Cape Town Beach with Blue Flag 2009? All about Blue Flag Beaches in Cape Town

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Cape Town Beach with Blue Flag Status

Blue Flag beaches in Cape Town in 2009

Are you looking for an award winning Blue Flag Cape Town Beach?

Yes, we have got that too: the cleanest beaches with clear blue water and great facilities for the whole family.

Did you know that Cape Town has got seven great Blue Flag Beaches as awarded in October 2009? Seven! That may seem to be a quite small number regarding the many wonderful beaches here, but it really is a big challenge to reach the prestigious Blue Flag Award. This is something the Capetonians can be really proud of. Well done! This is one of these beaches: Muizenberg Beach

Blue Flag Beach in Muizenberg

Fine white sand, clear water, a nice promenade, clean facilities and much more...

And the new beach which was was added to the six beaches which were already in the "team" in 2008, is Big Bay Beach, to the North of the Mother City.

Read all about the new Blue Flag Beach "Big Bay Beach" here and see some great pictures.

Well, many of you will ask, what exactly is a blue flag beach? So let me explain:

What is the Blue Flag?

The Blue Flag is an eco label awarded to the best beaches worldwide. In order to get checked out by the independent eco organization "Foundation for Environmental Education" (FEE) which was founded in 2001 in Denmark, the countries have to apply to this foundation and follow strict guidelines. The beaches get tested by an independent committee if they adhere to an international set of criteria.

What are Blue Flag Beaches?

The beaches in the Blue Flag Program are monitored regularly if they comply with the rules and are committed to uphold their status. The criteria for achieving blue flag status contain and judge not only the water quality at the beaches, but also the cleanliness, safety, eco management, services and facilities, environmental education activities and amenities at these beaches.

The FEE is now representing 48 countries and was awarding blue flags to over 3300 beaches in 2009 across the world. The Blue Flag movement started in 1985 in France and reached European level in the European Year of the Environment in 1987. Then in 2001 it reached global level, when South Africa joined the program.

South Africa was the first country outside of Europe who took part in the program and got Blue Flag Awards for its great beaches. In 2008 there were 19 South African beaches and 6 Cape Town beaches which won the Blue Flag Award. Of these Blue Flag Beaches there were these seven located in the Cape Town area:

Where can I find a Blue Flag Award Cape Town beach?

Please click on the litte white balloons on my map to learn where the clean and safe swimming beaches are in the greater Cape Town area.

As you can see one great Cape Town beach is located at the Atlantic Ocean while four of them are situated at the much warmer Indian Ocean.

Here is some more detailed descriptions for these fabulous beaches:

Indian Ocean - False Bay:

• Muizenberg Beach at the Indian Ocean in False Bay which you have seen on top of this page is very popular with families and surfers as there is a wide long beach with shallow water, which makes for safe swimming and the water feels much warmer than at the cold Atlantic.

This Cape Town beach offers lots of space for fun and games and great waves for those body surfers who have a great time at the further end of the beach. There are many surf schools and surf shops in the area and entertainment is provided for people of every age.

There is a water park with giant slide, a mini-golf park, play park for the children, shops and restaurants close by. There are changing rooms as well as clean toilet facilities and enough safe parking. At the weekends there is a huge open-air flea market in the parking area close to the beach.

• Strandfontein Beach at the Indian Ocean in False Bay with the biggest tidal pool south of the Equator, which makes for safe swimming. And lifeguards are on duty at this popular beach too. Great place to go whale-spotting.

• Mnandi Beach: This Cape Town beach first received Blue Flag status in 2004 and has kept this award since. This place is very popular with the residents of nearby Khayelitsa, Mitchell’s Plain and Strandfontein as it is located near Strandfontein. There are good facilities as well as a giant waterslide and pool with picnic area. Safe parking available too.

• Bikini Beach: with Blue Flag beach since 2005. It is situated roughly 45 minutes to the East of Cape Town’s City Center in Gordon’s Bay. It is protected from the strong wind which often blows along Gordon’s Bays Main Beach and Harbour front and so offers great swimming and sunbathing conditions.

Atlantic Ocean:

• Camps Bay Beach: Sheltered half-moon shaped bay with splendid backdrop of the Twelve Apostles Mountain range. Great family beach with beach vendors selling ice-lollies and drinks and recently a deck chair and umbrella rental station. This is one of the Capetonians' and tourists' favorite CapeTown beaches.

The bars and restaurants at the palm-tree lined beach promenade are a popular place to take a sundowner or just relax after a couple of hours of sunbathing.

• Clifton’s 4th Beach: Blue Flag status since 2004.

Protected against Southerly winds this one of Cifton’s four beaches is very popular with Capetonian families. It is still quite small compared to many other CapeTown beaches but has got a great vibe and is the beach for a proper beach party. This Cape Town Beach is a must for sunset lovers too. Take a picnic and enjoy your sundowners.

At Clifton 4th you can rent deck chairs and umbrellas and there are bars and vendors selling drinks and ice-cream too. This beach offers clean changing rooms and toilet facilities. Lifeguards are stationed there too.

Lots of people enjoy life at this Cape Town beach at the weekends, so be prepared to arrive early or you might have trouble finding parking along Victoria Road and have to walk far.

Expat Cape Town Advice: There are narrow stairs to walk down to the beach, so unfortunately no access for wheelchairs or pushchairs.

• Big Bay Beach : Blue Flag status since 2009.

This beach is situated north of Cape Town and belongs to the suburb of Blouberg. There is a big lifesavers' club and the beach is especially popular with surfers. The beach is wide and long and invites walkers, families with kids and swimmers alike. Although make sure you don a wetsuit as the Atlantic is freezing up here.

Cape Town has got many fantastic beaches like the ones mentioned above, the water quality is usually good, but the facilities and services at the beaches are not everywhere like the high standard required to get Blue Flag status. As one of the main criteria is to have essential facilities not all beaches qualify, as many are small coves without toilet facilities or cover an area too wide to provide lifeguard services.

Expat Cape Town Advice: Be careful when swimming at beaches without lifeguards, as in many places there are strong undercurrents.

With Blue Flag Award or without, the beaches on the Cape peninsula are really worth a visit. To help you with your decision where to start exploring I have choosen three of them as the favorite Cape Town beaches with Capetonians and expats living in Cape Town. Which ones are these?