Page 152 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

150  C APE T OWN

Further along Beach Road lies
the suburb of Sea Point. It,
too, has under gone intensive
development over the years
and today sports towering
apartment blocks, hotels and
offices. Sea Point is one of
Cape Town’s most popular
entertainment districts after
the V&A Waterfront, and Main
Road teems with restaurants,
bars and night spots. New
shopping malls also add to
the suburb’s attractions.
In the afternoon, the 3-km
An aerial view of Sea Point on the slopes of Signal Hill (2-mile) Sea Point promenade
is abuzz with joggers, roller-
1 Green Point and in 1657 as a farm granted to bladers, children, tanned
Sea Point Jan van Riebeeck, but the soil people-watchers and older
proved unfit for cultivation. residents strolling along
Main or Beach rds. Map 1 B4, 3 C1. The sports complexes and clubs with their lap dogs.
Since the development of on the common have athletics, The promenade ends with
the V&A Waterfront began rugby and cricket fields, bowling a large parking area and the
in 1995, the real estate value in greens, and tennis and squash open-air Sea Point Swim ming
neighbouring seaside suburbs courts. Cape Town Stadium, Pool, which is filled with filtered
such as Green Point and Mouille built for the 2010 FIFA World seawater and has an impressive
Point has soared. Beach Road, Cup, borders the Metropolitan diving pool.
only a stone’s throw from Golf Course and the Green Small sandy coves that are
the sea, is today lined Point Urban Park. Green packed with sunbathers in
with expensive high- Point’s red and white summer dot the rocky shore-
rise apartments, candy-striped line. The tidal pools among
as well as trendy light house, built in the rocks are always a source
restau rants 1824, is still func tional. of amaze ment, particularly for
and upmarket Its resonant foghorn is children, who enjoy scrambling
office blocks. notorious for keeping around looking for sea
Green Point Mouille Point’s anemones, tiny starfish, shells
Common backs residents awake and the occasional octopus.
the residential strip. when mist rolls in from Other amenities along the
It started the sea. promenade include a
mini-golf course, a small
maze, outdoor gyms and
children’s playgrounds.

Sea Point Swimming Pool
Beach Rd. Tel (021) 434-3341.
Open Oct–Apr: 7am–7pm daily;
May–Sep: 9am–5pm daily.
The distinctive striped Green Point Lighthouse Closed only in bad weather. &
Lion’s Head and Signal Hill
A fairly easy climb to the top of Lion’s Head, 670 m
(2,198 ft) high, affords views of the City Bowl and
Atlantic coastline. Climbers can leave their cars at a
parking area along Signal Hill Road (take the right-
hand fork at the top of Kloof Nek Road), which opens
to the contour path that encircles Lion’s Head. At the
end of Signal Hill Road is a viewpoint and another
parking area. This spot is popular for its night views of
the city, but be aware of safety issues, and climb only
when there is a full moon. Signal Hill is the site of Cape
Town’s noon gun, a battery originally built by the
British in 1890 to defend the harbour. The cannon is
fired daily at precisely noon. The view from Lion’s Head is spectacular

150-151_EW_South_Africa.indd 150 25/05/17 11:59 am