September 2026
Sunday morning stroll along the ocean in Cape Town
If you enjoy walking along the ocean, without sinking deep into beach sand and with the luxury of various cafés along the route, then this area we’re going to tell you about today is one you must visit if you ever find yourself in Cape Town.
The secret is to get there early in the morning. By doing that, you’ll easily find a parking spot and there will be fewer people. However, because Berto had to attend an online work meeting (over the weekend), we only got to Mouille Point around 10:00am. This meant we had to search for quite some time for a parking spot and there were already a lot of people out and about.
The street in Mouille Point with almost every parking bay occupied
Fortunately, it’s a vast area and you never feel like you’re being overwhelmed by the crowds. We walked 8km/5 miles through four seaside suburbs – Mouille Point, Green Point, Three Anchor Bay, and Sea Point – but you can even walk further and add more seaside suburbs like Bantry Bay, Clifton, and Camps Bay to your list. Just remember that you have to walk back, which means you’ll cover about 15km/9 miles. But it’s so beautiful that you’ll hardly notice.
First view when we left the parking bay
The area is popular among both locals and tourists for a few reasons:
- It’s free and safe to walk for as far as you want
- Stunning views of the sea and mountains
- Lots of outdoor activities
- The beach road is lined with restaurants, cafés, and coffee shops
Kayaking and fishing
Strolling along the ocean
Beautiful sea views
The putt-putt (mini-golf) course in Mouille Point is located along Beach Road and offers a picturesque backdrop against the Atlantic Ocean. We’ve played here before and really enjoyed the quirky design with playful obstacles. I’ve never seen this course without people playing, and with the sun shining today, it was a popular spot to be, especially for families with kids.
Putt-putt course in Mouille Point
While the views of the sea are incredibly beautiful, you shouldn’t forget to also look at the mountains on the other side. Lion’s Head, nestled between Signal Hill and Table Mountain is visible almost the entire time on this route—either through high rising buildings or, later in the walk, directly in front of you.
Lion’s Head between buildings
Full view of Lion’s Head
Guided kayak tours in Three Anchor Bay are probably one of the most popular activities in this area. We saw so many people on kayaks in the water and also quite a few waiting on the small beach to go out. And why not? It was the perfect weather conditions for this activity – sunny, windless, and warm.
Paddlers waiting in the small bay for a memorable kayaking experience
Just past Three Anchor Bay is the popular Sea Point promenade. The Time Out newspaper named Sea Point in 2022/23 as “one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the world”. No wonder it usually gets quite busy here. There’s a huge green lawn with outdoor exercise areas. It’s also the landing spot for paragliders descending from Signal Hill – we saw about 30 tandem paragliders gracefully landing on the grass. There are also interesting artworks, which means that on this stretch, you have to turn your head in all directions to make sure you don’t miss anything.
Green lawn and exercise area at Sea Point promenade
The giant pair of stainless-steel Ray-Ban style sunglasses is called ‘Perceiving Freedom’ and was made by local artist Michael Elion. It faces Robben Island where Nelson Mandela, former South African president, was imprisoned for 27 years. It was a bit hazy though, and we could only vaguely see the island about 7km/4.3 miles out at sea.
Art in the form of stainless-steel sunglasses
I couldn’t see Robben Island, but Berto was visible
Tandem paragliders landing at Sea Point
We could also see the tip of Table Mountain
Another interesting artwork is that of a rhinoceros, called ‘The Rhinosaur’, sculptured by André Carl van der Merwe. At first glance it looks like pieces of steel standing next to each other, but when you look through the cross hairs of the sights, the pieces blend together and a rhino becomes clearly visible. The plague next to the sculpture reads: “When you look through the cross hairs of the sights, consider this: The last time that a rhino is seen alive is through the sights of the poachers’ rifle. Once all rhinos have been poached, this is all we will have left – flat images”.
From the side, it looks like just a couple of pieces of steel
A rhino becomes visible through the cross hairs of the sight
Closer look at the rhino through the cross hairs of the sight
Even the public bathrooms are covered with artwork
Along the seawall, there are photos of finalists of a special photographic competition, the Ocean Photographic Contest. Here are photos of various South African locations, including sea views, underwater shots, as well as marine fauna and flora – all showing a legacy of love and ocean awareness. I wish I could show you ALL the photos because each one is just so beautiful – but alas, you’ll have to come to Sea Point yourself to see them all.
Seawall covered in photos
Beautiful photos
Lion’s Head is never too far away
Surfing is another favourite water sport activity along this stretch
Whether you enjoy swimming in the sea or in a pool, you’ll be happy to know that you can do both here in Sea Point. There’s a tidal pool just on the other side of the seawall, and then there’s an Olympic-sized pool, a diving pool and kiddie splash pool called the Sea Point Pavilion. The Pavilion was built in the 1950s and with its unobstructed view of the ocean, it is considered as one of the top 10 public swimming pools in the world.
Tidal pool
Sea Point Pavilion
‘The tale of the snail and the whale’ – another artwork at the Sea Point Pavilion
At the Sea Point Pavilion, there are quite a few food and drinks stands, as well as benches under umbrellas where people can rest if they are tired from walking (or maybe just want to relax). There’s also a stand where you can rent bicycles if you’d rather prefer that over walking.
Time to take a break
Couple of food and drinks stands
Bicycle rentals
If we had started walking earlier, we could still have kept going, but it got quite hot by now and our ‘bakkie’ was parked a very long way from the Sea Point Pavilion. On the way back, we saw a few more paragliders arriving from Signal Hill (and had a good laugh at one of the girls who screamed her head off before landing).
What do they say? Any landing is a good landing
We noticed something else on our way back that’s quite prominent in Sea Point – the old Ritz Hotel, built in 1972. It’s always been a well-known landmark in the area, famous for its Art Deco design and the revolving restaurant on top (now frozen in time). We always thought we’d have dinner there one day, but the restaurant closed its doors in 2018. Recently, however, it was announced that there are plans to restore the building, and it was exciting to read that the restaurant at the top of the tower would be retained and that guests would once again enjoy meals with sweeping views of the Atlantic Seaboard. Who knows? Maybe we’ll still get that chance someday.
Old Ritz Hotel with revolving restaurant on top
We took a few more photos on the way back – it was almost as if we didn’t want this beautiful morning stroll to end.
Last views of our morning stroll
But wait a bit, there are a few more photos. The vespa made us feel as if we were somewhere in Europe, and the familiar hop-on hop-off bus that drove slowly past us made us think it might be time to maybe do that this coming summer.
Easy parking for a vespa
Familiar hop-on hop-off bus driving through Mouille Point
And then there’s the last prominent building before we got to our ‘bakkie’ – the Green Point Lighthouse at the southern tip of the promenade. It’s the oldest working lighthouse in South Africa, built in 1824.
Green Point Lighthouse
With Lion’s Head and Table Mountain standing proudly in the distance, creative artwork along the way, and breathtaking views over the ocean, this walk can only be described as unmistakable Cape Town vibes.
