The City of Cape Town has produced a user-friendly and attractive book called the ‘City of Cape Town Beaches – a diversity of coastal treasures’.

The book, which is packed with pictures, illustrates the enormous value that the City of Cape Town and its citizens place on its coastline and the proud ownership they feel.

It focuses on Cape Town’s beaches, providing a description and history of each beach, its location, and activities associated with them.

It also features information on coastal flora and fauna, some of the challenges faced by the coastline; various programmes such as the shark-spotting programme; the harvesting of marine resources and background on its history.

The City’s coastal boundary extends for 307 km from Silwerstroomstrand on the west coast around the Cape Peninsula and beyond False Bay to the Kogelberg coast in the east. The combination of the warm Agulhas Current that sweeps down the coast and the cold Benguela Current that flows up the west coast, results in an incredibly rich and varied flora and fauna.

“The diverse coastline is one of Cape Town’s greatest economic, social and environmental assets, but is under increasing threat from overdevelopment and rising sea levels,” says Cllr Marian Nieuwoudt, Mayoral Committee Member for Planning and Environment. “We need to ensure that our coast is protected for current and future generations as a core economic asset, as well as an over-riding social and recreational asset.”

Produced in an A5 format (130 pages) and protected in a plastic sleeve, the book is the perfect size to carry with you at all times in the summer months – whether it’s in your handbag or the glove compartment of your vehicle.

“This book is aimed at both Capetonians and tourists – anyone who enjoys the Cape’s coastline and is interested in learning more. It is hoped that those who read it will be encouraged to visit our beaches and feel a sense of pride and ownership for the amazing amenities we have here in Cape Town,” says Councillor Gerhard Ras, Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services.

It will be available in the next two weeks from selected Cape Town Tourism Visitor Information Centres at a cost of R26.

To download a free copy of the publication, click here