Which Cape Town beach is comfortable on a given day depends mainly on the wind, so this tool reads the live wind data and sorts the beaches by how well they are sheltered from it today.
Wind speed is shown in km/h, with m/s (the unit kitesurfers and sailors use) and mph (common in the US) alongside; the main figure is the steady wind, and gusts are the short, stronger peaks within it.
The beaches are grouped below by how well they are sheltered from the current wind.
Each circle marks a beach and is coloured by today's shelter rating, and selecting a beach opens its details.
The details of a beach are shown here once it is selected on the map.
The strip shows the forecast wind for each of the next 12 hours; on most summer days the wind picks up in the afternoon, so the mornings are usually the calmer time for the beach.
Three rules of thumb cover most days in Cape Town.
The wind decides how comfortable a beach is, while the time and manner of a visit decide how safe it is. The notes below are based on our own neighbourhood safety scores and district incident reports, which show that trouble on Cape Town's beaches occurs on the empty stretches and after dark rather than on the busy, lifeguarded beaches where most visitors spend the day.
A populated stretch is safer than a deserted one, even when the empty sand looks more inviting, because lifeguards, vendors and other beachgoers are the best security a beach can have.
Most beaches empty fast after golden hour, and the incidents in our feed shift with them, so the evening is better spent at the restaurants than on dark sand.
On most days the ocean poses a greater risk than crime, through rip currents, cold Atlantic water and surf, which is why we recommend swimming between the flags at lifeguarded beaches and carrying half the valuables that seem necessary.
Camps Bay is one of the safest stretches in the city by our area scoring, with lifeguards in season and the busy strip a few steps from the sand, but the picture changes after dark: the incidents in our feed cluster at night, so sunset is the time to leave.
Clifton's coves are busy and watched in season, but they are reached by long stairways that empty out fast in the evening, so valuables are best kept to a minimum on peak days and the climb back made before dark.
Llandudno is a quiet residential cove with no shops and a single road in, where the practical risk lies in the car park rather than on the sand; nothing should be left visible in the car, and visitors should plan to be out before dark, as the beach is unlit.
The harbour half of the beach, where the crowds are, is the part to use, since the far dune end is isolated; our area rating here is moderate, so valuables are best kept light and the beach avoided after dark.
Noordhoek has eight kilometres of sand with almost nobody on it, which is both its appeal and its caveat; it is best walked in company and near the Chapman's Peak car park, and the empty middle stretch is not one to walk alone.
The busy central beach, with lifeguards and Shark Spotters, is the comfortable zone from the morning to mid-afternoon; our incident log records overnight break-ins at the beach huts and trouble after dark, so it is best to carry little and leave before evening.
The tidal pool is family territory and busy through daylight hours; it is safest reached by the subway under the railway rather than across the line, and bags should be kept in sight on quiet stretches of the coastal path.
The harbour and tidal pool stay lively into the early evening, which keeps them comfortable; the usual care with phones and bags in a crowd applies, and the quiet rocks south of the pool are best left alone at dusk.
Fish Hoek is a flat family swimming beach with lifeguards in season and one of the gentlest in False Bay, where the ordinary care with valuables in daylight is usually all that is needed.
Simon's Town is a naval town with steady daytime bustle and one of the highest area safety scores on our peninsula list; Long Beach by the station is fine in daylight, with the usual awareness needed around the station itself.
Boulders is a managed SANParks site with an entry fee, boardwalks and staff on the ground, which makes it one of the most controlled beaches in Cape Town; in season the car park fills before the sand does, so an early arrival pays off.
The kite and promenade crowd keeps the main stretch busy and watched for most of the year; cars are safest in the main lots with nothing left visible, and the beach is best left when it empties after sunset.
Big Bay is social and well watched whenever the wind is up, with cafés directly behind the sand; cars are best left in the main beachfront parking with valuables out of sight, and the beach quietens quickly after sunset.
Milnerton is a daylight beach, busiest where the kiters and dog walkers are, between the lagoon mouth and Lagoon Beach, while the long stretch to the north is empty and isolated; phones are best kept out of sight on the quieter paths.
The live section above does this automatically for the current wind, and the compass below gives the same assessment for any direction chosen by hand.
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Sheltered beaches:The south-easter blows in spring and summer, and Table Mountain and Lion's Head block it from False Bay, which stays calm while the Atlantic Seaboard takes the full force.
The north-wester is the wind of winter cold fronts and usually arrives with rain; it reverses the summer pattern, leaving the Atlantic beaches calm and False Bay rough.
The berg wind is a hot, dry wind off the interior that arrives a day or two ahead of a cold front and raises the fire risk sharply.
The black south-easter is a south-easter that piles cloud and drizzle over Table Mountain, making for a dark, damp day of a kind found only in Cape Town.