Cape Town – kitesurfing with Table Mountain view

Rent a Motorhome and live where you are

Possible too is to rent a Motorhome instead of car & appartement or hotel. You can check prices for Motorhomes in Cape Town here and move around to different spots and stay there.

Wind, weather & waves

Best months are November to beginning of March, the main direction is SE to S. The wind can get pretty strong. Sometimes you can have up to 30-40 knots. So what you see in the windfinder chart ist just “average”. For a 75kg kiter the best kite range is probably to have 7-12m kites.

• Windfinder forecast for the next days »
• Windguru forecast for the next days »
• Windguru Wind Archive »

Kite-Spots, Map

Big Bay

Big Bay is located in the north of Cape Town. You find lot of infrastructure around the spot. Supermarkets, Bars, Restaurants, Surf Shops, etc. There is enough parking place and the spot is also good for (wave) surfing mostly in the morning. It’s devided in two areas, left there is place for windsurfers and the kiters kite downwind to the right. In peak times it gets crowded, but there is enough place downwind to go. It’s choppy, sometimes medium waves come in. You have a small place with flat water a little bit downwind.

Table View

A bit south of Big Bay, towards Cape Town Center you find Table View kite beach. The beach is huge so there is enough place to pump up your kite without people crossing your lines. Lot of locals come here after work so it can get little bit crowded in the late afternoon, but as the beach is really big it’s no problem moving a bit when you feel uncomfortable or want to practice in a more calm area. The wind is cross on and the beach runs for about 7km. There are waves but they are usually waist high. And if they ever get big (which is rare) they are very friendly. There is a Best-Kiteshop directly at the beach and also a small cafe called carlucci’s where you get the probably most awesome sandwiches in Cape Town. This is also a tip for good breakfast.

Scarborough

Scarborough is a smaller spot in the south of Cape Town (see map). It’s not really getting crowded as it’s some time driving here by car from Cape Town (45min).  You should come here when the wind is not enough in Cape Town. Check the Wind-Forecast especially for this spot as it is possible to get ridable conditions when there is almost no wind at Table View or Big Bay. You have small waves coming in. It’s not a beginner spot.

Other kitespots in Cape Town

These are the 3 major places we recommend to kite in Cape town. The most of the people come here as the conditions are the best. There are lots other spots too where you can have a kite-session. To have a look on all possible places to kite we recommend checking out splocs.com (e.g. the spot Witsand is also something I would recommend checking out)

What about sharks in Cape Town?

There are sharks in the Cape Town Area. However, i have spoken to a local, and in the last 5 years he has been kiting there he has never seen one. And no kiter has been taken by one. There are hundreds of kiters there. Sharks are not a problem. If you go surfing to Muizenberg, talk to locals there about sharks. It’s different there.

Travel / Flight

You have to take a flight to Cape Town and then have your rental car ready or organize yourself some transfer to your hotel (maybe they can organize it for you…)

Car rental

These are the best car rental possibilities I found for CapeTown:

RentalCars
Compare the prices of the major CarRental Companies in CapeTown.
Get new cars in good condition. So this is the normal option compared to the ones below. I am affiliated with RentalCars when you use this link. If you want to use their search it would be great if you use the links i provide here, so you buy me a cup of coffee with that and say a little thanks for putting me together this conent :D

Rent a Cheapie
Their cars being used alot by kiters and surfer.

Acker Car Rentals: Renting also old Mercedes Benz Cars
These are  cool. Sometimes you have the feeling they will have a breakdown every second but its probably the coolest kite-car you can get!  These ones are also used a lot by surfers.

Motorhome rental

If you want to stay flexible in live where you are you can of course rent a Motorhome. You can find here a comparison of available Motorhomes in Cape Town.

Price-level

Expect to pay little less for food than in Western Europe or the US. Eating in restaurants is also a bit cheaper, but not much. If you want to live at low cost it’s possible to buy the main supplies for little money at the supermarket. Imported stuff is expensive, local stuff is cheap. That’s the rule, as at lot of places. Calculate with what you need at home, you will be on the safe side. Going out is cheaper, a big night out costs about R250-500. A taxi from Table view to the city is about R150-250. Ah, and the currency is South African Rand.

A typical day in Cape Town

Chill, get a breakfast, go surfing, lunch, go kitesurfing, have party. Something like that. Everything is there so you can do everything you want. If there is no wind there is enough to see around. Or you can check out the cable.

Kiteboarding schools in Cape Town

There are lot in Cape Town. Just google a bit, they are all around and not difficult to find. One I can recommend and know is:

RRD Kiteboarding South Africa – School
Contact Person: Donovan O’Neale
Phone: +27 21 554 1729
Email: donovan@rrdsa.co.za
www.robertoriccidesigns.co.za
Physical Address: Shop 53a, Eden on the Bay Mall, Corner Otto Du Plessis & Sir David Baird Drive, Bloubergstrand Cape Town 7441

Kite-shops

It’s like with the schools. There are plenty. You can buy all the gear you want, have repairs etc. One shop is:

Cabrinha Kiteboarding (Same place as RRD School)
Contact Person: Donovan O’Neale
Phone: +27 21 554 1729
Email: donovan@cabrinha.co.za
www.cabrinha.co.za
Shop 53a, Eden on the Bay Mall, Corner Otto Du Plessis & Sir David Baird Drive, Bloubergstrand Cape Town 7441

Crime & Security

Crime is an issue in SA but out in Table View /Big Bay it’s not that bad. It’s nothing like what people make it out to be. Just be aware of where you are and don’t go into any bad areas. The best thing to do is to ask around when you get there. Find a local and ask where’s safe and where’s not (especially at night). There’s alot of petty crime so if you park your car then hide your wallet, phone and glasses. Don’t leave your bags lying around. Don’t leave stuff lying on the beach. Simple things like this.

There are areas in South Africa that are very dangerous but you have to physically drive to them. For example you shouldn’t really go to Townships. This is where the violent crime you hear about happens, it’s quite simple. Don’t go into them. And to get into one is not easy so it’s fine.

General travel information

Must-visit-stuff, nightlife & good-to-know-things

Of course you have to go up to the top of Table Mountain (don’t be afraid, there’s a cable car available ;) and visit the National Park and the Cape of good Hope (Photo!!!! ;) as well as the Winefarms. For some (wave)surfing check out Muizenberg (but check the shark-watcher signals). If you want to go out in the evening, the main party spots in the Table View / Big Bay area are near kitebeach. They are mainly bars where people dance next to them. To name a few: News Cafe, Cubana & Doodles. If you want to have big party you have to try Trinity Club in the center. Oh, and don’t miss the Highway dead-end in the middle of the city. That’s a funny one ;)

Cape Town Kitebeach Webcams

Webcam – Kitebeach, Bloubergstrand: http://www.bestkiteboardingafrica.com/Webcam.php

Do you know another good Cape Town Spot Webcam? Drop us a mail, please ;)

Videos

Below you find a nice movie from the guys doing the Progression kite movies. A pretty good introduction to kiting in Cape Town and whats going on there.

Good-to-know

Always lock your car :)

Q&A – Location Forum

If you have a question about kiteboarding in Cape Town and your answer is not yet answered, check if there is already something about it in our Cape Town Kiteboarding Forum. Or ask directly a question there, or here with the form below.