Africa's best beaches gear up for the summer

Africa's best beaches gear up for the summer

Category International

Looking for a beach holiday in Africa? Here are 25 of the continent’s best beaches according to CNN Travel:

1. Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt
Sharm el-Sheikh has become Egypt's resort capital for its warm, crystal waters and wide beaches which are great for swimmers and sunbathers. It is the gateway to some of the best diving in the world, along the reefs of the Red Sea.

2. Watamu, Kenya
The smooth white beach of Watamu, which slides gently into shallow, turquoise water, forms part of the Malindi Marine Reserve Park, a marine protected area. The snorkelling and diving around the offshore coral formations is said to be the best in East Africa.

3. Diani Beach, Kenya
Diani Beach is an idyllic 20-kilometer stretch of palm-fringed beach kept pristine and clear of seaweed by the coral reef just offshore. This coastal paradise has become one of Kenya's most popular beaches.

4. Nungwi, Zanzibar, Tanzania
What was once a simple fishing village and dhow-building centre has become a popular holiday destination, where palms casually amble onto a beach that dissolves gradually into shades of turquoise.

5. Chitimba, Malawi
Chitimba is not much other than a peaceful stretch of inland beach which borders on one of the biggest lakes in Africa. Wrapped with densely vegetated hills and trees that filter down to the edge of the sand, it is a quiet piece of freshwater paradise.

6. Anse Soleil, Mahe, Seychelles
Jungle and boulders tumble down a hillside and into the small beach and bay of Anse Soleil in the southwest of Mahe. It is peaceful, private and a very romantic beach from which to watch the sun set.

7. Anse Source d'Argent, La Digue, Seychelles
Anse Source d'Argent has been labeled the world's most photographed beach. A walking trail, with jungle tumbling down a hill on one side, winds between massive granite boulders to reveal a sandy beach so perfectly white, and with water so exquisitely turquoise, it seems unreal.

8. Belle Mare, Mauritius
The sunrise from the quiet beach of Belle Mare, on the east coast of Mauritius, is worth it. It is known for its fine white sand and the water is calm and shallow to laze away in.

9. Ifaty, Madagascar
If you have always longed to relax on a white stretch of beach where shade is provided by lazy palm trees, not striped umbrellas, Ifaty, on the southwest coast of Madagascar, could be your answer.
This stretch of coastline, lined in parts by fishermen's houses built mostly from natural materials, is flanked by coral reef, which you can explore with goggles and a snorkel or on the surface from a colourful dugout canoe.

10. Tofo Beach, Mozambique
A sandy eight-kilometre stretch of beach with gorgeous, clear water is what you can expect from Tofo in Mozambique.
It is perfect for beach lovers and further out to sea, divers and fishermen have good opportunities.

11. Bazaruto, Mozambique
For an idyllic tropical island beach, Bazaruto, the namesake of Bazaruto Archipelago, wins hands-down. The island's lazy sand beaches stretch forever into clear turquoise water, before dropping off into the Indian Ocean, and palm trees dangle over the beach creating perfect cocktail-sipping shade.

12. Uvongo, South Africa
Situated at the mouth of the Ivungu River, Uvongo beach has a shallow lagoon, perfect for little ones to splash about in. Hire a pedallo and paddle to the base of the 23-meter high waterfall that drops into the lagoon.

13. Coffee Bay, Wild Coast, South Africa
Coffee Bay on South Africa's Wild Coast is beautifully wild. With cliffs that plummet and green hills that roll into the turbulent waters of the Indian Ocean, this is one moody beach that will take your breath away. Hole In The Wall (eight kilometres up the road from Coffee Bay) is a spectacular rock just out to sea at the mouth of the Mpako River.

14. Camps Bay, Clifton and Blouberg, South Africa
On a summer's day, you will struggle to find a place to lay your towel among all the beautiful bodies lazing about on Camps Bay, probably Cape Town's most popular beach. The promenade is lined with cafes and bars filled with jetsetters. Nearby, you will find the spectacular Clifton Beaches. Far from the crowds, you will find Blouberg Beach, ranked among the best kite surfing beaches in the world.

15. Skeleton Coast, Namibia
There can be few beaches as hauntingly beautiful as Namibia's Skeleton Coast. This wide, wild, rugged stretch of beach between the Swakop and Kunene rivers is often shrouded with fog; the result of the cold air over the Atlantic meeting the warm air of the Namib Desert and the beach has become a graveyard for ships that run aground in the shallow, rocky waters.

16. Swakopmund, Namibia
Swakompund in Namibia has reinvented itself as an adventure centre with fishing, surfing, kayaking, quad biking and sand boarding. Swakopmund is also famous for the Bavarian-style Swakopmund Brauhaus restaurant.

17. Loango National Park, Gabon
The beaches of Loango National Park in Gabon have become famous for their surfing hippos, but you can also see elephants, buffaloes, gorillas and leopards on the sand. The uninhabited coastline of the park is more than 100 kilometres long and offers good sightings of dolphins and humpback and killer whales.

18. Beyin Beach, Ghana
What you will likely remember about the beautiful sandy arc of remote Beyin beach are the tall, soaring palms along its edge. It is a classic African working beach, and you can expect to watch about 100 men pulling in enormous seine nets filled with fish.

19. Banana Beach, Sao Tome and Príncipe
You will struggle to find a quieter, more perfect shoreline than Banana Beach on the tiny island of Príncipe, off Africa's west coast. It boasts clear, shallow waters, forest-fringed edges and, quite likely, not another tourist in sight. Hard to beat the completely laid-back atmosphere of the island, too.

20. River No. 2 Beach, Freetown, Sierra Leone
There is a real sense of space and being in the middle of nowhere at River No. 2 Beach just outside Freetown in Sierra Leone, with its pure white sand and a backdrop of lush, vegetated mountains.

21. Cap Skirring, Senegal
A wide bay with a flat beach fringed on one side by unspoilt dune vegetation and on the other, the corduroy waves of the Atlantic Ocean, Cap Skirring is one of the loveliest beaches of Casamance, which is in turn one of Senegal's most beautiful regions. There has not been too much development in terms of tourism here, but a taxi ride to the white beach of Boucotte will get you even further from it all.

22. Chaves Beach, Boa Vista, Cape Verde
At remote Chaves Beach on Boa Vista, a striking expanse of curvy, wind-carved sand dunes eventually run down into the Atlantic. With its open landscape and soft sand, this desert island is a sunbather's paradise. Chaves beach is isolation at its most lovely.

23. Essaouira, Morocco
The sprawling beach of Essaouira offers ample space for travellers wanting to soak up some sunshine in this very laid back Moroccan town but it is the wind and waves that attract high numbers of wind- and kite-surfers in summer, and surfers in winter. Further around the bay away from the harbour is a castle which is said to have inspired Jimi Hendrix's "Castles Made of Sand."

24. Dakhla, Morocco
The wind blows every day at Dakhla in the south of Morocco, making it perfect for kiteboarders. Flanked on one side by a huge, calm lagoon and good waves on the other, the beach is popular with beginners, novices and pro kiteboarders.

25. Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
The town above the beach is situated on a cliff and has become the real appeal of this Tunisian haven.
The narrow cobbled streets are lined only with white buildings with blue doors, windows, shutters and balconies, bougainvillea tumbling down and palm trees reaching up.

Author: Gina Meintjes