05 March 2010

Camps Bay Beach

Date: 5 March 2010

Location: Camps Bay

Walker: Helen

**** Route plotted here ****

A perfect afternoon prompted me to head down to Camps Bay beach for a quick stroll.



I parked on the Clifton side of Victoria Road, where I got a wonderful view of the bay and the wide expanse of white sand down below. I wandered down to the beach, where I immediately took my shoes off... I do love the feel of fine soft sand between my toes!



I turned right and headed towards the giant granite boulders. The boulders provide plenty of private sheltered hideaways at the edge of the beach. A sandy path lead upwards, so I followed it.



From the top I got a lovely view of the next bay, Glen Beach.



After making my way down to this beach I explored around the boulders and felt the water - rather chilly, although I have felt it colder before.




Mountains all around: Lion's Head, Table Mountain and the start of the Twelve Apostles range. The homes here on exclusive Glen Beach are a mix of cute cottages and massive modern mansions.




From the far side of the beach I could see past the boulders to the other end of Camps Bay Beach beyond. I turned around and headed that way.



Camps Bay Beach really is gorgeous. I followed the gentle curve all the way along, paddling in the frothy shallows.




There was a lot of activity on the beach... in the sea: surfers and swimmers. There was also a guy trying this new sport of paddling while standing on a long board (there was a lot of falling in). And a bunch of kids with short boards were sliding into the waves from the shore - they were having a ball.





On the sand there was a nosiy team of teenage tourists playing rugby. They were having a ball too - literally!



Most folks were soaking up the sun or relaxing under umbrellas.




And some folks were working... guys walking up and down with cooler boxes, selling ice-creams and cold drinks; deck chair and brolly vendors manning their stores, and cops patrolling (I think they were warning this walker that dogs aren't allowed on the beach). There were also a couple of 'massage on the beach' gazebos!




At the far end of the beach are some grassy lawns, trees and palms.




There are also rocks at this end of the beach, although these are flatter than the round boulders at Glen Beach.



After taking in the sweep of the beach from this side I made my way back.


(Photos by Helen)
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Camps Bay beach sure is beautiful. We don't often go there because it is 'so far away from home' (I've noticed that people living in Pinelands tend to be terribly insular and reluctant to leave their leafy green suburb - I too have become guilty of this over the years).

I didn't know that dogs weren't allowed on the beach anymore? Really? And if they're on a leash? Or is it just during tourist season? I can understand that the city doesn't want dogs on that very popular beach because of the problem with dog owners not picking up their dogs' .. er... poop, but I didn't know that dogs were entirely canine-non-grata?

Helen said...

I can't find anything on the net about the official regulations (I only did a quick search) so I'm not sure if its a holiday-season thing or a permanent ban. These were the only dogs I saw and they got the immediate attention of the policemen, so I'm pretty sure there was a transgression of some sort. Poor little poodles - they were having such fun.

Homemade Heaven said...

What a beautiful city we live in - I love to have reminders like this.