Hout Bay Beach, Cape Town

Hout Bay is the beach with a job to do. It curves along the head of a deep Atlantic bay on the back of the peninsula, with the sheer Sentinel peak on one side, the green folds of Chapman's Peak on the other and a working fishing harbour at its edge. The sand is wide, soft and pale, long enough for a proper walk, and the setting is one of the most complete on the whole Cape, mountains, harbour and open ocean all in one frame.

What sets it apart is that it never feels like a resort. Trawlers come and go from the harbour, the fish market at Mariner's Wharf sells the morning catch, and on weekends the Bay Harbour Market fills an old fish factory with food and music. Boats run out to Duiker Island to see the Cape fur seal colony, a short trip that suits children and first time visitors. All of this sits within a few minutes of the sand, so a beach day here easily becomes a half day of pottering.

The honest catch is the water and the wind. This is cold open Atlantic, sheltered by the bay but never warm, so most people paddle and wade rather than swim for long. When the southeaster blows in summer the bay can turn choppy and the harbour smell drifts across the sand, which is part of its character but not to everyone's taste. Come on a still late summer morning, pair the beach with the market and a seal trip, and Hout Bay rewards you more than the glossier strands closer to the city.