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Southern & East Africa + Indian Ocean Islands · Cape Town - False Bay · City of Cape Town · Strand / Somerset West
Strand
also known as Hobie Beach
Nearby Lagoon Beach (Milnerton) 40 km · straight-line distance
On the clock
11:00
From October to March the thermal usually starts around 11:00 and strengthens through the afternoon into the evening, unless it has held over from the previous day, in which case it is already blowing in the morning. Winter sessions are frontal and follow the system rather than the clock.
The marks are the clock times the record names, laid on a 24-hour day. The bar between the first and the last covers those hours; it is not a promise of wind.
The wind
locals call it False Bay thermal southerly / cold-front SW-WNW
Direction
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
Character
mixed
fills in: From October to March the thermal usually starts around 11:00 and strengthens through the afternoon into the evening, unless it has held over from the previous day, in which case it is already blowing in the morning. Winter sessions are frontal and follow the system rather than the clock.
Typical strength
8-27 knots covers almost everything, with gusts to around 35 rare but reported. Plenty of the season sits at the lower end, and a freestyle session here can happen on a forecast of 10 knots.
The quiver, in words
For a 75-85 kg rider on a twin-tip, 7-12 m covers the spot and the 9 m does most of the work. Bring the 12 for the light southerly days, which are common here, and keep a 7 for a front arriving with gusts into the thirties. A foil earns its place on the sub-15-knot afternoons.A narrower 8-12 m range is also given for the same beach.
Direction to shore
SW comes in side-onshore and is the direction to want; it turns up only one or two days a week. SE, the common summer Cape Doctor, arrives side-offshore and gusty, and that is the one that catches people out. NW is the winter front wind and is often gusty.S, SSE and everything round to WNW are rideable with the right setup.
Dominant direction
SE and NW are common; S, SSE, SW and WNW can be rideable depending on setup
Forecast
Month by month
- Jan, riders' month60
- Feb, riders' month65
- Mar, riders' month50
- Apr42
- May34
- Jun53
- Jul45
- Aug42
- Sep53
- Oct, riders' month56
- Nov, riders' month65
- Dec, riders' month65
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)
Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jan, Feb, Mar, Oct, Nov, Dec.
- 60%Jan17°
- 65%Feb18°
- 50%Mar18°
- 42%Apr16°
- 34%May16°
- 53%Jun15°
- 45%Jul14°
- 42%Aug14°
- 53%Sep15°
- 56%Oct16°
- 65%Nov17°
- 65%Dec19°
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+) · water °C below · season highlighted
| Month | Windy days | Force 4+ | 12 kn or more | Knots | From | Peaks at | Air | Water | Readings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 60% | 81% | 76% | 15.7 kt | E | 15:00 | 22.8°C | 17.2°C | 62 |
| Feb | 65% | 88% | 79% | 15.1 kt | SSE | 15:00 | 22.3°C | 18.3°C | 57 |
| Mar | 50% | 81% | 61% | 14.6 kt | SSW | 14:00 | 20.9°C | 17.5°C | 62 |
| Apr | 42% | 58% | 47% | 13.1 kt | ESE | 14:00 | 17.6°C | 16°C | 60 |
| May | 34% | 55% | 48% | 12.1 kt | NNW | 14:00 | 15.7°C | 16.1°C | 62 |
| Jun | 53% | 63% | 58% | 14.7 kt | NNW | 12:00 | 14.6°C | 15°C | 60 |
| Jul | 45% | 65% | 53% | 13.5 kt | NNW | 13:00 | 12.5°C | 14.3°C | 62 |
| Aug | 42% | 58% | 48% | 13.8 kt | NNW | 14:00 | 13.1°C | 14.3°C | 62 |
| Sep | 53% | 77% | 70% | 14.9 kt | W | 14:00 | 13.9°C | 14.9°C | 60 |
| Oct | 56% | 74% | 68% | 14.8 kt | ESE | 15:00 | 18.1°C | 16.2°C | 62 |
| Nov | 65% | 82% | 73% | 15 kt | SSW | 15:00 | 19.4°C | 16.7°C | 60 |
| Dec | 65% | 84% | 79% | 15.5 kt | SSW | 15:00 | 20.9°C | 18.8°C | 62 |
modelled
A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.
Modelled from the operational forecast archive at 1.5–7 km (2023-2024), daylight hours only, not a ground station: it resolves thermal, lake and valley winds far better than coarse reanalysis but still tends to understate a strong local thermal. A windy day has at least three consecutive daylight hours at 12 knots or more. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.
High-resolution weather model (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical forecast archive — best-match operational model (ICON-D2 / AROME / ICON-EU / GFS by region), not a ground station · 2023-2024
The water
Type
mixed
Standing depth
Sand, gently sloping, with no measured standing-depth zone. In practice you wade a long way before there is water enough to ride, which is why foilers here talk about the walk out. The reef sits about 150 m offshore, so the shallow section is broad.
Tides
No kite-specific tide preference has been established at Strand. The wave at the same beach is described as working best on a rising tide near high water, which is a surfer's read rather than a kiter's. What the tide does change is how much dry sand you have to rig on inside the marked zone.Check the False Bay tide and swell together before you drive out.
Temperature
18-22°C summer · 12-18°C winter
Wetsuit
Shorty or 3/2 in summer, 4/3 in winter. On the warmest summer days baggies and a rashvest are enough; 4/3/2 covers the coldest part of winter.
Your level
The scene
What riders come here for
Launch and rules
three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you
With a school or a boat
5 schools name this spot
On your own
Room to launch: medium
Somewhere else
Lagoon Beach (Milnerton), 40 km
Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.
Rescue
Launch
Rig on the beach near Strand Lifesaving Club / Hottentots-Holland Beach Sailing Clubhouse on Beach Road, via N2/R44/Broadway Boulevard; most riders kite in front of the clubhouse on Main Beach.
Space
medium
Rules & access
Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.
Rider tips
- Use Strand as the fallback when Blouberg is blown out by a big SW swell or an onshore mess.
- Find the marker flags and the fence before you rig; the zone between them is the rule the club and the lifesavers enforce.
- Pick SW side-onshore days; treat SE as hazardous unless a local talks you through it.
- Keep an eye downwind for surfers and bathers, especially through the December and January holidays.
- Stay away from the Shark Rock area and its stakes until someone has shown you the launch.
- For foiling, budget a long walk out; the beach slopes very gently.
- Use Strand as the fallback when Blouberg is blown out by a big swell or an onshore mess.
- Find the marker flags and the fence before you rig. The stretch between them is the rule, and the club and the lifesavers enforce it.
- Pick the SW side-onshore days. Treat SE as hazardous unless a local has talked you through it.
- Keep looking downwind for surfers and bathers, especially through the December and January holidays.
- Budget a long walk out if you are foiling. The beach slopes very gently.
- Wear a kite leash. It is a condition of riding here, not a suggestion.
- Put the sea rescue number in your phone before you go: 087 094 9774.
Getting there
Airport
Cape Town International Airport (CPT)
Route
Drive from Cape Town on the N2 toward Somerset West, take the Strand/Somerset West exit onto the R44 and Broadway Boulevard, then Beach Road, and park by the Strand Lifesaving Club; the beach has parking for about a thousand cars, plus a slipway and a tidal pool.Cape Town International is about 30 km away, quoted as a twenty-minute run and realistically half an hour to fifty minutes depending on the N2. Strand sits on the north-eastern shore of False Bay between Somerset West and Gordon's Bay.
Transfer
35 min
Cost level
medium
Staying
Hotels, apartments and guesthouses along Strand Beach Road, Somerset West and Gordon's Bay; Strand has a Pavilion/beachfront precinct and large City beach parking.
No-wind days
Strand tidal pool and beachfront, surfing, putt-putt/water-slide fun park, Gordon's Bay, Helderberg and Somerset West activities, wine estates, Cape Town city trips and False Bay coastal drives.
Photos
FAQ
When is the best time to kite at Strand?
Summer thermal wind runs October to end-March, often starting around 11:00 and strengthening toward evening; winter sessions occur when cold fronts pass through.
Is Strand suitable for beginners?
Independent riding is better treated as intermediate-plus; bathers, surfers, zoning rules, chop and a pole hazard near the Shark Rock area make it less ideal for first-timers.
What is the wind like at Strand?
SW is the best side-onshore direction but occurs only 1-2 days per week; SE runs side-off and gusty, and typical speeds range 8-27 knots with occasional gusts to 35.
Are there rules or zoning at Strand?
Kiting is officially restricted to the area between marker flags in front of the clubhouse and a fence running into the ocean, roughly 600 m, enforced by the local club and lifesavers.
Last updated: August 2026