All year round

4) scarborough bEach (intermediate/advanced)

One of the most beautiful beaches on the cape peninsula. A smaller beach with a spectacular backdrop against the mountains of Scarborough. The actual break features a fun beach break on the left hand side of the beach. There can be rights and lefts depending on the day. The right breaking towards the rocks is the most consistent. This is a great wave for intermediate surfers to advance their skills and take the next step after a wave like Long Beach. The wave is fairly punchy for its size, however the take off is easier than many of the other beach breaks in Cape Town. There is also a point break (a lefthander) which works on bigger swells. The waves tend to have flat faces here. Sometimes when the stars align it is a fantastic wave with a wall to work with. This is super rare though. Still if you are looking for a larger face and don’t mind the flat wave face, it is generally uncrowded.
Best Conditions:
Tide - Works on any tide
Swell Direction - SW-W
Size - 2-10' faces
Wind - SE wind direction
Summer - September - April

5) dunes (advanced)

Dunes is an A-frame beach break, found near the Kakapo shipwreck on Noordhoek Beach. Not to be confused with Long Beach. This beach stretches from Noordhoek to Kommetjie and is known to many as Long Beach. However the surf spot called Long Beach is very much on the Kommetjie side of the beach. Dunes is in the middle of the beach in front of an outcrop of Dunes, hence the name. Having traveled all over the world to surf, including places like Indonesia, I can confidently confirm this is a world class wave when conditions are good. This wave is all about the barrels and requires paddling speed for positioning and getting into the wave early. Leave your shortboard at home and walk down with your step up. The take off is tricky and you can expect to take a few beatings. But you can also be rewarded with perfect barrels if you do the right things. The wave is fairly busy on smaller days but the crowd thins out noticeably when the waves increase in size.

Best conditions
Tide: Low tide is usually best, mid tide is fine too
Swell Direction: SW-W
Size: 5-10' faces
Wind: SE
Season: September - May

6) Cape of good hope nature reserve (advanced)

Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve is arguably the most beautiful place in Cape Town. So surfing here is an absolutely amazing experience. The reserve contains a number of animals such as antelope, ostrich, zebra and baboons. Often you can see these animals on the beach whilst surfing in the reserve. There are about 8 excellent surf breaks in the reserve. Predominantly reef breaks and mostly advanced waves. They require quite specific conditions which are not known to many who have not spent many hours in the area. So in the interest of keeping the peace I will not name the spots and the conditions needed. You can however contact us if you would like to surf in Cape of Good Hope. We know the conditions needed for this area.
Best Conditions
Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve has waves all year round, there are spots that work in the summer prevailing winds and the winter prevailing winds. The Spots are not well-known to the public and neither are the conditions, contact us if you would like a tour here with us and we will share our secrets.

7) elands bay (intermediate/advanced)

While we acknowledge that this wave is not actually in Cape Town, it feels like it is close enough to make the cut. The 2 hour drive is also well worth it if the waves are on. Many Cape Tonians agree as you can tell with large amounts of surfers on weekends, when there is a good swell. Elands Bay is a lovely left hand point break, offering speedy but super rippable walls. It gives you the steepness to gain a ton of speed but it’s soft enough to allow amateurs the conifdence to have a go at the more critical sections like the pro’s. If you have the luxury of visiting during the week you will find it’s fairly uncrowded especially considering the wave is about 200 meters long. Perfect wave for intermediate and advanced surfers. If you consider yourself intermediate, sitting half way down the point is a nice way to get acquainted with the wave. The wide ones miss the top of the point and there’s a middle section which many don’t make it around. So you can find many waves in this area. You will need your own equipment for this wave, it is a remote area with no surf shops or rentals.

At Kaap Tours we offer a surf tour here which features amazing accommodation on our family farm, 10 minutes away from this break. There is a lake at our place and sand dunes where we can go exploring in our Willy's Jeep from the 50's between surf sessions. A true West Coast experience.

Best conditions
Tide: Mid to high tide is best overall
Swell Direction: SW-W
Swell Period: Anything over 12 seconds between waves
Wind: S-SE best is a stiff south easter
Season: Works year round consistent March-May & August-October

8) jeffrey’s Bay (advanced)

Photographer: Alan van gysen

Jeffrey’s Bay is a long drive from Cape Town, about a 7 hour drive. It is considered to be the best wave in South Africa. So an avid surfer visiting Cape Town would be silly not to drive up for a weekend if the conditions are good. This right hand point break is world famous, specifically Supers, which sees the world’s best laying into it during the WSL competition every year. This wave is ridiculously fast and offers multiple barreling sections on one wave when conditions are right. Between barrels there is excess speed for massive turns if you can keep your board under control at those speeds. Either way you won’t forget your first session at Supertubes. Supertubes is strictly for advanced surfers, it gets crowded and the locals don’t take kindly to people getting in the way. So rather give this a miss if you are new to surfing. Further down the point after an unmakeable section called Impossibles, there is another two waves called Tubes and The Point. These waves are more user friendly than Supertubes so intermediate surfers could try their hand here. There is plenty of accommodation in Jeffrey’s Bay. From backpackers to guest houses. Jeffrey’s Bay has a number of surf shops and rentals are available, however if you are going to take on the 7 hour drive it would be best to take your own equipment to avoid disappointment. Best conditions
Tide: Any tide is fine
Swell Direction: South Swell direction is best
Swell Period: Anything over 12 seconds between waves. 14 to 16 seconds is best.
Wind: W-SW wind direction
Season: May-September (Southern Hemisphere winter)
Kaap Tours offers a multi day surf tour at Jeffrey's Bay. Which includes accommodation, meals, a surf guide and transfers to and from Jeffrey's Bay.

KAAP TOURS

CAPE TOWN | ACTIVITIES | surfing