Victorian Bathing Boxes
Rudyard Kipling coined the phrase, ‘white as the sands of Muizenberg, spun before the gale’. He was spot-on about both the white sands and the gale. Muizenberg is a windy beach, but it is also the best swimming beach on the Cape Peninsula.
Famously characterised by the brightly coloured rows of Victorian bathing boxes that line the main swimming area, Muizenberg is a great place for a paddle. This wide, sandy beach descends gently beneath the waves in a long shelf, the surf is gentle, and the shallow sea is excellent for kids and waders.
The water’s nice too! In summer, the warm Moçambique Current gets pushed into the bay by the prevailing South-Easter wind, and this makes the water much warmer than at the icy Atlantic beaches, just on the other side of the peninsula. In winter, however, the cold Benguela current takes over and the water temperature drops.
But this is when the surf is at its best, and Muizenberg is well known for its dependable breaks. There’s many a professional surfer who cut their teeth on the rolling breakers of False Bay.
There are only two problems with Muizenberg beach: the wind and the bluebottles. Both are inevitable in the summer and should be taken as proof that every pleasure in life comes at a cost. But why nitpick? A leisurely stroll along the beach, with your feet splashing in the warm waters of False Bay, is a rare treat.
Memories of Muizenberg
I have many happy memories of Muizenberg. As a child, our family would drive down each year for three weeks at the nearby Zandvlei Caravan Park, and from this base we would spend our summer holiday playing in the warm sea and having picnics on what my father called ‘Chicken-Bone Beach’.
On the grassy banks outside the beachfront, we used to spend our holidays watching Punch and Judy shows, while eating our granadilla ice-lollies. We used to ride the little train through the dark tunnel that smelled of mildew and urine. Or we would rent row-boats and paddle around on the murky waters of a small concrete pond.
Today, all that is gone but the legendary Putt-Putt course is still open, and the big water slide is still operational. A good kids playground has also been built on the site of the old railway. Muizenberg offers most of the mod-cons you would expect from a seaside village including a backpackers, well-established surf shops, several restaurants and a modest shopping centre opposite the park.