Sea Point Promenade

The promenade runs several kilometres of grass and paving between the apartment blocks of Sea Point and the rocks, from the red-and-white Mouille Point lighthouse at one end towards Bantry Bay at the other. It is flat, wide and lit, and it is used - runners at dawn, dog walkers, families on the lawns, the outdoor gym, children on the play equipment, people fishing off the rocks. In a city as spatially divided as Cape Town, the promenade is one of the few places where everybody turns up in the same space, which is why residents defend it. Public sculptures are set along the route, including a large pair of spectacles facing the sea. The Sea Point pavilion at the Mouille Point end has a heated Olympic-size seawater pool. Sunsets are straight down the Atlantic, and whales pass offshore in season.

What you actually see

• Several kilometres of flat seafront - grass, paving and rocks, continuously walkable.
• A shared public space - the most mixed crowd of any space in the city.
• The pavilion pools - a large seawater swimming complex at the northern end.
• The Mouille Point lighthouse - the red-and-white tower marking the far end.

When to go

All year; early morning or late afternoon. One to two hours end to end.

Honest expectations

There is no beach - the shore is rock and the swimming is in the pools. Wind off the Atlantic is constant and cold. Parking along Beach Road fills in the evening. Ordinary care with phones and bags applies after dark.

Nearby

Clifton is south along the coast; the V&A Waterfront is north-east.