Map › Cape Town - Blouberg/Big Bay › Bloubergstrand
Spot · tier 1 · South Africa
Bloubergstrand
Bloubergstrand is one of the world's best-known kitesurf destinations: a long white-sand Atlantic beach directly across Table Bay from Table Mountain, with a marine nature reserve nearby. Big Bay, on its western side, is described by Wikipedia as having become a very popular windsurfing and kitesurfing spot thanks to the region's constant strong trade/summer south-easter wind, which brings the freeride/wave-style chop this coast is famous for through most of the year.
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Wind
| best months |
|
|---|---|
| season notes | Powered by the 'Cape Doctor' — Cape Town's strong south-easter, most frequent and forceful in spring and summer (roughly October–March); Wikipedia describes constant trade-wind conditions here for most of the year. |
| wind name | Cape Doctor (SE) |
| direction to shore | side-shore |
| quality | steady |
Water
| type | mixed |
|---|---|
| wetsuit | Cold year-round due to the Benguela current — a wetsuit is normally needed even in summer |
| currents | Benguela current keeps water notably cold |
Levels
| beginner | yes |
|---|---|
| intermediate | yes |
| advanced | yes |
| notes | Big Bay, on the western side of the beach, is specifically noted as particularly well-suited to windsurfing/kitesurfing and is the area's main teaching and launch zone; a long sand beach with a few rocky outcrops elsewhere. |
Launch & crowd
| description | Big Bay, on the western side of the beach, is the main launch/teaching area; the wider beach is long and mostly open sand |
|---|---|
| busy months |
|
| vibe | One of the world's top kitesurf destinations, drawing large numbers of visiting kitesurfers, with an iconic Table Mountain backdrop |
Monthly wind statistics
Station: Cape Town (city climate station) (weatherspark, ~14 km) — Windfinder has working pages for this cluster (cape_town, table_view [=Bloubergstrand], big_bay [=Big Bay/Blouberg]) but, like every other Windfinder windstatistics page checked in this batch, the monthly table is loaded client-side via JS and not present in fetched HTML/markdown. Used WeatherSpark's city-wide Cape Town page as fallback; it is centered on the city bowl/airport area, not the Blouberg/Big Bay/Dolphin Beach shoreline, so treat this as a regional approximation. The strong, very consistent summer SE 'Cape Doctor' thermal wind that makes this stretch of coast famous for kiting is likely under-represented by a city-wide average. Exact wind speed given only for windiest (Jan, 13.7 mph) and calmest (May, 10.8 mph) months; dominant_dir per month approximated from WeatherSpark's stated seasonal direction date ranges (S Aug28-May13, N May13-Aug10, brief W Aug10-28).
| Month | Wind ≥4 Bft | Avg kn | Dir | Air °C | Water °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | —% | 11.9 | S | 20.6 | 18.9 |
| Feb | —% | — | S | 20.6 | 18.9 |
| Mar | —% | — | S | 19.4 | 17.8 |
| Apr | —% | — | S | 17.2 | 16.7 |
| May | —% | 9.4 | S/N | 15 | 16.1 |
| Jun | —% | — | N | 13.3 | 15.6 |
| Jul | —% | — | N | 12.8 | 15 |
| Aug | —% | — | N/W | 13.3 | 15 |
| Sep | —% | — | S | 14.4 | 15 |
| Oct | —% | — | S | 16.1 | 15.6 |
| Nov | —% | — | S | 17.8 | 16.7 |
| Dec | —% | — | S | 20 | 17.8 |
Hazards
- Cold water from the Benguela current — hypothermia risk without a proper wetsuit
- Rocky outcrops along parts of the beach
- Very strong, gusty wind during peak Cape Doctor events
- Nearby marine nature reserve area — be aware of protected-area boundaries
Travel basics
| airport | CPT Cape Town International Airport |
|---|---|
| getting there | Short drive north of central Cape Town along the West Coast Road (R27) |
| accommodation | Wide range of hotels/guesthouses in Bloubergstrand/Table View, all within reach of the beach |
| cost level | mid |
| no wind | Table Mountain, Cape Town city and Cape Peninsula sightseeing are close by |
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikivoyage.org