Muizenberg Beach, Cape Town

Muizenberg is where Cape Town learns to surf, and it has been teaching for over a century. Strung along the top of False Bay, it is a long, flat, golden beach with a gentle, sandy bottomed wave at Surfer's Corner that crumbles softly enough for a complete beginner to ride on their first morning. The row of candy coloured Victorian bathing boxes behind the sand is one of the most photographed sights in the country, and the whole place hums with a cheerful, salty, board carrying energy that the smarter Atlantic beaches simply do not have.

The water is the quiet headline. Because False Bay opens to the warmer Indian Ocean side, the sea here is noticeably milder than the bracing Atlantic at Camps Bay or Clifton, which is why families paddle, learners spend hours in the white water, and the beach stays busy and friendly. Behind the sand, Surfer's Corner is a proper little hub of cafes, surf shops and rental racks, so you can roll up with nothing, hire a board and a wetsuit, take a lesson and warm up with a coffee, all within a few steps. It is the most practical beach day in the city.

Keep your wits about the ocean. Muizenberg runs seasonal lifeguards and the well known Shark Spotters programme, whose flags tell you the day's status, so you swim between the flags and heed the spotters and lifeguards without exception. The wind can pick up across the bay in the afternoon, so mornings are calmest for learning. None of this dims the appeal. For warm water, a forgiving wave, a great photo and an easy, sociable day, Muizenberg is hard to beat, and the gentler beaches of St James and Fish Hoek sit just down the line.