Top Beaches in Cape Town & Durban - Guest Post

With the year winding down and summer on the way, everyone is getting into holiday mode and what better place to be than at the seaside? With this in mind, today's blog post will feature a list of some of the best beaches to visit in Cape Town and Durban, it's a list compiled by guest writer for the blog, Zaytoon Hanief, who writes for the Travel Start blog. She shares her insights into the top beaches to visit in SA, so you can plan in advance where to spend your summer days enjoying the seaside. 

Top beaches in Cape Town and Durban

Summer is basically here and in South Africa, that means good times filled with friends, fun activities and lots and lots of Instagram moments!

For a lot of us here in Jozi, that also means heading to South Africa’s coastal cities and enjoying some much-needed time at the beach!

Durban and Cape Town are some top choices as they offer a great variety of options, whether its family fun, surfing or just a girls/boys’ weekend away that you’re after!

Here are some top beaches that you should definitely visit when visiting our coastal cities:

Cape Town

Llandudno Beach

If you’re not looking out for the sign on the road from Camps Bay to Hout Bay, you may just miss the turn-off to one of the city’s most laid-back and beautiful beaches. Llandudno is especially loved by locals because of its location alone, meaning that you’re bound to run into many easy-going Capetonians. Not just a beach for sunbathing, Llandudno is also a great spot for surfers and bodyboarders alike.

Local tip: If you’re driving, make sure to arrive very early during peak season as parking fills up easily. Alternatively, take the MyCiti bus and walk down the winding driveway, but be warned the walk back up is bound to be quite a work out!

Camps Bay Beach

Probably the most famous beach in all of Cape Town, Camps Bay Beach is a top tourist attraction. It has everything that you could hope for, including sparkly (though somewhat icy!) water, glistering white sand, space for all, nearby convenience stores, top-notch restaurants and also public transport.

Local tip: During the summer period, it may be difficult to escape the crowds but there’s always a loophole. Unless you don’t mind the crowds, try to visit during the week days. Summer days in Cape Town are long and hot, and even if you’re only getting to the beach at 4.30pm after work, you’re still guaranteed at least two hours of beach time.

Clifton Beaches

A staple for the rich, famous and all of us in between, the four Clifton beaches have long since been seen as the beaches of Cape Town. Top of the list is Clifton 4th beach, cornered off by million-dollar beach houses, perfectly-placed natural boulders to keep the wind at bay and of course, the most beautiful shimmering waves and white sand. What’s not to admire? Clifton is also home to 1st, 2nd and 3rd beach – each known for their somewhat different crowds but each a masterpiece of its own. Do yourself a favour and walk along the coast from 1st to 4th beach to take in its full grandeur!

Local tip: The beaches of Clifton can get pretty packed as well, but for a slightly thinner crowd head over to 2nd and 1st beach.  

Boulders Beach

Boulders Beach is the perfect beach-meets-picnic spot. The water is warmer (thankfully!) due to its location on the Indian Ocean side of the Cape Peninsula and the large boulders in the water make for a pretty safe and tranquil spot to float on your back and just unwind. Of course, one cannot mention Boulders Beach without talking about the African penguins that you’re bound to see! Picture yourself not just admiring them from a distance, but instead sharing a sandy spot with them just two metres away, or swimming right next to these feathery cuties in the ocean – there’s nothing quite like it for sure!

Local tip: Go early and pack in plenty of food and drinks to last you many, many hours as you’ll find it hard to want to leave this ideal location!

Durban

Umhlanga Rocks Beach

The golden sand of this glorious stretch is guaranteed to get you swimming! Unlike the colder waters of the Cape Peninsula beaches, the beaches of KwaZulu Natal invite you in as the temperatures have been known to hit 25 degrees Celsius during summer! Umhlanga Rocks Beach is one of Durban’s finest, with an enigmatic ebb and flow of the waves. The paved walkway alongside the ocean allows visitors to take in its sights before heading in and enjoying its warm waters.

Local tip: bring your wellies if you’re a bit of an explorer as there are some great rock pools to explore along the beach.

North Beach

North Beach in Durban is possibly the most well-known and popular beach in all of Durban. There’s so much variety of activities to do here that you could plan to stay in the area for a week and still not get bored. The warm waters offer the ideal swimming location, but be warned that it does get extremely crowded and you may need to get there at 6am to find a good spot during the summer holidays!

Local tip: Not just a beach to be enjoyed during the daytime hours, North Beach is known to be a thriving and energetic evening location too. Pack some cash in your back pocket as you enjoy some of Durban’s finest treats along the boardwalk.

Willard Beach, Ballito

Calling all surfers, bodyboarders and everyone else who enjoys some good waves with the sun on their skin! Willard Beach is the main beach of the town of Ballito, just outside Durban, and you can rest assured that you’ll have a great time on this Blue Flag beach. Another firm favourite just around the corner from Willard Beach is Thompson Beach.

Local tip: the beach gets really crowded during peak season and summer weekends. If you’re not too keen on this, there are plenty of other, more secluded beaches in the Ballito area for you to enjoy.

These are just of the top beaches to enjoy, so make sure to visit them on your next trip to Cape Town and Durban!

Nora En Pure - Tell My Heart ft. Dani Senior

December is here and we are only days away from the Corona SunSets Festival, continuing with our countdown and artist feature this week, we have  Deniela Niederer better known as Nora En Pure. She is a South African-Swiss deep house producer/ DJ and one of the headliners of the Corona SunSets Festival which is taking place in Camps Bay, Cape Town on the 16th of December. Today's featured track features the vocals of Dani Senior and will seem familiar to many as it has been on the radio as well as featured on the Corona SunSets commercial. 

Corona Sunsets Festival - Cape Town

As 2016 draws to an end, everyone will be keen on getting on with the festive season and the holidays for most of us. Much attention will be paid to the hottest parties around the country and while most focus will be on the New Years Eve Parties there is no doubt that the biggest one left for the year is the Corona SunSets Festival taking place in one of the most iconic settings in the country, which is also well known for it's epic sunsets, Camps Bay, Cape Town. Taking place on Friday the 16th of December, which is a public holiday, the Global Corona SunSets Festival see's some of the biggest names in Deep House take the stage for what is to be one of the best parties of the year. 

The line up is nothing short of amazing with international artist such as headliners Duke Dumont, Sam  Feldt and Nora En Pure, who are over due to a visit to South Africa. The rest of line up is made up of some of the biggest names in South African house music, Timo ODV, Kyle Watson, Strange Loving, Chunda Munki &; Vimo, Crazy White Boy, Goodluck, Tresor, Sketchy Bongo, Aewon Wolf, Kyle Deutsch, Shekinah, Cara Frew and dj low. This years celebrations focus on the 'mood shift' moment at sunset, ignited by melodic and deep house music a sound that defines the magic of the sunset moment. Corona SunSets is the everyday manifestation of 'This is Living' - the brand's new global marketing campaign that reminds people to go outside, enjoy life and live more moments that matter. 

"Corona believes the best version of ourselves is when we're outside, living life fully," said Thiago Zanetti, Global Vice President, Corona. "Corona is excited to celebrate SunSets for a third year, and to bring people an experience where they can reconnect with their best self, outside. Sunsets mark the transition from the busyness of everyday life to a state of renewal, and it's a moment where we'll united people worldwide in that transformation" added Zannettini.

Festival Details:

Date: Friday, 16 December 2016

Time: 12PM (Noon) - 11PM

Venue: The Corona SunSets Oval and The Bungalow, Clifton

Ticket Details:

Sunrise (Early Bird) tickets: R250  SOLD OUT

Sunshine (Phase 1) ticket: R350     SOLD OUT

Sunset (Phase 2) tickets: R450       SOLD OUT

Eclipse (Phase 3) tickets: R550*

*Prices exclude booking fee

All tickets available exclusively at coronaextra.co.za NOW!

For more information on the Corona SunSets experiences, please visit www.CoronSunSets.com

Bucket Babe: Taryn Morris

We always said that we have some of the most beautiful women in the world right here in our country and that's one of the main reasons this segment was created, to feature them. Today's gorgeous model hails from the Cape and is fresh off competing for the Miss SA crown, she was a fiinalist in the 2015 pageant and that's where we spotted and fell in love with her beauty and her personality. Unfortunately she didn't take the grand prize and crown but won our hearts of many. She's a lady of many talents with a soft spot for animals, she keeps things simple in the kitchen but we love it that way, here she is to tell you more.

Taryn Morris

Bio

I graduated with Bcom Marketing and then went on to pursue my passion for fashion. I now work for a fashion distribution company, running their digital marketing and am also involved in sales and PR. I recently competed in the Miss South Africa pageant where I succeeded as a finalist. I am now taking modelling more seriously and I just joined Ice Genetics, my absolute dream one day, would to be a Guess Girl in one of the Guess campaigns. In my spare time I love going for long walks with my dogs on the promenade, I'm also a typical Cape Tonian and absolutely love the beach. I am now in the process of starting my own styling company where I focus on personal and corporate styling as well as showing young girls how to dress appropriately for their body type. The social issue I am most passionate about is anti animal cruelty and I work closely with an organisation called DARG which stands for Domestic Animal Rescue Group, the focus on the rehabilitation and re homing of animals that come from a disadvantaged background.

Links

Twitter: @TarynMorris3
Instagram: taryn_morris
Facebook: Taryn Morris Online
Website: www.tarynmorrisonline.com

Q&A

1. Hot girls and hot cars go hand in hand, what ride would you like to see yourself in?

• I am such a car person, and have complete need for speed! My dream car is the Audi R8!

2. What sandwich are you most likely to make for me? and will it be toasted or plain?

• I would have to go with the classic toasted chicken and mayonnaise but I would add extra avo.

3. Everyone loves popcorn (well I think they do) what is your topping/ sprinkle of choice?

• I am very boring when it comes to popcorn, I just add butter salt and plain salt.

4. Dream cover shoot?

• My dream cover shoot would be Vogue

5. What type of music gets your booty shaking?

• Believe it or not, I am a big hip hop and rap fan!

6. If given a choice, full time model or full time executive, what would you choose?

• I am all about living a balanced lifestyle, and us women are great at multi-tasking. So there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to do both :)

7. Anyone holding that hand yet? or is it available?

• It's available :)

8. Growing up you must have had someone you aspired to be, so who is your role model?

• I have two role models which I have always aspired to, my Mom and my Dad. 

9. Obviously being a female you would love fashion. Favourite label/ designer?

• My favourite designer is Sass & Bide from Australia

10. Which city is your dream party destination?

• The best place I have ever been to for partying is Mykonos, there is nothing like dancing on a beautiful beach with great food, music and people.

Partying in the land of the Mountain

So as my previous post stated, I was off to Kingdom Zille, believe it or not, even though I have lived my entire life in South Africa, this was just my 4th visit to "the mother city". Its not a question of whether I liked it enough to visit again, but the location of the city. It finds itself nestled in a corner of the country thats over a 1000km's away from any major city. Given its nature as the be all and end all of cities in SA one cant say that its position doesnt suit it as it probably doesnt want to be connected in any way to the rest of South Africa. Sharing the same bodily mass as the other cities is as far as it goes with Cape Town. It is though a truly remarkable city, well governed and manged to the point that you almost feel at home after spending a day or 2 in it. Some say after visiting that they dont feel like they were in South African, thats just bollocks, either they've been smoking tik or just want to make them selves feel better for not affording a holiday out of the country because Cape Town is in every essence a South African city, just with a big rock in the middle of it.

Can you smell...

Back to my trip, main reason was indeed the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange project as previously stated it was hosted by DJ Fresh & euphonik  of South Africa but featured Berlins DJ'ing greats, Monika Cruz, ATB & Markus Schulz but more about them later as I start at the very beginning. Durban airport aka King Shaka International, I knew my holiday was going to be a good one as I managed to get a window seat in the emergency exit row! These tickets are as hard to get as hens teeth! Why you ask? well duh window seat for staters! and if you dont already know the emergency exit row has an extra 500mm of legroom in order for hysterical passengers to make their way off the burning plane to safety, now me being larger than the average Joe enjoys this luxury, I call it the "middle first class of low cost airlines". Now it just gets better from there after as I enter the gate terminal I spot a Sunglasses hut kiosk, could they have the pair of Oakley Polarised Inmate I've been hunting for all over? of course they do! and the guy gives me a R600 discount with out me even asking him anything!

Cape Town Festival of beer

►►Fast forward to Cape Town ignoring the fact that the plane took 30 minutes extra in the skies or the the fact CTIA opted to put us in the bush and make us climb down stairs instead of the air bridge and lets not get started with the wait for the luggage. I was planned to meet with fellow tweeter @JuicyJemma at the Cape Town Festival of Beer but with the hassle of the car rental place not giving me my license back and me having to drive back to the airport to collect it, I just missed her. But never the less I still went to the festival of beer to share a pint with legendary Cape Town blogger LifeisSavage who might I add isnt very easy to find in a crowd! Mr popular as he is, I found him being hounded by Cape beauties Jeannie D & Lyndall Jarvis, good thing too I met him as I had my directions in a knot and he pointed out to me that the Smirnoff party was in Bellville and not the CBD as I previously thought for some odd reason.

Smirnoff Night Exchange- ATB

►►Fast forward again, this time to the party. It started at 8pm so a good time to get in was 10pm right? Venue the Bellville Velodrome, much bigger than the Skyraiders hanger that hosted Tiesto in May and was a brilliant venue for such an event. Walking down the ramp into the drome, with the sounds of Monika Cruz hitting you in your face was an awesome feeling. VIP bars at every corner with plenty of couches to rest the asses of the masses, I could tell that this was going to be a good night. Monika not well known to many as her two partners for the night did a great job albeit I saw the last hour of her set. With the bars being a free for all all night I was pleasantly surprised that many didnt take this opportunity to get sloshed out of their mind. The last thing I wanted was my night ruined by bunch of people that couldnt handle their liquor. Andre came on for his set and was seriously amazing, he played a mixture of his songs, mainly the new stuff but threw in some classics like "Till I come" & finished off his set with the massive "Let You Go" which got the crowd right in the mood for what was coming next.

Markus Schulz

Step up Markus Schulz, as I said I havent heard much of his stuff apart from the odd mix but this night it was no remixes from the trance master, hardcore from the word go! His set from 1am till 3am felt like a few minutes as his music was so good, suffice to say the only time I stopped dancing was to get me another redbull as I could feel my legs letting go a bit and I had a long drive back to the CBD. After his set we begged him for more but all he could offer was one more song. After which he came down to meet whom ever was left at the end. It was rather a tiny crowd of a 1000 or less. Its sad that events like this which is invite only get those who come for the sake of it being that and not to enjoy what was on offer in terms of entertainment and not the free booze. The true fans of this type of music were left to sit at home that night twiddling thumbs wondering what must have been going down.

Urban Hip Hotels - The Icon

Now stumbling home at 4am may not be the most pleasant thing to do but I couldnt help but feel happy walking into this place. A 1 bedroom 5* apartment in the heart of Cape Town, what more could a guy ask for? fully fitted kitchen, dinning room, lounge with full DSTV bouquet, big screen LCD & a home theatre system. Now I know what you must be thinking, it must cost a pretty penny, but no. Compared to all the other hotels around, this place was by far more cheaper! heck even some places that I could get discounts at were atleast R400 more than this place, fine the others offered breakfast in the morning as appose to this place but you tell me what breakfast is worth R400?

2011 Mercedes Benz CLS63 AMG

The next day I woke up at 7am... dont ask, drinking red bull keeps you awake for longer than you can imagine. Fighting the caffeine I thought I'd go have a look outside, good thing I did as I caught Mercedes Benz shooting their commercial for the newest CLS model, at first I thought it was just the 500 or lower model but on closer inspection it turned out to be the CLS63 AMG! They had a guy constantly shining it as you dont want any smudges on it for TV. Plus with the EU plates you could see it wasnt for the local market. I would have gone for a better colour as AMG's are meant to be bit more scary.

tweetup/ drink up

 The days that followed in the Cape were filled of awesomeness, sunsets at camps bay to car sound competitions at the Goodhope center (hey Im Indian, we like our sound okay). On the Monday I got an opportunity to meet some fellow tweeters who we frequently tweet each other... if that makes sense. Was good to finally put a face to the tweets, but we kinda already knew what each other looked like with profile pics and facebook etc.. but meeting them in person was good. A big thanks to @KimGreyling, @MishtotheD, @staceywest24 & the Patron Princess @KirstyBisset for arranging a great night.

View from Signal Hill

No visit to Cape Town is complete with out some scenic shots and from a vast variety to chose from the favourites have to be going up the Mountain and Signal hill, fighting for time I had no time to wait to go up the cable way so Signal hill had to do. Surprisingly it wasnt that busy, so to get parking and walk around the hill with ease was a first time occurrence for me, and to make things better the weather was perfect for pictures!

Fish on the rocks- Hout Bay

When in the Cape another must do is fish and chips, dont waste your time having it at the Waterfront, a drive along the M6 is much more worth it, passing Camps Bay and the 12 apostles making your way into the small fishing village of Hout Bay. There are a few takeout/ restaurants to chose from and all are more or less priced the same so the choice is yours really. Dont stick to just the cooked seafood as there are fish mongers around for you to buy the fresh stuff as I was given strict orders to bring the famous Snoek back to Durban. I probably wouldnt have been allowed back into the house if I didnt bring some.

Camps Bay

Back onto the heavy schedule of meeting people, I had the pleasure of meeting yet more twitter people! (who needs family hey?) Tuesday night was spent having dinner with @PsychoButterFly who you'll find online at most strange hours of the night, hence I dubbed her "Night Warrior Princess". It was pointed out during dinner that I havent properly "done" Long street so after dinner I had a mandatory stop then I decided to explore this mystic street. Well thats as far as I can remember the night, the next morning I found myself with a moerse hang over, receipts for R1000's on the kitchen counter and to top it off my jeans some how got torn... dont worry nothing else was "torn".

The Icon

Its quite a mission to get your butt together to make an 11am checkout time but the gods were kind to me that day and I did but something had to give as finding parking infront of the hotel to hand back the parking garage disc with room key proved to be impossible with traffic, driving a BMW didnt exactly help the cause as well since people dont really take kindly to BMW drivers (no wonder the rental place had them on special). With the hours running out I had the privilege of ending of my time in the Cape on a sweet note by meeting @LeeAnn_Roberts for coffee, as I tweeted shortly afterwards, pictures do her little justice as she is much more stunning in real life. Now I can scratch off "having coffee with a supermodel" off my bucket list. As I sat there at the airport eating my last bit of seafood the Cape had to offer at the Ocean Basket, I wished that the weekend could rewind itself right to the beginning, as there were things I wished I did, things I wished I remembered, and a first for me, wished I took more pictures! But I suppose the good thing is I dont regret doing what I did, I could do this annually from now on!