Clifton

Clifton is not one beach but four, laid end to end below Lion’s Head and separated by outcrops of granite boulders. The same mountain that shelters the coast here also blocks the south-easter, so while the wind is scouring beaches elsewhere in the city, Clifton often stays calm. That shelter, and the fine white sand, are why it has been the most sought-after stretch of coast in Cape Town for generations.

There is no road and no restaurant strip along the sand. You reach the beaches on foot, down flights of steps from Victoria Road above, which is part of why they stay quiet and feel a world away from the traffic. Each of the four has its own character, from the busier, family-friendly Fourth Beach, which flies a Blue Flag, to the smaller coves that fill with sunbathers through the afternoon.

Because everything comes down on foot, the beaches keep an unhurried feel. In peak season attendants hire out umbrellas and loungers on the sand, so you can travel light down the steps and settle in for the day rather than haul a car boot’s worth of kit to the water.

The water is the giveaway that this is still the Atlantic. It runs clear and turquoise, and it is cold, cold enough that most people wade rather than swim and save the sea for a quick, bracing dip. What everyone stays for is the sand, the boulders, and the long west-facing afternoons that end with the sun going down over the water.

Clifton itself is almost entirely residential, and famously exclusive. Homes are stacked up the slope above the beaches, most of them turned to face the water, on some of the most valuable land in the country. It is quieter and more private than Camps Bay, its livelier neighbour just around the point, but no less connected. The Camps Bay restaurant strip is a few minutes south, and Sea Point, the V&A Waterfront and the city are an easy drive north.

For a visitor, Clifton is the beach day at its best: sheltered, beautiful and framed by the mountain, with the sunset thrown in. It suits anyone whose idea of a Cape Town holiday starts with sand and ends with the sky changing colour over the Atlantic, and who would rather the beach did the entertaining than a busy strip of bars.

Havenluxe does not currently manage a home in Clifton itself. Several of our villas sit a short drive away along the Atlantic Seaboard, though, close enough to make Clifton’s beaches part of the daily routine. A few of the nearest are below.