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Cape Town's downsized version of Monaco is barely out of third gear from Clifton. Travel south on Victoria Road and you'll be rewarded with a grand view: a palm-lined crescent of sand, book-ended by boulders and mountainously hemmed in by Lion's Head and the Twelve Apostles.
Camps Bay Hotels are a great place to base yourself for a Cape Town beach holiday. For families, rent out a Camps Bay Villa and enjoy seclusion and privacy.
It's a natural amphitheatre with jaw-dropping scenery and wallet-flattening house prices – but don't let that, or the parade of angular models, put you off.
Come in via taxi or mini bus – there's a lot of traffic on the way to Hout Bay and beyond, or if you have your own transport then all you need to do is find that elusive parking spot.
Car guards are on hand to steer you in the right direction – just save a bit of spare change for them later.
Camps Bay is a busy, happy, happening kind of beach. Minor celebrities rub shoulders with teeming families and bronzed beach jocks mingle with crimson-skinned visitors.
The summer months see a host of sports and fashion events both here and at nearby Clifton. Camps Bay is a place to see and be seen but it retains enough character to prevent a slide into vulgarism – check out the early morning dog-walkers and laid-back locals for a slice of reality.
You have options at Camps Bay: the beach is clean and inviting but there is plenty of shade on the grassy bank beneath the palms – stake your claim early.
There are freshwater showers and public toilets and the legendary Camps Bay lifeguards are on hand to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Camps Bay is a popular destination: if it gets too crowded, head for the surfers' secret of Glen Beach – a sheltered cove behind the boulders on the right. If you're lucky, you may wander into a model shoot.
The water is usually calm with a few languid waves but it is invigoratingly cold – the warmest it gets is a miserly 15ŗ C.
Unfortunately, the beach gets wind-whipped when the infamous South-Easter blows – head for Clifton unless you want to be shaking sand out of your ears for a week.
A long line of predictably pricey bars, cafés and restaurants runs along the Camps Bay Strip so you might want to bring your beach snacks with you.
Having said that, bring along a bit of cash: as the sun sinks over the glowing horizon, little can beat cocktails at any one of Camps Bay's bars.
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