Muizenberg Beach Huts
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Need To Know Information
- Location: Muizenberg Beach, Beach Road, Muizenberg, Cape Town
- Distance from Cape Town: +/- 27km
- Cost: Free
- Swimming: Yes – Muizenberg Beach
Muizenberg Beach
Located along the vibrant False Bay coastline, about 30 minutes’ drive from Cape Town’s City Centre, is a seaside suburb known as the South African surfing birthplace – Muizenberg Beach. Muizenberg has a beautiful long beach which attracts people from all walks of life. The beach is approximately 20 kilometers long and stretches all the way around the top of False Bay to the Strand. Muizenberg Beach is also one of Cape Town’s best blue-flag swimming beaches and is known to attract quite the beach-loving crowd from all corners of the globe. In season there are lifesavers present, making it the perfect beach to enjoy a lovely laid-back beach day with the whole family.
Besides being one of Cape Town’s top beaches, Muizenberg Beach, more specifically Muizenberg’s Surfer’s Corner, is the ultimate surfing hotspot for avid local and international surfers. It is also one of the best places in the world to learn how to surf. Muizenberg Beach welcomes surfers of all ages and experience levels to join in on the surfing fun. Known for its perfect and consistent ‘smooth ride’ waves, Muizenberg’s gentle waves and clean lines can be surfed almost year-round. This makes Muizenberg Beach one of the best and most popular surfing beaches in Cape Town. Not to mention it’s any longboarder’s dream come true. As the sea-side town of Muizenberg embodies Cape Town’s surfing culture in every way, you can find a variety of places to rent wetsuits, surf boards and take up surfing lessons.
The vibrant Muizenberg beachfront also boasts several restaurants, bars, hangout spots, shops, a visitor center, adventure, and surf activity operators, and of course the famous Muizenberg Beach huts, also known as the retro wooden bathing boxes.
Muizenberg Beach Huts
By far one of Muizenberg Beach’s top attractions for locals and tourists alike is its series of colorful beach huts. Also referred to as bathing boxes, beach boxes and even beach houses, Muizenberg’s famous beach huts have become one of Cape Town’s most sought-after sites and must-visit destinations. These cool and colorful beach huts are not only world-renowned icons of the Muizenberg beachfront, attracting travelers, tourists, and photographers from around the world, but it has claimed the title as one of the most ‘Instagrammable’ spots in Cape Town too. These vibrant and colorful Muizenberg Beach Huts are so popular in fact that they have made their appearance on the pages of countless travel magazines, postcards, and Instagram feeds.
There are two rows of beach huts along the Muizenberg beach shoreline. One row is located opposite the children’s playpark at Muizenberg Surfer’s Corner and the other row is closer to the elevated walkway that runs adjacent to the Putt-Putt course. The soft white sand behind the Muizenberg Beach Huts offers some shelter from the wind in the height of Cape Town’s summer season. A fun fact about these colorful beach huts is that in the past, the section behind the beach huts got so crowded that it was known as the “snake pit”.
History of the Muizenberg Beach Huts
Did you know that the Muizenberg beach huts / bathing boxes are a throw-back to the “bathing machine” of the 1800’s? These “bathing machines” were cart-like structures that were wheeled down to the water’s edge, allowing ladies to change into their chin-to-ankle bathing wear/suites, allowing them to frolic modestly in the shallows of the ocean water.
Over the years, some of the beach huts fell into disrepair. Rumor has it that in 2017 the beloved Muizenberg beach huts were almost removed. There were claims of “safety risks” and “anti-social behavior”. The huts were being used for prostitution and were utilized by criminals in mugging beachgoers. There was a huge public outcry and Muizenberg residents drew up a petition to save the beach huts for the purpose of retaining the iconic photographic value of the area. As a result, the famous colorful beach huts were saved and renovated.
The plight of the beach hut is close to the heart of every “Muizenberger”. Together with the mountain backdrop, elite surfing status, lively beachfront, and beautiful Muizenberg beach, it all contributes to the locals’ love and passion for this much-loved Muizenberg attraction.
Today, the beach huts serve as an important part of the Muizenberg heritage, as well as an iconic part of the Cape Town landscape.
Visiting and exploring the charismatic and vibrant coastal town of Muizenberg and taking an epic Instagram snapshot with the bold and colorful Muizenberg beach huts in the background should be on everyone’s Cape Town bucket-list.
You might be interested in The St James Pool and it’s own colourful beach huts. Alternatively read about all 19 tidal pools in Cape Town.
