Surfing in Cape Town – City Spots + Beginner Spots [2025]

It takes about the same amount of time to get here as it does to Muizen – you’re looking at 30 minutes’ drive up the R27.

The USP? It’s not quite as busy, and the crowd is generally more local surfers than international travelers. Plus, there’s lots of space to spread out and grab a peak to yourself.

The real reason you’ll want to know about it is that it’s the best place to go for surf lessons or a casual surf in Cape Town if the easterly wind is blowing. That’s direct offshore at Big Bay and the sets glass up wonderfully at low or mid tides to give some seriously nice shoulders for all levels of surfer.

Get in touch with Surf Life Surf School to book onto one of thier top-rated surf lessons in Big Bay. It involves pop-up training and in-water instruction. They’re one of the best schools in the whole city.

It’s a really pretty stretch of coast, known for its blazing white sands and clear blue seas. The exposure means that it’s rarely clean here unless you have a dead-on east wind but the sandbanks that run the whole way up the beach can be decent on thier day.

We’d rate it as a good option for surfers who want something near the city and prize surfing alone – there’s so much space here that you can always find a peak to yourself. As mentioned, east winds are key though.

It’s actually a rivermouth sandbank that rises near where the water filters into the Atlantic from an inland lagoon. It’s a bit of a roll of the dice – you never know what you’ll get. Most of the time, though, it’s true to its name: Dumpy and heavy.

The shallow shelf of the beach that’s been built up thanks to the deposits of silt from the lagoon itself mean the wave is quite mellow. Generally great for beginners and learners and there are a few surf schools around.

It’s also one of the closest beaches you can access from the downtown of Cape Town – literally just 10 mins’ drive up Marine Drive.

As the moniker implies, it’s a perfectly triangular cheese wedge of water that forms as a refracting and reflecting swell join up between the main harbor walls.

There needs to be pretty massive action in the W-NW swell forecast for this one to start working because the sets have to work their way through umpteen breakwaters to reach the inner beaches. Access is a nightmare because you gotta’ clamber over all those concrete slabs and jetties.

Very protected from S winds, it usually has about 50% of the swell of just about everywhere else on the Cape Peninsula so needs some size to get working.

Can be a bit sketchy because of just how close the rocks come on key sections. And there’s a pretty dumpy bowl at the beginning that will try its best to chuck you off. After that, the wall will mellow nicely and become a fun playground for boards with extra volume.

That’s where Queens offers a take off right on the shallowest part of the submerged rocks. Don’t be too put off by it, because the wave mellows quickly and becomes very intermediate friendly.

This one only works on a full high tide and is rarely busy. Occasional set waves will come in an clean ya’ll up so watch where you’re sitting.

Welsh by name but very South African by nature, Llandudno has become the go-to incubator of wannabe pros in the Cape Town area. It’s always got a crowd but, because the surf schools come by occasionally, the vibe doesn’t tend to be overly hectic. 

There are peaks up and down the bay of varying quality but it’s The Hole at the north end that stands out. With 5-8 footers bending in and drops in the S wind you can score slabby pits there to rival something out of South Oz.

Others will clutch the southern headland in the hope of the occasional left, which are better in strong SW wrap around swells.

It’s considered one of the most consistent waves in the region, especially when S winds are ravaging the whole of Muizenberg because the coastal angle is a neat N-facing bay.

The main break is an A-frame that works on a sandbank that hardly seems to shift one iota year to year. It’s smack dab in the middle of the bay and is an intermediate’s dream, with rippable lefts that hang tight on a 5-8 foot swell and short, bursting rights that drop straight into a paddle channel. Time it for a mid-tide for best conditions.

The bay can be okay for all levels on smaller swells but it’s kinda remote and you’ll need to watch out for rips.

That’s why we’ve got a whole separate guide for this long and loveable beach. Suffice to say here that it’s the beginner hotspot of Cape Town and a glorious place to sample SA waves.

Swells with west in them need to work quite hard to filter through into False Bay so everything’s nice and tempered with plenty of shape unless you get a head on hit of SE stuff, which is rare.

The vibe is also part California, part eastern Oz, with stacks of ocean-side stays and surf cafes to enjoy. If in doubt, plan to surf here!