Sea Kayaking Cape Town

October-November 2002

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

by Ron Irwin

Photo: Johan Loots

Cape Town, South Africa is one of the most beautiful, challenging and inexpensive places on earth to sea kayak. It offers the sea kayaker not only limitless expanses of glorious beaches and unspoiled seas, but the opportunity to paddle with a variety of animal life, including seals, penguins and whales. With an excellent, established infrastructure, readily available guides, and top of the line equipment - as well as perfect weather day after day during the season - Cape Town is one of the best places you can pick to either learn the sport or refine your skills.

Johan Loots is a local kayaking guide and president of the Sea Kayaking Association of South Africa as well as founder of premier South African kayak manufacturer, Sea Kayak Productions. Below he offers his insights on some of the most interesting spots to paddle near the city.

Note: Gradings are based on Australia's New South Wales Sea Kayak Association and adapted to South African conditions by RECSKASA (the Recreational and Commercial Sea Kayak Association of South Africa - now changing to TASKS: The African Sea Kayak Society). It is recommended in Johan Loots' book Sea Kayaking; The Essential Guide to Equipment and Techniques as a grading system to be used worldwide by sea kayakers.

Kayak guide at Houte Bay. Photo: Johan Loots

ATLANTIC SEABOARD Grading 4+ (transitional)

This route covers Cape Town's prime coastal areas, from Sea Point with its high-rise apartment buildings, to the popular beaches of Clifton, Camps Bay and Llandudno, to the pristine shores of Sandy Bay - Cape Town's only nude beach. The sea conditions rarely allow for the full route to be completed, meaning you'll feel like landing and taking in the scene at Camps Bay where beach volleyball is played from dawn to dusk and the local watering holes beckon thirsty paddlers. Have a beer at Barazza, recently rated one of the Top 100 bars in the world!

HOUT BAY Grading 2-5+ (fair to advanced depending on the weather and how far you venture into the bay)

Hout Bay is a secluded, beautiful bay surrounded by mountains.The local suburb has a laid back atmosphere as well as a few excellent sea food restaurants. Offshore, Seal Island and the Sentinel are legendary in the surf world, boasting waves up to twenty feet when a big south-easter blows in. But when the wind is calm even a beginner ought to be able to navigate these waters with ease. Close to Seal Island you are guaranteed to be visited by seals as well as the occasional playful dolphin. Between October and July kayakers have come across more than 20 whales at a time.

THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE Grading 5+ (advanced)

This is the ultimate way to see Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, both popular tourist destinations. Described throughout history as "The fairest Cape", the "Cape of Storms" and the "Cape of Good Hope", the Cape Peninsula's southernmost tip has offered great challenge to boaters for centuries. Although rounding the Cape is tough, Loots considers it a "spiritual experience" and readily takes strong, experienced paddlers around the point. The annual Cape Point Surfski competition is held off these rocky, windy beaches, which offer sea birds, steep cliffs, and a view of the famous Cape Lighthouse.

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

Visit these web sites to get down to South Africa and get wet!

• Johan Loots' Sea Kayak Site: www.seakayak.co.za. The best place on the web to start your South African kayaking adventure. Equipment, guides, and travel advice for the whole of Southern Africa.

• Cape Town Tourism Site: www.cape-town.org. The place to begin your Cape Town Odyssey.

• Wavescape: www.wavescape.co.za. A site devoted to South African surf and water sports, this is the first place to go to learn about the kind of water you can expect down here. Great pictures.

• South African search engines: www.aardvark.co.za and www.ananzi.com.

• Independent News Online, South Africa: www.iol.co.za. Local news, weather conditions and updates.

© Ron Irwin is a freelance writer and instructor at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He has written extensively about South Africa, covering topics ranging from diving with the Great White to mountain biking in the Cape wine lands.