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Muizenberg holiday accommodation: a local guide on where to stay

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 15:42:42 GMT

Muizenberg holiday accommodation in Cape Town: a local guide

The sun peeks over the mountains across the ocean, throwing pink and gold across the water as the first surfers paddle out and groups of early-morning swimmers make their way into the waves. Along the beachfront, surf schools are already pulling boards from racks, the colourful beach huts catch the morning light and the sound of waves breaking follows you along the promenade. Add the sea breeze, summer sunshine and a coffee in hand, and Muizenberg makes you understand why people fall in love with Cape Town.

The days can be as full or as gloriously unproductive as you want them to be. Take a surf lesson , go for a swim, walk the coastal path past St James towards Kalk Bay, or sit on the steps of the beachfront promenade and watch the constant theatre of boards, dogs, swimmers, families and beachgoers passing below. Muizenberg Beach itself is enormous, stretching for kilometres towards Sunrise Beach and continuing along the sweep of False Bay, so even on a busy summer day there is plenty of beach beyond the activity around Surfers Corner. Browse the small local shops, settle into a breakfast that becomes lunch, or head into the Village later for market nights, cocktails, dumplings, live music and neighbourhood restaurants away from the beachfront.

Muizenberg is a large and surprisingly varied suburb, extending from the beachfront and historic Village through the areas around Zandvlei, Marina da Gama and farther towards Capricorn. For visitors, however, most holiday accommodation falls into a handful of distinct areas. Staying directly at Surfers Corner creates a very different holiday from staying in a Village house, a Main Road apartment or beside the vlei, even when the actual distance between them is relatively small.

Where to stay in Muizenberg: the short answer:

Surfers Corner and the beachfront Empire building offer the most immediate access to Muizenberg Beach, surf schools, cafés and restaurants.
Beachfront accommodation ranges from apartments directly opposite the beach to properties a street or two back, so check the actual location rather than relying on “near the beach” in a listing.
Main Road has a range of apartment accommodation, including the newer Wavescapes development with selected apartments offering panoramic views along Muizenberg Beach.
Muizenberg Village offers more neighbourhood character, independent restaurants, guesthouses and private homes.
Zandvlei, Marina da Gama and greater Muizenberg suit visitors looking for quieter surroundings, water, birdlife and more residential space.
Staying within walking distance of the beachfront is particularly useful during busy summer periods when traffic and parking increase.

In this Guide:

What to consider when choosing holiday accommodation in Muizenberg

Location will shape far more of your holiday than the property photographs. A sea view is wonderful, but if you intend to surf every morning, being able to walk downstairs with your board can matter more. For a longer self-catering stay, a proper workspace, laundry facilities, kitchen and easy access to shops may outweigh a balcony overlooking the water. Families may be looking for extra bedrooms, secure parking, a swimming pool or enclosed outdoor space, while solo travellers may enjoy the more sociable atmosphere of a guesthouse or premium backpacker.

There is an unusually wide choice of self-catering accommodation in Muizenberg , from compact apartments for two to beachfront family apartments, three-bedroom penthouses and full private homes. Rather than beginning with a building or property type, it helps to decide which part of Muizenberg fits the holiday you have in mind and narrow the accommodation down from there.

A car is useful if Muizenberg is your base for exploring Cape Town and the wider South Peninsula, particularly for trips to Cape Point, Simon’s Town and destinations farther around the peninsula. Within Muizenberg itself, however, a well-positioned stay can make the car largely unnecessary. Surfers Corner, the Village, the vlei and the coastal route towards St James and Kalk Bay are all surprisingly walkable from the right part of town, while Muizenberg’s long beach gives you kilometres of coastline to explore in the other direction.

This becomes especially valuable in summer, when the beachfront fills quickly and finding parking near the beach can become considerably less relaxing than simply walking there.

Where is the best place to stay in Muizenberg?

Muizenberg covers considerably more ground than the world-famous beachfront most visitors first associate with the name. The suburb stretches inland around Zandvlei into Marina da Gama and farther towards Capricorn, but for a holiday the most useful question is what you want within walking distance of your accommodation: the beach and surf, restaurants and cafés, the character of the Village, or the quieter water and green spaces around the vlei.

For a beach-first holiday, Surfers Corner and the Muizenberg beachfront put you closest to the sand, surf schools, board hire, coffee shops and restaurants. This is Muizenberg’s main visitor hub, with Beach Road following the coast and York Road running just behind it towards Main Road. You can walk for kilometres along the beach towards Sunrise Beach, follow the coastal walkway through St James towards Kalk Bay, wander into the Village for dinner or head inland towards Zandvlei without needing to get into a car.

Main Road runs behind and alongside the central beachfront before continuing towards St James and Kalk Bay. There are several apartment buildings and holiday accommodation options along this stretch, some almost immediately behind Surfers Corner and others a little farther along. Wavescapes is one of the newest developments here, particularly appealing if you want a modern apartment, a central location and elevated views across the beach and bay.

Muizenberg Village is the historic residential pocket behind the beachfront, with old homes, cottages, guesthouses and private self-catering properties woven through its streets. Palmer Road is where many of the Village’s best-known shops and restaurants are concentrated, so this area works particularly well if you want to remain within reach of the beach while staying somewhere with more of a neighbourhood feel.

Zandvlei and greater Muizenberg , including Marina da Gama, become greener and generally quieter as you move away from the central beachfront. Zandvlei brings open water, rich birdlife and walking routes into the picture, while Marina da Gama extends around its network of waterways and canals. Some accommodation remains within walking distance of the beach, while farther out a car becomes more useful, so this area is better suited to visitors who value space, nature and a quieter residential setting over having Surfers Corner immediately outside the door.

Surfers Corner and Muizenberg beachfront holiday accommodation

Surfers Corner is the Muizenberg most people picture first: the long sandy beach, colourful huts, surfers crossing the road barefoot with boards under their arms and the curve of the coastline stretching away towards the mountains.

For a holiday centred on the beach, this is difficult to beat. Surf schools and board rentals are right there, as are cafés, casual restaurants and the promenade, while the beach itself gives walkers and runners kilometres of uninterrupted sand. In the opposite direction, the coastal walkway takes you past St James and towards Kalk Bay and Fish Hoek.

Muizenberg is famously welcoming to beginner surfers , although its surf culture goes much deeper than its learn-to-surf reputation.

Beachfront holiday apartments in Muizenberg

There is a broad mix of holiday accommodation around Surfers Corner, from privately managed apartments and smaller units to larger family stays and penthouses. Some buildings sit directly at the beachfront, while others are one or two streets back and still only minutes from the sand.

The Empire Building is one of the best-known beachfront options, positioned directly at Surfers Corner. Among the beachfront apartments that you can stay at with MUi STAYS are compact one-bedroom stays, two-bedroom apartments and larger penthouses accommodating groups of up to six. For families or friends travelling together, the three-bedroom penthouses offer the space of a proper holiday home while keeping the beach, surf schools and restaurant strip immediately outside.

Being here also puts a large part of Muizenberg’s food scene on foot. Breakfast, coffee, fish and chips, casual lunches and evening drinks are all available around Surfers Corner and York Road, while the Village restaurants are an easy walk away. Our guide to the best restaurants in Muizenberg covers everything from quick post-surf meals and family lunches to independent restaurants, markets and places worth booking for dinner.

Is the Muizenberg beachfront the right place to stay?

The beachfront makes particular sense if this is your first visit to Muizenberg, you are coming primarily to surf or swim, you are travelling without a car, or you simply want the beach to be part of the day without having to plan around it.

It is also an easy choice for shorter stays: you can arrive, park and enjoy a considerable amount of Muizenberg within walking distance. Families have quick access to the sand, super slides and putt-putt, couples can walk out for breakfast or dinner, and surfers can check the conditions in person rather than from an app.

Main Road holiday accommodation in Muizenberg

Main Road runs through the centre of Muizenberg and offers a useful middle ground between the beachfront, the Village and routes towards St James and Kalk Bay. Apartment accommodation is available in several buildings along this stretch, and the experience can vary significantly according to the exact position, floor and orientation of the unit.

For visitors who want to walk rather than constantly drive, the location can work exceptionally well. Surfers Corner is close by from the central section of Main Road, the Village sits just behind it, Muizenberg Station is convenient for the Southern Line and Checkers and other everyday shops are within easy reach.

Wavescapes

Wavescapes is one of the newest accommodation developments on Main Road and offers a very different feel from Muizenberg’s older beachfront buildings. The apartments are contemporary, the building has access-controlled security and secure parking, and its height and angle give selected units exceptional views over the ocean and along the length of Muizenberg Beach.

Coffee and a small grocery store are downstairs, while Surfers Corner is reached by a short walk across Main Road and the railway line.

MUi STAYS has a substantial choice of modern self-catering apartments in Wavescapes , including one- and two-bedroom apartments and larger penthouse options. If waking up to a wide ocean view is high on the wishlist, this is a particularly useful part of the listings to explore.

Wavescapes is particularly worth considering if contemporary interiors, secure parking and elevated sea views matter to you, but you still want to be able to walk to the beach, Village and restaurants.

Muizenberg also has a good premium-budget option on Main Road. Adamastor Backpackers has thoughtfully designed bunk accommodation, mixed and female-only dormitories, secure storage, a communal kitchen and shared spaces. It suits solo travellers and surfers who actively want some social life around their accommodation rather than an entirely private apartment.

Muizenberg’s café scene is another advantage of staying centrally, particularly for longer stays and remote workers. Our guide to the best coffee shops in Muizenberg includes beachfront favourites, neighbourhood cafés and places where settling in with a laptop for a few hours is completely normal.

Holiday accommodation in Muizenberg Village

Muizenberg Village has a character that is difficult to replicate in an apartment development. Historic houses, residential streets, studios, restaurants and small businesses sit together in a neighbourhood that feels distinctly local while remaining close to the beach.

Palmer Road is the small commercial heart of the Village. JOON serves breakfast through to dinner and regularly hosts events, while Dimples brings dumplings, shared plates, sushi and cocktails into the evening mix. Around them are smaller shops, studios and community spaces, with Checkers close enough to make longer self-catering stays genuinely practical.

Accommodation is correspondingly varied. Instead of rows of similar apartments, you will find private houses, cottages, studios, guesthouses and individual flats. Gardens, courtyards, braai areas and pools are more likely to enter the equation here, particularly if you are looking for a larger family stay.

The choice of self-catering accommodation in Muizenberg Village ranges from compact private stays to full-sized homes for families and groups. MUi STAYS options include Sunny Muizenberg Villa , a single-level wheelchair-accessible three-bedroom home with en-suite bedrooms, a garden and private swimming pool; Annie’s Place , which accommodates up to eight guests; and Surf House , a one-bedroom option set up particularly well for surfers, with boards, an outdoor shower, braai area and workstation with a monitor.

The Place offers another type of Village stay altogether. This guesthouse has private rooms, a swimming pool, high-speed Wi-Fi and generous workspaces, making it a strong option for digital nomads, solo travellers and guests who want the privacy of their own room with some shared facilities and human presence around them.

The Village remains walkable to the beach from many properties, although the distance varies considerably depending on the street.

Zandvlei and greater Muizenberg accommodation

Around Zandvlei, Muizenberg becomes greener, quieter and more residential. The open water and reed beds bring rich birdlife into the landscape, and the beachfront crowds feel much farther away than the actual distance would suggest.

The Muize Bed and Breakfast is particularly well positioned between the two. This family run guesthouse sits close to Zandvlei while still being a short walk from Muizenberg Beach, giving guests access to both environments without needing to choose one over the other. It offers private accommodation, breakfast, secure off-road parking and shared living areas, making it a good alternative for travellers who want breakfast included and a more hosted stay rather than a completely independent self-catering apartment.

Farther around the waterways, Marina da Gama offers another version of a Muizenberg holiday altogether. Homes here can open directly onto the canals, with decks, gardens and water access replacing the bustle of the beachfront. If this is more your pace, the 6-sleeper Lake Retreat Stay by MUi STAYS is for you.

A car becomes increasingly useful the farther you move into greater Muizenberg, particularly if you plan to move between the beach, restaurants and other parts of Cape Town frequently.

Which Muizenberg location suits your holiday?

Getting around Muizenberg

One of Muizenberg’s strengths as a Cape Town holiday base is how much you can do on foot once you are here. From Surfers Corner you can walk into the Village, along the beachfront towards Sunrise Beach, beside parts of Zandvlei, or in the opposite direction along the coast through St James and towards Kalk Bay.

That freedom becomes especially useful in peak summer. On a hot beach day, traffic around Surfers Corner builds and the closest public parking disappears quickly; walking ten minutes from your accommodation is often far easier than driving a kilometre and then trying to find somewhere to leave the car.

A car comes into its own when Muizenberg becomes the starting point rather than the destination. Cape Point, Boulders Beach, Simon’s Town and the wider peninsula are all natural day trips, while having your own transport gives you the freedom to follow the coast, cross to the Atlantic side or spend a day exploring farther into Cape Town.

For visitors planning to use Muizenberg as a base rather than spend the whole holiday in one neighbourhood, our Cape Town South Peninsula travel guide explores the coastline through Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek and Simon’s Town towards Cape Point.

Frequently asked questions about holiday accommodation in Muizenberg

What is the best area to stay in Muizenberg?

Surfers Corner and the beachfront are the obvious choices if beach access, surfing, restaurants and walkability are the priority. Main Road gives you central access to the beach, the Village and transport routes, while Muizenberg Village offers more residential character and a wider variety of houses and guesthouses. Zandvlei and greater Muizenberg become progressively quieter and more nature-focused.

Is there self-catering accommodation in Muizenberg?

Yes. There is a large range of self-catering accommodation in Muizenberg , from compact one-bedroom apartments and beachfront stays to sea-view penthouses, Village properties and larger private family homes.

Can I book accommodation in Muizenberg with breakfast included ?

Yes. If you prefer a B&B or guesthouse to a self-catering apartment, The Muize and The Place both offer alternatives to a completely independent holiday rental. The Muize is particularly well positioned between Zandvlei and the beach, while The Place is in Muizenberg Village with a swimming pool and shared spaces.

Are there beachfront apartments in Muizenberg ?

Yes. There are numerous beachfront apartments in Muizenberg , including apartments in the Empire Building directly at Surfers Corner as well as other accommodation within a few minutes’ walk of the sand. Wavescapes is on Main Road rather than directly on the beachfront, but is still within easy walking distance and selected apartments have expansive elevated views along the coast.

What is the difference between Empire and Wavescapes ?

Empire is directly at Surfers Corner, so the main advantage is immediate access to the beach, surf schools and beachfront restaurants. Wavescapes is a newer development on Main Road a short walk away, with contemporary apartments and selected higher units offering wide views along Muizenberg Beach. Both offer access-controlled security, but they create quite different holiday experiences.

W here should surfers stay in Muizenberg ?

Surfers Corner is the most convenient option because the surf schools, board rentals and main beach break are immediately outside. Beachfront and Main Road accommodation are both within easy walking distance, but the Village should not be discounted: many Village properties are still comfortably walkable to the surf. If surfing is the reason for the trip, compare the Muizenberg accommodation available close to the beach alongside our complete Muizenberg surfing guide .

Can I stay in Muizenberg without a car ?

Absolutely. Surfers Corner, the beachfront, central Main Road and the Village work particularly well without a car. From the right accommodation you can walk to the beach, restaurants, cafés, grocery shops and station, and continue on foot along the coast towards St James and Kalk Bay. Uber and Bolt are also available when you want to travel farther.

I s Muizenberg suitable for families ?

Yes. Muizenberg’s long beach, beginner-friendly surf, casual restaurants and range of larger self-catering homes make it particularly easy for family holidays. Depending on the age of the children and the kind of trip you are planning, look for practical features such as multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, laundry facilities, secure parking, a swimming pool or enclosed outdoor space.

Families and groups can compare larger holiday accommodation in Muizenberg , including three-bedroom penthouses and four-bedroom homes accommodating up to eight guests.

Which Muizenberg accommodation has a swimming pool ?

Swimming pools are available at several different types of accommodation rather than in one particular part of Muizenberg. Melrose has apartment options with pool access, The Place has a guest swimming pool, and selected private homes in the Village and greater Muizenberg have their own pools..

W hat should I look for when searching for a Muizenberg Airbnb ?

“Muizenberg Airbnb” is often used as a general search for short-term holiday accommodation, but it is worth looking beyond the major booking platforms when comparing your options. Check the exact location, walking distance to the beach, parking, security and facilities and compare the direct booking price before you book.

Many of the same holiday apartments you find on Airbnb and other booking platforms can be booked directly through MUi STAYS for up to 25% less . Browse our Muizenberg holiday rentals and self-catering accommodation and compare the direct rate before confirming your stay elsewhere.

Booking holiday accommodation in Muizenberg

Where you stay changes the rhythm of a Muizenberg holiday. At Surfers Corner, you can wake up, look at the conditions and be in the water before breakfast. A few streets back in the Village, mornings can begin somewhere quieter before walking down with your board or heading to Palmer Road for coffee. From a high apartment at Wavescapes, the sweep of beach and ocean becomes the backdrop to the stay, while around Zandvlei and the Marina waterways the pace is greener, quieter and more residential.

The useful question is not simply which Muizenberg accommodation looks best in photographs, but what you want to be able to do when you walk out of the door. Walk to the beach immediately downstairs, choose a Village home with more space, wake up to a wide sea view, stay somewhere with breakfast waiting, or move towards the vlei when peace and nature matter more than being in the middle of Surfers Corner.

Browse MUi STAYS holiday accommodation in Muizenberg , including beachfront apartments, modern self-catering stays, sea-view penthouses, Village accommodation and larger homes for families and groups.

Airbnb property management in Cape Town: what owners should expect from a management company

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 15:07:03 GMT

The term "Airbnb management" gets used so broadly that it can confuse more than it clarifies. Some property managers will simply handle your listing, answer guest messages and coordinate a cleaner. More professional management companies run a full hospitality operation, taking responsibility for pricing, guest experience, cleaning, laundry, replenishment, maintenance and the physical condition of the property itself. For owners comparing property management companies in Cape Town, that distinction forms the basis of choosing the right arrangement for your property.

The choice matters more now than it did a few years ago. Cape Town's short-term rental market has grown increasingly competitive and professional, guest expectations have risen alongside the number of properties competing across multiple booking platforms, and operational standards now directly affect reviews and future revenue. With the City of Cape Town's proposed short-term letting by-law set to reclassify properties exceeding 50% annual occupancy for commercial rates, how your property is managed matters more than ever.

At MUi STAYS, we are entrusted with more than 50 holiday properties across the Cape Peninsula. Since 2003, we have deliberately built the operational infrastructure most owners never think about until something goes wrong: cleaning teams, laundry systems, supply chains, maintenance networks and the coordination to turn multiple properties on the same day without a single standard slipping.

If you own a short-term rental property in Cape Town and you are considering handing it to a management company , this guide covers what professional Airbnb management actually involves, what separates listing administration from a full hospitality operation, and what to ask before you sign.

Key Takeaways:

The difference between listing management and a full-service property management company like MUi STAYS comes down to operational infrastructure: whether the company runs its own cleaning, laundry, maintenance and supply chain operations, or relies on outsourced and ad hoc arrangements that struggle under pressure.
Revenue management for Cape Town short-term rentals is seasonal and time-sensitive. By August, most strategic decisions that determine peak season performance have already been made, and properties that are not positioned by winter are competing for whatever is left.
The City of Cape Town's proposed Short-Term Letting By-Law would reclassify properties exceeding 50% annual occupancy for commercial rates, potentially doubling or tripling the owner's rates bill and making the quality of property management more important than ever.
Peak season is the most demanding test of a management company's capability. Same-day turnovers across a portfolio require dedicated teams, managed linen systems, replenishment logistics and maintenance coordination that a co-hosting arrangement cannot reliably provide at scale.
Before appointing a management company, owners should ask specific operational questions about cleaning standards, linen management, same-day turnovers and maintenance coordination.

1. Pricing and revenue management for Cape Town short-term rentals

A full calendar is not necessarily a profitable one, and this is one of the first things an experienced Airbnb property manager will tell you. It is relatively easy to fill a desirable property if the nightly rate is low enough, but the actual job is finding the balance between occupancy and rate that produces the strongest possible return. That means monitoring demand and booking pace, adjusting nightly rates, managing minimum stays, responding to events and seasonal shifts, protecting high-value dates and avoiding awkward calendar gaps that become difficult to sell.

Cape Town makes active revenue management particularly important because demand changes dramatically throughout the year. Summer holidays are the obvious driver, but occupancy patterns are also shaped by international travel seasons, school holidays, local events, weather and how far in advance different types of guests tend to book. What many owners do not realise is that by August, most of the strategic decisions that determine peak season performance have already been made. Pricing has been set, minimum stays have been configured, availability has been opened across platforms and early high-value bookings have already landed. If your property is not positioned by winter, you are not competing for summer. You are collecting whatever is left.

A property management company that takes revenue seriously should be able to tell you more than what your property earned last month. They should understand why it performed that way, how it compares with broader Cape Town Airbnb performance trends, what forward demand looks like and what they are doing about it.

2. Listing distribution across Airbnb, Booking.com and other platforms

Airbnb may be the platform most owners know best, but listing your property on a single channel and hoping for the best is not a strategy. It is a limitation, and it is one of the clearest differences between casual co-hosting and the professional advantage of using an Airbnb property management company.

Guests do not all search in the same place. Some begin with Airbnb, others default to Booking.com, international travellers often favour platforms that South African hosts barely think about, and a growing number of guests prefer to book directly with management companies they already know. A property that only exists on one platform is invisible to all of those other guests, and that is revenue the owner will never even know they missed.

Professional short-term rental management means distributing your property across multiple booking channels as part of a coordinated strategy. At MUi STAYS, properties can be listed across Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO and more than 100 additional channels. That kind of distribution requires professional property management software: a centralised system that synchronises rates and availability in real time, consolidates reservations into a single calendar, ensures listing content is accurate across platforms and prevents double bookings. These are tools that a professional property management company invests in and operates daily. A host managing one or two properties from their phone simply does not have access to the same infrastructure.

Distribution also builds value over time. A management company with its own direct-booking website gives your property something most individual owners never have: a presence on a dedicated, branded platform where any guest can discover and book it directly, without the commission fees that come with every third-party booking. For an owner whose property currently exists as a single Airbnb listing, that is a significant step up in both visibility and returns.

3. Cape Town's short-term rental by-laws and what they mean for owners

The environment in which Cape Town short-term rentals operate is changing, and owners considering professional management should seriously factor this in. The City of Cape Town has proposed a draft Short-Term Letting By-Law that would reclassify any property exceeding 50% annual short-term letting occupancy for commercial rates, potentially doubling or tripling the owner's rates bill. For anyone with a short-term rental investment, that is a significant shift in the economics of ownership. Read the full breakdown of how the new laws are being proposed.

A property management company cannot control regulation. It should, however, be paying close attention and keeping its owners informed when developments materially affect the operation or economics of their short-term rental. For owners weighing whether to manage a property independently or appoint a professional Airbnb property manager, the increasing regulatory complexity is one more reason to work with a company that has the capacity to stay ahead of by-law changes, platform policy shifts and municipal requirements on your behalf.

The City has invited public comment on the draft by-law , with submissions open until 5 October.

4. Cleaning, maintenance, linen and turnover operations

Any co-host can arrange a cleaner and sort out linen for a single property without a hitch in the quieter season. But the quieter season is not where your returns are made, and it is not where the cracks in a co-hosting arrangement tend to show. Peak season, when guest turnovers stack up, emergency maintenance issues arise and laundry logistics compound, demands infrastructure that simply does not exist in a casual operation.

What you should expect from a property management company is an operation that has the teams, the systems and the supply chain to deliver a consistent guest-ready standard across every property, every turnover, including the days when nothing goes to plan. A professional management company builds its entire business around executing reliably across dozens of properties at once, specifically optimising for the peak season weeks when multiple properties turn over on the same day and there is no margin for winging it.

Here is what professional Airbnb property management should actually look like, and what you should be asking about before you appoint a management company:

Cleaning standards and guest-ready inspections

A management company should own the cleaning standard, not just send someone with a mop and hope for the best. There should be a defined, repeatable process for what "guest ready" actually means, inspections that confirm it has been met, and cleaners who flag damage, missing items or maintenance issues during the turnover rather than leaving them for the next guest to find. It is worth asking who checks the property after cleaning and before the guest arrives, because if nobody does, you are relying on luck.

Linen and laundry management

Ask whether the company runs its own linen system or relies on each property having just enough to get through. A professional operation needs spare capacity: enough stock in circulation to handle simultaneous turnovers, delayed laundry, damaged sets and the reality that peak season does not wait for a dryer to finish. If your management company's linen plan only works when every booking goes perfectly, it is not a trustworthy or reliable plan.

Guest supply replenishment

Expect a system, not a person who notices things have run out. Your management company should know exactly what each property requires, track what has been consumed and replenish as part of the turnover process. Reactive replenishment, where someone drives to a shop because the next guest has no coffee, is a sign that the operation does not have proper inventory and asset management in place.

Property condition checks and quality control

Your property is a hospitality asset being used by dozens of different guests throughout the year. Expect your management company to treat every turnover as a condition assessment, not just a clean. What has been damaged, what is wearing out, what needs replacing, what did the last guest report, and has it actually been resolved? A management company that only reacts when a guest complains is letting your guests do the quality control.

Maintenance coordination around the booking calendar

Expect your management company to own the maintenance process. That means reliable tradespeople, the judgement to assess urgency against the booking calendar, the authority and experience to handle minor repairs without calling you, and the sense to call you when something significant comes up. You should not be personally sourcing a plumber every time something leaks, and you should not find out about a problem from a guest review.

This is why MUi STAYS has deliberately built this operational infrastructure internally since 2003. Cleaning, laundry, linen management, replenishment, maintenance coordination and the movement of supplies between properties are not peripheral services bolted on to a listing tool. They form the foundation required to keep a portfolio guest-ready, and their value becomes most obvious during the busiest periods when there is no room for improvisation.

For an owner comparing Airbnb management companies, one of the most revealing questions you can ask is: who actually does the work between one guest leaving and the next guest arriving? The answer tells you everything about the operation behind the listing, and it is one of the most underestimated realities of running an Airbnb in Cape Town .

5. Guest communication and operational support

Guest management goes well beyond instantly replying to Airbnb messages, and it is another area where owners should expect far more from a professional management company than a co-host could realistically deliver. A professional operation oversees the full guest journey, from initial enquiry through booking communication, arrival information, check-in, support during the stay, checkout and post-stay follow-up, and does so consistently across every property in the portfolio.

More importantly, that communication needs to connect directly to the physical operation. When a guest reports that a bedside lamp is not working, that message should become a maintenance task, not sit in a WhatsApp message. When something is missing from the kitchen, somebody should be checking it before the next turnover. When several guests across different properties raise the same issue, a management company worth its fee should be recognising the pattern rather than treating every message as if it is happening for the first time.

A professional management company will have systems and escalation processes in place to make sure nothing falls through the gaps. At MUi STAYS, we use an internal maintenance app that allows anyone on the team to log an issue on the spot. That issue gets routed to the appropriate person or department, tracked through to resolution and reported on, so a guest complaint about a broken shower gets dealt with as soon as possible.

This is a distinction worth paying attention to when choosing an Airbnb property manager. A fast reply saying "we'll look into it" and an operational system that can actually look into it are not the same thing, and your guests will know the difference.

6. Property maintenance and preparation between bookings

An empty property does not stop being an asset that requires attention, and for owners in Cape Town, the quieter months are when the most important work should be happening. Preventative maintenance, deep cleaning, inventory checks, linen and equipment replacement, small upgrades and properly addressing the recurring issues that get patched during busy stretches all need to happen while there is time and availability to do them properly.

If your property management company has not already completed this work, it is worth asking when they plan to. Spring is around the corner, and once peak season bookings start running back to back there is no time to discover that linen stock is inadequate, an appliance is on its way out or a maintenance issue has been slowly getting worse since April. A professional Airbnb property manager should have your property ready for peak season before winter ends, rather than scrambling to catch up while the first spring bookings start trickling in. Peak season is not when you build the operation. It is when the operation gets tested, and it is not worth finding out how intense a Cape Town peak season can be by being anything less than overprepared.

It is also worth remembering that the South Peninsula draws visitors year round, not only during summer. Cape Town in winter brings whale season, dramatic coastline and its own travel appeal, and surfing in Muizenberg keeps the area busy across all seasons. A well-maintained property with professional management behind it will still generate meaningful occupancy outside of peak.

7. Owner reporting, oversight and communication

There is an important distinction between being informed and being involved in every operational decision. Owners should know how their property is performing. They should have visibility over revenue and occupancy, understand significant expenditure and know about material maintenance issues affecting their asset.

What they should not have to do is spend their holiday answering a WhatsApp message about whether another set of towels has reached the apartment.

One of the fundamental reasons for appointing an Airbnb property manager is to remove the owner from daily operations. If every problem still has to travel through the owner before it can be solved, very little management has actually been outsourced. Good Airbnb property management gives owners visibility without requiring day-to-day participation, and that is what allows the property to behave like an investment rather than another job.

Looking for an Airbnb property manager in Cape Town?

Cape Town's peak season does not wait for owners to get their operation sorted, and the preparation window is closing. Whether you already own a short-term rental and are reconsidering how it is managed, or you are looking to invest in the Cape Town market and want to know what professional property management looks like from the start, we would like to hear from you.

Book a free 15-minute consultation with our founder Daniel Blaauw. We will assess your property, forecast its earning potential and show you where your current setup may be costing you. We onboard a limited number of properties each month, so if peak season readiness is on your mind, now is the time to have the conversation. ---> Book your free property consultation

Frequently asked questions about Airbnb Property Management

What does an Airbnb property management company actually do?

A full-service Airbnb property management company handles everything required to operate a short-term rental professionally: revenue management and pricing, multi-channel distribution across booking platforms, guest communication, cleaning, laundry and linen management, replenishment of guest supplies, maintenance coordination, quality control and owner reporting. The scope goes well beyond managing a listing.

How much does Airbnb property management cost in Cape Town?

Management fees vary between companies and typically represent a percentage of booking revenue. The percentage matters, but what it includes matters more. Some companies charge a lower fee but leave significant operational responsibilities with the owner, while others provide a fully managed service. The useful comparison is what the fee actually covers and what value the management company's systems create.

What is the difference between a co-host and a property management company?

A co-host typically handles guest communication and coordinates cleaning for a small number of properties. A professional property management company offers full operational infrastructure: revenue management, multi-channel distribution, in-house cleaning and laundry systems, supply chain management, maintenance coordination, quality control and owner reporting. The difference becomes most apparent during peak season, when the volume and pace of turnovers require systems that a casual arrangement cannot sustain.

When should I appoint an Airbnb property manager?

The short answer is before you need one. Much of the strategic and operational work that determines peak season performance, from pricing configuration to property preparation and linen stock, needs to happen months in advance. Owners who wait until bookings are running back to back to seek professional management are already behind.

Is it still worth investing in short-term rentals in Cape Town with the proposed by-law changes?

The City of Cape Town's draft Short-Term Letting By-Law proposes reclassifying properties that exceed 50% annual short-term letting occupancy for commerical rates, which would significantly increase the rates bill for qualifying owners. That changes the financial picture, but it does not eliminate the opportunity. It does mean that professional management, strong revenue strategy and operational efficiency matter more than ever, because the margin for running a poorly managed property gets thinner. The proposed laws aim to formalise the market, meaning that serious investors who partner with dedicated property management companies are best positioned to enjoy the benefits of Cape Town's short term rental market for years to come.

Best restaurants in Muizenberg: a local guide for every appetite and budget

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 14:06:49 GMT

The complete guide to Restaurants in Muizenberg

For a small seaside neighbourhood, the range of restaurants in Muizenberg is frankly ridiculous. You can start the day with a scrumptious breakfast and coffee on York Road, eat vegetarian crêpes opposite the surf , pick up fish and chips for the beach, share dumplings in the Village and still have Mexican, Mozambican or Vietnamese food waiting for dinner.

The choice stretches across budgets as comfortably as it crosses cuisines. There are inexpensive coffees, burgers and market meals; relaxed family restaurants where sandy feet barely register; and small dinner spots worth booking in advance. This guide brings those options together so you can choose where to eat in Muizenberg by appetite, occasion, dietary need and wallet, while still getting a feel for the places that belong to the neighbourhood.

Restaurants in Muizenberg: the short answer:

The best restaurants in Muizenberg range from independent breakfast cafés and beachside brunch spots to Vietnamese food, dumplings, Mozambican seafood, Mexican-inspired dinners and a twice-weekly evening food market. Empire Café and Hang Ten Café are strong local breakfast choices; Joon works across breakfast, lunch and dinner; Blue Bird Garage Market is particularly useful for families and groups on Thursday and Friday nights; Tortuga Loca and Carla’s are dinner destinations worth planning around; and Free Bird, Knead and Hudsons are useful larger-brand choices when familiarity, speed or a broad menu matters.

Most casual meals cost roughly R80-R250 per person, while seafood, cocktails and longer dinners can reach R250-R450 or more. The main dining clusters are York Road, Palmer Road, Main Road and the beachfront, each with a different feel and a mix of independent venues and familiar chains.

In this Guide:

Full guide to restaurants in Muizenberg by area

The full listings below appear once, grouped by the part of Muizenberg you will actually be walking or driving to. York Road is kept separate from the Village; Surfers Corner includes both independent spots and chains; and Blue Bird has its own section because it is a 2-nights weekly evening market rather than an everyday restaurant.

Restaurants on York Road, Muizenberg

Empire Café

A long-standing York Road favourite for all-day breakfast, brunch, salads and light lunches. This is the sort of place where a quick coffee can very easily become a long, lavish breakfast.

Local tip: Go before 09:00 for a calmer vibe; late morning is better if you want the full, sociable York Road atmosphere.

Address: 11 York Road, Muizenberg

Typical spend: about R100-R250 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: All-day breakfast, good coffee and an easy York Road lunch

Opening hours: Mon-Sat 07:00-16:00; Sun and public holidays 08:00-16:00

Special notes: Family-friendly; vegetarian and vegan choices. Outdoor seating available.

Harvest Café

A bright, health-conscious daytime café serving bowls, smoothies, salads, sandwiches and bakes, with plenty of lighter breakfast and lunch choices.

Local tip: A useful late-breakfast choice after a beach walk, especially when the table includes both health-conscious eaters and committed brunch people.

Address: 4 York Road, Muizenberg

Typical spend: about R80-R220 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Fresh breakfasts, smoothies and mixed-diet groups

Opening hours: Daily 07:00-16:00

Special notes: Strong vegetarian and vegan choice; plant milks available; family-friendly daytime setting.

Hans & Lloyd Coffee Co.

A surf-rooted local coffee company serving pastries, breakfast and light café food from its York Road shop.

Local tip: Dog-friendly, fun atmosphere indoors, with great views of the surf.

Address: 13 York Road, Muizenberg

Typical spend: about R60-R180 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Coffee-led mornings and a quick breakfast

Opening hours: 06:45-15:00 daily

Special notes: Great value for money, delicious cakes and a good quick stop.

Carla’s Mozambique Restaurant

Tiny, owner-run and centred on a short Mozambican menu of prawns, mussels and chicken. Carla hosts, space is limited and booking is essential.

Local tip: Phone rather than relying on a message, book ahead and treat Carla’s as the evening’s plan rather than one stop among several.

Address: 7/9 York Road, Muizenberg ; confirm the street number when booking

Typical spend: about R250-R450+ per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Intimate seafood dinners and a distinctly personal local experience

Opening hours: Mon-Sat 17:00-21:30; confirm and book on 021 788 6860

Special notes: Small, intimate and seafood-led; booking essential.

The Striped Horse

A local pub and restaurant for grills, pregos, wings, fish and live music. It is family-friendlier earlier and considerably more bar-like later.

Local tip: Go early for food and a more family-friendly atmosphere; stay later only if the pub and live-music side is what you want.

Address: 12 York Road, Muizenberg

Typical spend: about R120-R300 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Pub food, live music, drinks and a later evening

Opening hours: Hours vary by day and source; confirm on the venue’s current social profile

Special notes: Better for families earlier in the day; live music and a bar atmosphere later. Vegetarian choices are available.

Surfers Corner and beachfront restaurants

Hang Ten Café

A vegetarian creperie at Surfers Corner with coffee, bagels, smoothie bowls and juices. Particularly good after a surf, or while other people are surfing and you have made wiser plans.

Local tip: Visit early for the strongest surf-café atmosphere, or later in the afternoon when you want something light without committing to a full lunch.

Address: Balmoral Building, 62 Beach Road, Surfers Corner

Typical spend: about R70-R200 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Vegetarian breakfast, crêpes and post-surf coffee

Opening hours: 07:00-18:00 daily

Special notes: Vegetarian venue with strong vegan choice; family-friendly; close to the beach. Dog friendly, with a few outdoor tables.

The Commons

A community-minded café, bar and events venue that changes character through the day, from breakfast and laptop coffee to lunch, drinks and live music at night.

Local tip: Come for breakfast or lunch if you want it calm; choose an event night deliberately if live music and a more social evening are part of the plan.

Address: Surfers Corner, Beach Road, Muizenberg

Typical spend: about R100-R250 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Beach views, events and an unhurried all-day hangout

Opening hours: Tue-Sun 08:00-23:00

Special notes: Stunning elevated views of the beach; family-friendly earlier in the day; events can become loud.

Lagerchinos

A relaxed beachfront local for wood-fired pizza, burgers, Portuguese-influenced food and beer. It is unfussy, family-friendly and well placed for lunch after the beach in the large outdoor beer garden.

Local tip: Most useful straight after the beach, when a casual table, pizza and minimal ceremony are precisely the brief.

Address: 44 Beach Road, corner Atlantic Road, Muizenberg

Typical spend: about R120-R280 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Pizza, burgers, children and casual beach days

Opening hours: 12:00-21:00 daily

Special notes: Family-friendly and casual; well suited to sandy children and an unfussy lunch.

Knead Bakery & Café

A dependable multi-site bakery café with a broad breakfast and lunch menu, from baked goods and toasties to fuller sit-down breakfasts.

Local tip: One of the safest early-morning meeting points for a group because it opens before many of the lunch-led beachfront restaurants.

Address: 82 Beach Road, Surfers Corner

Typical spend: about R100-R250 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Family breakfast, bakery food and a broad, familiar menu

Opening hours: Winter: daily 07:00-17:30; public holidays 07:00-16:30

Special notes: Very family-friendly, beachfront and useful for early starts; bakery counter plus full sit-down menu. Vegetarian, vegan and some gluten-free choices are available.

Bootlegger XS Muizenberg

Coffee, breakfasts, toasties, salads and smoothies in a compact Surfers Corner format. Certified halaal.

Local tip: Most useful before the beach, especially if the early-bird coffee special is running.

Address: Surfers Corner, Beach Road

Typical spend: about R80-R220 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Coffee, breakfast and grab-and-go food

Opening hours: Open daily 07:00-18:00

Special notes: Compact format for coffee and quick meals, with plant milks available. Certified halaal.

KAUAI Muizenberg

A predictable health-focused option for smoothies, bowls, wraps and salads. Halaal.

Local tip: A good reset after several richer restaurant meals, particularly when you need something quick before getting back to the beach.

Address: Surfers Corner, Beach Road

Typical spend: about R90-R220 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Smoothies, bowls and quick, lighter meals

Opening hours: 07:00-19:00

Special notes: Family-friendly, quick and health-focused, with smoothies, bowls and wraps. Strong vegetarian choice; halaal.

vida e caffè at Roxy’s Surf Shop

A coffee concession for pastries, sandwiches and a quick caffeine stop inside the surf shop. Halaal.

Local tip: Use it as a convenience stop rather than a dining destination, and confirm that the concession is trading before relying on it.

Address: Roxy’s Surf Shop, Surfers Corner

Typical spend: usually under R180 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Coffee on the move and a quick snack

Opening hours: 07:00-18:00

Special notes: Quick-stop format with limited seating; vegetarian and some plant-based choices; halaal.

Starbucks Muizenberg

A familiar international coffee option for espresso drinks, Frappuccinos, pastries, sandwiches, Wi-Fi and grab-and-go convenience. This branch is not halaal.

Local tip: Useful for remote work, a known drink and grab-and-go convenience; choose one of the independent cafés when local character is the priority.

Address: Muizenberg Beach, Surfers Corner

Typical spend: about R70-R220 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Wi-Fi, familiar drinks and travellers who know exactly what they want

Opening hours: 06:30-20:00

Special notes: Wi-Fi and grab-and-go convenience; dairy-free drink options and some vegetarian food.

Lucky Fish & Chips Muizenberg

A straightforward seaside option for fish, chips, calamari and takeaway.

Local tip: Treat it as a beach-day takeaway: collect the food, find a view and accept that the seagulls will be interested.

Address: Surfers Corner, Beach Road, Muizenberg

Typical spend: about R100-R250 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: A quick beach lunch and classic fish and chips

Opening hours: 11:00-19:00 daily

Special notes: Family-friendly takeaway and best eaten near the beach.

Ocean Basket Muizenberg

A practical seafood franchise with sushi, platters, fish and chips and a children’s menu.

Local tip: Useful for an early family dinner or a group that wants seafood and sushi without taking a chance on a small menu.

Address: Surfers Corner, Beach Road

Typical spend: about R180-R450+ per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Families, seafood platters and a predictable sit-down meal

Opening hours: Mon-Thu 12:00-20:00; Fri-Sat 11:00-21:00; Sun 11:00-20:00

Special notes: Family-friendly with a children’s menu, sushi and large sharing platters.

Santa Monica Spur

The obvious choice for guests who actively want the Spur formula: breakfasts, burgers, steaks, ribs and a children-focused family meal.

Local tip: Keep this for the meal when young children, broad appetites and a familiar routine matter more than culinary adventure.

Address: Surfers Corner

Typical spend: about R150-R350 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Children, broad appetites and a familiar family restaurant

Opening hours: 09:00-21:00 daily

Special notes: Great for families, children’s menu and the familiar Spur experience.

Free Bird Muizenberg

Crispy free-range chicken burgers, strips, bowls, fries and sides. Halaal certified.

Local tip: A particularly useful beach-day takeaway for strictly halaal diners; seating is limited, so plan to take the food with you at busy times.

Address: Shop 10, Empire Building, Beach Road

Typical spend: about R100-R250 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Certified-halaal chicken and casual takeaway

Opening hours: daily 09:30-22:00

Special notes: Great choice for a meal on the beach.

Tiger’s Milk Muizenberg

A large beachfront restaurant and bar serving breakfasts on weekends, plus burgers, grills, pizza and drinks.

Local tip: Choose an earlier table for families and a later one for drinks, sport and a louder Surfers Corner atmosphere.

Address: Sidmouth Road, Surfers Corner

Typical spend: about R180-R400+ per person with drinks; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Groups, sport, burgers and a lively beachfront meal

Opening hours: Mon-Thu 11:00-23:00; Fri-Sun 08:00-23:00

Special notes: Family-friendly earlier and louder later, with sport, cocktails and late trading. Broad menu with vegetarian choices and some gluten-free options.

Hudsons The Burger Joint

A popular beachfront group restaurant for burgers, pizza, salads, cocktails and specials.

Local tip: Best for a group that wants cocktails and burgers in one place; great place to watch big sports games.

Address: 70 Beach Road, Surfers Corner

Typical spend: about R150-R350+ per person with drinks; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Burgers, cocktails and groups wanting a familiar menu

Opening hours: Published opening time varies between 09:00 and 12:00; closing is generally 23:30

Special notes: Family-friendly earlier; busy, lively and cocktail-focused later. Vegetarian choices and some gluten-free options are available.

Restaurants on Palmer Road in Muizenberg Village

Joon

A neighbourhood Mediterranean café and restaurant that moves from breakfast into dinner and regularly hosts events.

Local tip: Check the event schedule before choosing the night; it can be either a relaxed neighbourhood meal or a much more social evening.

Address: Palmer Road, Muizenberg

Typical spend: about R100-R280 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: A relaxed neighbourhood meal, Mediterranean flavours and events

Opening hours: Tue-Sat 08:00-22:00; Sun 08:00-14:00; Mon closed

Special notes: Family-friendly earlier, with events that can substantially change the atmosphere. Gorgeous outdoor seating to catch the sun.

Dimples Dumpling House

A Muizenberg-born dumpling shop serving bao, wontons, ramen, sushi and cocktails. The broad Asian menu and shareable plates make it particularly good for groups.

Local tip: Good for sharing, so take a few people and order across the menu rather than committing everyone to one large dish.

Address: 33 Palmer Road, Muizenberg

Typical spend: about R120-R300 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Dumplings, shared plates, cocktails and groups

Opening hours: Mon closed; Tue-Sat 09:00-21:00; Sun 12:00-20:00

Special notes: Family-friendly and excellent for sharing; cocktails available. Strong vegetarian choices.

Restaurants on Main Road, Muizenberg

Tortuga Loca

A lively Main Road restaurant for Mexican and Latin American-inspired cooking, tacos, enchiladas, local fish and cocktails. One of the better choices when dinner is meant to feel like a night out.

Local tip: Book for Friday or Saturday evening; a weekday lunch or early dinner gives you the food with a little less noise.

Address: 141 Main Road, Muizenberg

Typical spend: about R180-R450+ per person with drinks

Best for: Date nights, cocktails, groups and celebrations

Opening hours: 12:00-23:00 daily.

Special notes: Cocktail-led and lively at night; booking recommended. The decor inside really has a special vibe.

Vietnamese Street Kitchen

Pho, noodles, rice dishes and spring rolls on Main Road. A useful lunch or dinner choice when the table wants something warming, fresh and far removed from another burger.

Local tip: Keep this one for a cold or windy Cape Town evening, when a bowl of pho makes considerably more sense than another beachfront burger.

Address: 152 Main Road, Muizenberg

Typical spend: about R100-R250 per person; menus and drinks can change the total

Best for: Pho, noodles, quick dinners and vegetarian choice

Opening hours: Mon-Sat 11:00-21:00

Special notes: Family-friendly, with rice, noodle and soup choices across the menu. Vegetarian dishes are available.

The Happy Rooster

An upstairs station restaurant with sea views and a Portuguese and Afro-Portuguese menu of chicken, pregos, trinchado, seafood and pizza.

Local tip: Try for a daylight table if the sea view matters, check the weather!

Address: First floor, Muizenberg Station, 185 Main Road

Typical spend: about R150-R300 per person

Best for: Prego rolls, grilled chicken, sea views and a relaxed family meal

Opening hours: Daily 10:00-21:30

Special notes: Family-friendly, with sea views and a broad grill menu.

Blue Bird Garage Market

Muizenberg’s communal dining room on Thursday and Friday nights. Rotating independent traders cover burgers, falafel, sushi, Ethiopian food, fish and chips, pizza and sweets, so it works beautifully when nobody can agree.

Local tip: Arrive near opening time with children or if you want first choice of seating; later is livelier, louder and better for the music.

Address: 39 Albertyn Road, Muizenberg

Typical spend: about R80-R250 per person

Best for: Families, groups, rainy evenings, live music and trying several things

Opening hours: Thu-Fri 16:00-22:00, rain or shine

Special notes: Covered, dog-friendly and excellent for families, with shared seating and live music. Traders and allergen handling change weekly.

Choose restaurants in Muizenberg by occasion

Some Muizenberg restaurants neatly belong to breakfast, lunch or dinner. Others refuse to be that tidy. Joon can carry you from morning coffee to an evening event, while Dimples is equally plausible for a casual lunch or a lively dinner. These shortlists are therefore organised around the kind of outing you want, rather than forcing every venue into a single mealtime.

Breakfast and brunch in Muizenberg

For a local breakfast, start with Empire Café, Harvest Café, Hans & Lloyd, Hang Ten Café, The Commons or Joon. Knead is the dependable family-friendly bakery option, while Bootlegger XS, KAUAI, vida e caffè and Starbucks cover faster or more familiar mornings at Surfers Corner. Tiger’s Milk also serves breakfast on weekends.

Casual lunch or dinner in Muizenberg

Dimples Dumpling House and Vietnamese Street Kitchen are good all-rounders when lunch might turn into dinner. Joon and The Commons work well when the table wants to linger; Happy Rooster, Lagerchinos and The Striped Horse keep things relaxed; and Lucky Fish, Ocean Basket, Spur, Hudsons, Free Bird and KFC cover easy beachfront or family meals.

Muizenberg dinners worth booking

Carla’s Mozambique Restaurant is tiny and booking is essential. Tortuga Loca is worth reserving for Friday or Saturday night, particularly for groups. A Joon event night can also be worth planning around, while Dimples becomes more of a night out once the cocktails and shared plates begin.

Market nights, live music and atmosphere

Blue Bird Garage Market is an evening option only, trading on Thursday and Friday nights with rotating food vendors, shared tables and live music. The Commons, Joon and The Striped Horse are the local names to watch for events; Tiger’s Milk and Hudsons offer the louder beachfront version; and Dimples can develop a lively dinner-and-drinks mood of its own.

Halaal restaurants in Muizenberg

Free Bird, Bootlegger XS, KAUAI and the vida e caffè concession at Roxy’s are the clearest halaal options in this guide. Free Bird is especially useful for a casual chicken meal, Bootlegger for breakfast and coffee, KAUAI for bowls and smoothies, and vida for a quick caffeine stop. Starbucks Muizenberg is not halaal. Branch certification and suppliers can change, so strictly observant diners should still check the current certificate before ordering; the status of KFC and other individual branches should not be assumed.

Family-friendly restaurants in Muizenberg

Blue Bird Garage Market is hard to beat when a family wants different food from different traders, although it is only open on Thursday and Friday evenings. Spur is the obvious children-first chain; Ocean Basket, Knead, Lagerchinos, Happy Rooster, Free Bird and KFC are straightforward alternatives. Go earlier at The Striped Horse, Tiger’s Milk, Hudsons, The Commons or Joon if you want the family-friendly version before the evening atmosphere takes over.

Vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Muizenberg

Hang Ten Café and The Commons are the clearest plant-forward choices. Harvest Café is strong during the day, while Dimples, Tortuga Loca and Joon can suit mixed groups. Vegan-friendly does not mean a fully vegan kitchen, so ask directly where cross-contact matters.

Frequently asked questions about restaurants in Muizenberg

Does Muizenberg have good restaurants?

Yes. The area has owner-run breakfast cafés, vegetarian food, Mozambican seafood, Mexican-inspired cooking, Vietnamese dishes, dumplings, weekly markets, pub food and familiar beachfront chains. The strongest local choices are spread across York Road, Palmer Road, Main Road and Surfers Corner.

Where can families eat in Muizenberg?

Blue Bird Garage Market is the most flexible local choice because several food traders share one covered space. Lagerchinos and The Happy Rooster are casual local alternatives. Ocean Basket, Spur, Knead and the larger beachfront restaurants are dependable backups.

Which restaurants are close to Muizenberg Beach?

Hang Ten Café, The Commons, Lagerchinos, Free Bird and many of the chain restaurants are on or close to Beach Road and Surfers Corner. York Road, Palmer Road and Main Road are also nearby, although some venues are a longer walk from the sand.

Do I need to book?

Book Carla’s, and reserve Tortuga Loca on busy evenings. The Muizenburger requires pre-ordering. Most cafés and casual beachfront restaurants accept walk-ins, although weekends, school holidays and event nights can be busy.

Staying and Dining in Muizenberg

Staying in Muizenberg means breakfast, the beach and dinner do not have to become three separate driving missions. York Road, Palmer Road, Main Road and Surfers Corner each have their own cluster of places, and choosing according to the weather, the children and your appetite is part of the pleasure.

MUi STAYS properties place guests close to that daily rhythm: coffee before the wind gets up, lunch after the beach and a walk to dinner when the evening is warm. Book direct when you can, particularly over weekends and school holidays, when the best-located accommodation and the smaller restaurant tables are generally the first choices to disappear

How the new Airbnb rates tariff will affect your short-term rental property in Cape Town

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 12:58:15 GMT

In July, our team was invited to the 2026 Short-Term Rental Conference in Cape Town, an operator-only gathering co-hosted by PriceLabs, the dynamic-pricing platform we use to monitor and adjust our pricing daily, and LekkerGuest , a local guest-damage protection platform. Regulation was one of the headline sessions, with the industry body SASTRA walking the room through where South African short-term rental law stands today. The City of Cape Town's amended rates policy for short-term rentals was among the topics that drew the most attention, on stage and in the conversations between sessions.

It is easy to see why. Cape Town has one of the largest short-term rental markets in the world, and underneath all the coverage the owner's question is a simple one: does this change what I owe, and do I need to do anything about it? Now that the policy has been passed, it is worth setting out clearly what has changed and, just as importantly, what has not.

Mui Stays is a short-term rental management company based in Cape Town . For Airbnb owners across the South Peninsula and beyond, we run the full hospitality operation, from pricing, marketing, listings to guest experience, turnovers and keeping up with policy and market changes. If you are weighing up management for your own holiday rental, you can book a consultation with our founder, Daniel to talk it through.

Key Takeaways:

Cape Town approved its updated 2026/27 rates policy for Airbnb and short-term rentals on 29 June 2026.
This is not a new "Airbnb tax." It enforces a rule that already exists: a property run mainly as a short-term letting business is rated commercially, the same as a guesthouse or hotel.
If your Cape Town property is your own home that you let out occasionally, or it is a long-term rental, you stay on residential rates.
Your rates do not change immediately. A short-term rental is only reclassified to commercial rates from 1 July 2027, and only once it is available for short-term letting for more than 50% of its total room nights over a rolling 365-day period, which is the City's threshold.
A separate Short-Term Letting By-law is now open for public comment from 5 August to 5 October 2026. It will require all listed properties to register with the City, display a City registration number, and share availability data from booking platforms. You can read it and comment at capetown.gov.za/haveyoursay .

What changed for Cape Town Airbnb owners in 2026

The City of Cape Town's 2026/27 Rates Policy was approved by Special Council on 29 June 2026, as part of the broader municipal budget process. That's the piece of news that's been circulating on social media and in owner group chats over the past few weeks, and it is the one Cape Town owners have been bringing to us. For context on how the broader market is performing alongside these regulatory changes, our Cape Town Airbnb performance report covers occupancy, rates, and revenue trends across 800+ listings.

It helps to be clear about what this document is. It's a rates policy, which governs how the City categorises and bills municipal property rates. It is not new tax legislation, and it is not the long-awaited Short-Term Letting By-law that the industry has also been anticipating. That by-law, which deals with registration numbers and platform data compliance, is a separate process, and as of August 2026 it is open for public comment , from 5 August to 5 October 2026, per the City's announcement and FAQ.

Owners have understandably grouped these two things together in conversation, since they've been developing on similar timelines and getting reported on together. From our experience managing a large portfolio through changes like this, they are not the same instrument, and they don't take effect the same way.

Commercial vs residential rates for short-term rentals

Under the City's existing Rates Policy, property used primarily for commercial short-term letting falls into the commercial rates category. That principle is not new. According to STBB covering the draft by-law, what the June 2026 amendment does is sharpen the definition of commercial use and give the City a clearer way to identify which properties it applies to.

The line the City draws is about genuine primary use. If a property is truly your own home and you let a room or the whole place out now and then, you stay on residential rates. In the City's terms, commercial rates apply where a property is available for short-term letting for more than 50% of its total room nights over a year. Below that level, including part-letting your own home for part of the year, or a long-term rental that is a tenant's primary home, it stays residential. Once it is working as a dedicated short-term let, earning the way a guesthouse or small hotel does, it sits in commercial territory, and the City's view is that it should be rated accordingly. For most Airbnb owners, it is a real business run for real returns, and the sensible aim is to run it well, not to hold it back to stay in a lower rates bracket. This matches what we see across our own portfolio, where dedicated short-term lets in Muizenberg and the wider South Peninsula are run as serious letting businesses rather than occasional side income.

One question owners raise is whether a commercial rates category changes your legal standing as a landlord, moving you from residential to commercial protections. It does not. Rates categorisation sets the tariff you pay the City, and nothing more. It does not change which laws govern your lettings. The Rental Housing Act, which covers landlord and tenant protections in long-term residential leases, applies according to the nature of the letting rather than your rates tariff, and short-term stays generally sit outside it in any case. A change to your rates category is a billing change, not a change to your protections.

So what does that billing change cost? Two things: commercial properties pay a higher rate-in-the-rand, roughly 2.35 times the residential rate, and they lose the residential rebate that makes the first R620,000 of a home's value rates-free. Here is roughly how that plays out per month:

These are indicative estimates based on the City's 2026/27 tariffs, rounded and excluding other municipal charges. The residential rebate applies only to homes valued up to R8 million, which is why the R10 million row carries higher residential rates. Treat them as a guide and confirm your own figure on your municipal account.

How do I check the rates on a property?

Start with the City's municipal valuation, which you can look up on the City's valuation portal . For residential rates, the rough monthly sum is (municipal value minus the R620,000 rebate) times the residential rate-in-the-rand, divided by twelve. If the property will run as a dedicated short-term let, use the commercial rate instead, which is roughly 2.35 times higher and gets no rebate. The table above gives ballpark figures for common price points, so a R10 million purchase, for example, lands near R5,840 a month on residential rates versus about R13,730 as commercial.

The "Airbnb tax" is an existing rule, not a new charge

A phrase that keeps coming up is "Airbnb tax." That framing is not quite accurate, and the distinction matters, because it changes how you think about your own position instead of reacting to a headline.

The City is not introducing a levy specific to Airbnb or other short-term rentals. What exists is a general principle in the Rates Policy that commercial property use attracts commercial rates, and it has applied to guesthouses, B&Bs and hotels for as long as the policy has existed. The amendment tightens how that existing rule is applied rather than adding a new charge.

For an owner, the difference between "new tax" and "enforcement of an existing rule" is a practical one. It decides whether you are dealing with a question about how your property is currently classified, or a brand-new cost that did not exist before. Knowing which of the two you're facing is what lets you respond to the real situation, not the headline.

How the rates change affects your Airbnb income tax

Municipal rates and income tax are separate systems, run by separate authorities, and this policy only touches one of them.

Rates are a municipal charge, billed by the City of Cape Town based on your property's valuation and use category. Income tax on rental earnings is a SARS matter, governed by national tax law, and it applies to short-term rental income regardless of what category your property sits in for rates purposes. If you're earning rental income from a short-term let, that income has always been declarable to SARS, independent of anything the City decides about your rates category.

This is a conversation for your accountant, particularly if your portfolio includes multiple properties or a mix of long and short-term lets. What we can say with confidence, from years of managing these properties day to day, is that a change in your rates category doesn't retroactively change your tax obligations, because those obligations were never tied to your rates classification in the first place.

When the new short-term rental rates take effect

This is probably the most important practical point for owners, and it is the one getting the least airtime in the coverage so far.

The reclassification of a specific property's rates category does not take effect immediately. According to the City's own published FAQ on short-term letting , updates to ratings categorisation only take effect from 1 July 2027, applied through the supplementary valuations process. That process is triggered when a property exceeds a defined usage threshold within a rolling 365-day period, at which point the change becomes effective from the date the change of use is identified.

In plain terms, there is no bill landing in owners' mailboxes this month. There is a policy on the books, a mechanism that will start being applied over the next year, and a further by-law still to come that will add registration and data-sharing requirements. Owners have time to understand their position and, if needed, take advice, at a comfortable pace. Changes like this are what we track for the owners in our portfolio, so a policy update becomes something we flag and handle, not something you have to chase. It sits alongside the everyday work we take off owners' hands and it is a big part of why owners partner with us.

What the rates change means for Airbnb demand and supply

Cape Town's Airbnb and short-term rental market is large by international standards, with tens of thousands of active listings concentrated heavily on Airbnb, and tourism to the city has continued to grow. Compliance costs, whether from rates reclassification or the coming by-law's registration requirements, tend to fall hardest on smaller or more marginal operators rather than established, well-run portfolios.

A maturing market has a clear upside. As under-compliant and poorly run operators drop away, supply tightens and the quality of what remains improves, which lifts the guest experience and strengthens Cape Town's standing as a destination. The City also collects more, and spent well, that funds the services and infrastructure tourism relies on. The barrier to entry rises, and the overall product gets better.

There's a downside too. The costs of adjusting land first on owners, and over time a portion of them tends to reach guests through higher nightly rates. Pushed too far, that can chip at the city's competitiveness against other destinations, and shifting tourism spend into municipal coffers only pays off for the wider economy if the City deploys it wisely.

On balance, this is likely to gradually formalise the market, pushing out operators who were never properly compliant instead of meaningfully shrinking supply among those who treat this as a real business. The owners who come out ahead are the ones who stay compliant and well managed as the market matures around them, which is exactly the position we work to keep our owners in. For owners wanting to understand what "well managed" looks like in practice, our guides to running an Airbnb in Cape Town and optimising your listing cover the operational and guest experience side in detail.

Will the new rates devalue my property or dent Cape Town prices?

A higher rates bill and the loss of the residential rebate do change the numbers on a dedicated short-term let: holding costs rise, which trims net returns. That is real, and it bites hardest on properties already run on thin margins. But Cape Town is still one of the most sought-after property markets anywhere, and demand of that strength does not unwind over a rates adjustment. The likelier effect is a brief flattening of price growth, not a fall, and for a well-run, professionally managed property the extra cost is a line item, not a threat to its value.

What Cape Town short-term rental owners should do now

For most owners, the sensible steps this year are straightforward:

Work out whether your property would be considered primarily commercial or primarily residential under the City's definition.
Keep an eye on the Short-Term Letting By-law as it moves through public consultation later in 2026, since that is the piece that introduces registration numbers and platform data sharing.
Check with your accountant that your income tax position is in order regardless of what happens with rates, since that obligation has not changed.
If you are still deciding whether professional management makes sense for your property, our breakdown of what the performance data actually shows may help frame the decision. The income gap between managed and self-managed properties is one of the clearest findings in the 2026 data.
Take headline framing like "new Airbnb tax" with a pinch of salt, since it overstates what has actually happened so far.

Or hand the management of it over. Our free property consultation shows you exactly where your listing is leaving money on the table and what it could be doing with us behind it, no strings attached. Book your free property consultation with our founder, Daniel .

Either way, the shift is manageable and the timeline is long, so the real advantage goes to owners who stay informed and well run.

Frequently asked questions about Cape Town Airbnb rates

Is there a new Airbnb tax in Cape Town?

No. The City of Cape Town has not introduced a new tax specific to Airbnb or short-term rentals. The 2026/27 rates policy tightens how an existing rule is applied: properties used primarily for short-term letting (available for more than 50% of room nights over a rolling 365-day period) are classified under commercial rates, the same category that has always applied to guesthouses and hotels.

When do the new Cape Town short-term rental rates take effect?

The reclassification to commercial rates does not take effect immediately. According to the City's published FAQ, changes to ratings categorisation take effect from 1 July 2027 through the supplementary valuations process. Separately, the Short-Term Letting By-law is open for public comment from 5 August to 5 October 2026.

How much more will I pay in rates if my Airbnb is reclassified as commercial?

The difference depends on your property's municipal valuation. As a rough guide: a R2 million property moves from approximately R810 to R2,750 per month; a R5 million property from approximately R2,560 to R6,860 per month. Commercial properties pay a higher rate-in-the-rand (roughly 2.35 times residential) and lose the residential rebate on the first R620,000 of value.

Does a commercial rates classification change my legal protections as a landlord?

No. Rates categorisation determines the tariff you pay the City and nothing more. It does not change which laws govern your lettings. The Rental Housing Act, landlord protections, and tenant protections are determined by the nature of the letting, not your rates category.

Best Coffee Shops in Muizenberg – Local Guide (2026)

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 07:56:26 GMT

Updated July 2026: Muizenberg's café scene is constantly evolving. We've revisited every coffee shop, refreshed our photos and updated our recommendations to help you find the best coffee in Muizenberg today.

Why Muizenberg has some of Cape Town's best independent coffee shops

When you think of Muizenberg, the iconic beach, the colourful beach huts and the laid-back surfer vibe likely come to mind. But tucked away in this coastal gem, a different kind of magic is brewing - one that has nothing to do with waves and everything to do with community.

Venture just a few blocks from the sand and you'll discover a collection of local coffee spots that are redefining the café experience in Muizenberg. These aren't your average grab-and-go joints; they're neighbourhood hubs where baristas remember your name, local regulars feel like family, and your morning cup of joe comes with a healthy serving of belonging.

Whether you're looking for a quick coffee before surfing , somewhere to enjoy breakfast with friends, or a café to work remotely for the morning, these are the coffee shops our team recommends most. Every café in this guide has been personally visited by the MUi STAYS team and updated for 2026 with new recommendations and photography.

Best coffee shops in Muizenberg at a glance

1. Joon – Great Coffee in the Heart of Muizenberg Village

Location: 40 Palmer Road, Muizenberg

Tucked away in the heart of Muizenberg Village, Joon is much more than a coffee shop. Run by mother-and-daughter duo June and Lindsay Homan, it's one of those rare places where excellent coffee, homemade food and genuine hospitality come together to create a café you'll want to return to again and again. The restaurant has become a favourite with both locals and visitors thanks to its relaxed atmosphere, community events and all-day menu.

Located on Palmer Road in Muizenberg Village, Joon describes itself as "your home away from home" and offers both sit-down dining and takeaway, making it just as suited to a relaxed breakfast as a quick coffee while exploring the village.

Why You'll Love It:

Locally roasted coffee made using Coffee Guy Roasters beans.
One of the friendliest cafés in Muizenberg, where regulars are greeted by name.
Dog-friendly, with a welcoming atmosphere for families, beachgoers and four-legged visitors alike.
Homemade breakfasts, lunches and baked treats prepared with care.
An eclectic and vibey playlist, you'll be Shazam-ing for sure!
Regular live music, quiz nights and community events that make every visit a little different.
Located on Palmer Road, the heart of Muizenberg Village.

What to Order:

Their signature flat white (at times crafted with June & Lindsay's personal touch)
Freshly baked muffins and homemade shortbread.
One of Joon's generous breakfast options before a morning at Muizenberg Beach.
Their famous thin and crispy Italian-style pizzas if you're visiting later in the day.

Good to Know:

Open Tuesday-Saturday: 8:00am-10:00pm. Sunday: 8:00am-2:00pm. Closed Mondays.
If you're visiting on the first Thursday of the month , Palmer Road comes alive with live music, local artists, food and late-night trading as the businesses throughout Muizenberg Village join together for the monthly First Thursdays event. Joon is one of the best places to experience the atmosphere.

If you're looking for a more relaxed alternative to the busy beachfront cafés, Joon is our pick. Its location in Muizenberg Village gives it a slower, more chilled feel, while the combination of excellent coffee, homemade food and genuine hospitality makes it somewhere you'll want to return to. Whether you're starting your morning, catching up with friends or exploring the village during First Thursdays, Joon is one of Muizenberg's standout local cafés.

2. Empire Café – Homemade Pastries, Great Coffee & Local Community Vibes

Location: 11 York Road, Muizenberg

Just a short walk from Muizenberg Beach, Empire Café has earned a reputation as one of the area's favourite coffee shops. Known for its excellent coffee, homemade pastries and great sea view, it's the kind of place where a quick coffee often turns into a long catch-up with friends. Whether you're fuelling up before a surf or looking for a relaxed breakfast or lunch, Empire combines consistently good food with genuine local hospitality.

Why You'll Love It:

Excellent coffee made in partnership with Conversations Coffee.
A warm, welcoming atmosphere where locals and visitors quickly feel at home.
Freshly baked pastries and cakes made in-house.
Lots of tables and bar counter seats for remote working.
Comfortable indoor seating with front row sea views, to keep an eye on the swell.
A playlist that Millennials will love featuring all the classics from the 2000s.

Must-Try:

Their signature dark roast coffee
The delightful house-made cheesecakes (especially the lemon meringue)
The famous Pasties de Nata and the must-try home-made Banana Bar
Any and all of their breakfasts, truly a delight

Good to Know:

Experience the real-life version of Cheers (minus the beer, plus excellent coffee)
Open Monday to Saturday: 7:00am – 4:00pm, Sunday: 8:00am – 4:00pm
Ideal for breakfast, brunch or a relaxed lunch.
Just a short walk from Muizenberg Beach and Surfers Corner.
Indoor and outdoor seating to suit a visit in any weather.
Fresh cakes and pastries are baked regularly, so arriving earlier in the day gives you the best selection.

Empire Café perfectly captures what makes Muizenberg's independent coffee scene so special. Great coffee is only part of the experience – it's the warm conversations, homemade baking and genuine sense of community that keep people coming back. If you're visiting Muizenberg and only have time to try one or two local cafés, Empire Café should be high on your list.

3. Harvest Café – Fresh, Healthy Food & Sunny Morning Coffee

Location: 4 York Road, Muizenberg

Harvest Café has become a favourite among locals looking for fresh, wholesome food without compromising on flavour. Located on York Road in Muizenberg Village, it's one of the few cafés that enjoys beautiful morning sunshine, making the outdoor pavement seating one of the best spots in town to start your day with a coffee and breakfast.

Inside, the café is warm and inviting, with natural décor that perfectly complements its focus on fresh, nourishing food. Whether you're after a smoothie bowl, a hearty breakfast, great coffee or a healthy lunch, Harvest has built a reputation for serving food that's every bit as delicious as it is wholesome.

Why You'll Love It:

Excellent locally roasted coffee served in a relaxed, welcoming space.
One of Muizenberg's best cafés for healthy breakfasts and lunches.
Extensive vegan and vegetarian options, while still catering for meat eaters.
Beautiful natural interior and sunny outdoor seating in the mornings.
A relaxed atmosphere that's equally suited to catching up with friends or settling in with your laptop.

Must-Try:

One of their colourful smoothie bowls.
Fresh seasonal breakfasts made with quality ingredients.
Homemade vegan treats.
A locally roasted coffee enjoyed in the morning sun.

Good to know:

Open 7:00am – 4:00pm , 7 days a week .
Plenty of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-conscious options.
Meat eaters are equally well catered for.
Laptop-friendly, making it a popular spot for remote workers.
Outdoor seating enjoys some of the best morning sunshine in Muizenberg.

Harvest Café is proof that healthy food doesn't have to be boring. It's one of those places where locals linger over breakfast, remote workers settle in for the morning and visitors discover that wholesome food can be both beautifully presented and genuinely satisfying. If you're looking for fresh, healthy meals, great coffee and one of the sunniest café spots in Muizenberg, Harvest Cafe is a standout choice.

4. Hang Ten Café – Beachfront Coffee, Fresh Juices & Surfer Vibes

Location: 62 Beach Road, Muizenberg

Just metres from Surfer's Corner, Hang Ten Café is located right on the main beachfront strip, making it a favourite stop before or after a surf. With large window seats overlooking the sea, a relaxed surf culture atmosphere and music that often leans towards laid-back house and tribal beats, it's the kind of place where one coffee easily turns into a slow morning.

While Hang Ten is well known for its excellent coffee, it's equally popular for its fresh juices, healthy menu and famous savoury crêpes. Beyond the café itself, you'll also find a curated selection of vegan treats, health products, natural skincare, clothing and beach essentials that perfectly reflect the Muizenberg lifestyle.

Why You'll Love It:

Delicious Coffee from locally roasted Deluxe Works.
One of the closest cafés to Muizenberg Beach and Surfers Corner.
Large window bar seating with views towards the beach and ocean.
Relaxed surfer atmosphere with a soundtrack of chilled house, tribal and electronic music.
Excellent selection of vegan and vegetarian meals, while still catering for everyone.
Dog-friendly and laptop-friendly, making it popular with both locals and remote workers.

Must-Try:

Their Vietnamese Coffee is absolutely delicious and only found here.
The famous savoury crêpes.
T he Green Mamba freshly pressed juice – one of our personal favourites for a kick of health.
A quality flat white or cappuccino before your beach walk.
Homemade vegan cakes and sweet treats from the deli fridge.
One of their fresh smoothies if you're after something healthy.

Good to know:

Open daily 6:30am – 6:00pm - great for the early early birds
Dog friendly. Peaches the top dog at Hang Ten gets along with all visiting canines.
Art from local creators that tells community stories.
Free Wi-Fi and a popular spot for remote workers.
Regular Open Mic evenings bring together local musicians and the Muizenberg community.

Hang Ten Cafe perfectly captures the relaxed spirit of Muizenberg. Whether you're watching surfers from the window with a great coffee, settling in to work for the morning or browsing the small collection of lifestyle products, it feels like much more than just another café. If you want to experience Muizenberg's surf culture while enjoying one of the best beachfront coffee spots in town, Hang Ten is an easy recommendation.

5. Hans & Lloyd Coffee Co. – Beachfront Coffee, Fresh Bakes & All-Day Comfort

Location: 13 York Road, Muizenberg

Perfectly positioned between Muizenberg Village and Surfers Corner, Hans & Lloyd Coffee Co . has become one of the area's most popular cafés for everything from a quick morning coffee to a full day's remote work. With beautiful sea-facing seating, a spacious interior and a cosy fireplace for colder winter days, it's the kind of café that feels welcoming all year round.

Known for consistently excellent coffee, freshly prepared food and good value, Hans & Lloyd offers an experience that feels premium without the premium price tag. Whether you're grabbing breakfast before the beach, meeting friends for lunch or opening your laptop for a productive morning, it's easy to see why so many locals return again and again.

Why You'll Love It:

Excellent coffee made from their signature house blend.
Spacious indoor seating with sea views and a cosy fireplace during winter.
Vibes that feel more like "everyone's living room" than "pretentious café".
One of Muizenberg's best cafés for remote working.
Fresh sandwiches, wraps, salads and baked goods prepared daily for a quick bite to-go.
Dog-friendly, with plenty of comfortable seating inside and outside.
Great value for money without compromising on quality.

Must-Try:

A double-shot flat white that will upgrade your coffee standards
A delicious hearty cooked breakfast or smoothie.
Their famous blueberry cheesecake.
Fresh salads and wraps that make healthy eating actually exciting.

Good to know:

Open 7:00am – 4:00pm, 7 days a week.
Free Wi-Fi and plenty of seating make it ideal for remote workers.
Indoor fireplace creates a cosy atmosphere during Cape Town's cooler months.
Sea-facing tables offer a relaxed spot to enjoy your coffee after a beach walk.
Dog friendly.

Hans & Lloyd strikes a great balance between quality, comfort, convenience and value. Whether you're settling in with your laptop for the morning, catching up with friends over coffee or enjoying breakfast before exploring Muizenberg, it's a café that does everything well. The combination of consistently good coffee, generous fresh food, comfortable seating and one of the best locations in Muizenberg makes it an obvious recommendation for both visitors and locals alike.

More Than Great Coffee: Explore Muizenberg One Cup at a Time

One of the best ways to experience Muizenberg isn't just from the beach – it's by slowing down long enough to enjoy its cafés. Each has its own personality, from the village atmosphere at Joon and the homemade baking at Empire Café, to Harvest's wholesome menu, Hang Ten's surf culture and beachfront views, and Hans & Lloyd's spacious setting that's perfect for lingering over a great cup of coffee.

At MUi STAYS, we believe that some of the best travel experiences come from supporting the places locals genuinely love. Every café featured in this guide has been personally visited by our team, and each one has earned its place for a different reason.

While you'll find plenty of well-known coffee chains across Cape Town, Muizenberg's independent cafés offer something that's becoming increasingly rare: owners who know their regulars, food that's made with care, and spaces that reflect the character of the neighbourhood itself.

If you're staying with MUi STAYS , every café on this list is within easy reach, whether you're grabbing a coffee before an early surf, enjoying a slow breakfast, or settling in with your laptop for the morning. We encourage our guests to explore them all—because no two are quite the same, and that's exactly what makes Muizenberg's coffee scene so special.

What Nobody Tells You About Running an Airbnb in Cape Town

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:36:42 GMT

Running an Airbnb in Cape Town has changed dramatically over the past decade. While it can appear relatively straightforward from the outside, the operational reality behind a high-performing short-term rental is far more sophisticated than many owners initially expect.

Scroll through a handful of Airbnb listings in Cape Town and it’s easy to see the appeal of considering listing your spare room. A few well-lit photographs, a calendar that fills up through summer, a string of five-star reviews thanking the host for a lovely stay. It looks like a business that mostly runs itself: list the property, let the bookings come in, show up occasionally to make sure everything is in order. Plenty of owners go into hosting believing exactly that, and for the first booking or two, it can even feel true.

What nobody tells you is what sits underneath that calendar. Behind every "lovely stay" review is a price that someone adjusted that week because the market moved, a cleaning team who turned the property around in a two-hour gap between a late checkout and check-in, a maintenance call made before the guest ever noticed anything was wrong, and a dozen smaller decisions that never make it into a review because they simply just worked. The guest experiences none of this. They experience a property that feels effortless, which is precisely the point: the more invisible the work, the better the stay.

This is also where the gap between expectation and reality tends to open up for those newly invested in the Airbnb platform. A guest checking into a flat in Muizenberg this month has, more likely than not, already stayed in Lisbon this year, and in Bali before that, and in a converted warehouse two suburbs over in Cape Town before that. Each of those stays reset, in some small way, what "good" is supposed to feel like. Running an Airbnb well today has far less in common with renting out a spare room than it does with operating a small hospitality business, where every guest arrives carrying expectations set somewhere else entirely, and every stay adds to, or chips away at, a reputation that takes years to build and one bad week to dent.

Key Takeaways:

Running a successful Airbnb involves far more than guest communication and housekeeping coordination.
Many of the factors that influence reviews, occupancy, and revenue are largely invisible to guests.
Modern Airbnb management increasingly relies on systems, data, operational oversight, and continuous refinement.
Professional management provides owners with access to market intelligence, pricing expertise, and operational support that can be difficult to replicate independently.
The strongest-performing properties are often supported by dozens of small decisions working together consistently over time.

What new Airbnb owners need to know

Ask a host a year into it what actually surprised them, and the answer is rarely a guest story. It is almost always the sheer number of small, recurring decisions a property demands of its owner, week after week, long after the novelty of that first booking has worn off. A few realities that tend to land hardest:

The rate you set on day one is wrong within a few weeks, and you won't know it. Muizenberg's market currently moves on a 14-day median booking window*, which means demand for a given night is mostly visible only two weeks out. An owner who checks pricing monthly is, in effect, setting prices blind for three weeks out of every four. They don't see the gap because there's nothing to compare it to: a slow week just looks like a slow week, not like a week where the rate was too high. Our Cape Town Airbnb performance data shows how this pricing gap translates into roughly R40,000 in lost revenue per property over a single peak season.

Visibility costs money, and most owners aren't spending it . A listing doesn't rank well on Airbnb or Booking.com by accident. It takes professional photography, a listing description optimised for search, and active management of how the property shows up across multiple platforms at once, work that's ongoing, not a once-off setup task. Individual owners rarely have the budget, time or understanding to do this properly, which means two identical properties can get very different amounts of search visibility for reasons that have nothing to do with the property itself.

Guests don't compare you to the place down the road. They compare you to the best Airbnb they've ever stayed in, anywhere. A guest arriving in Muizenberg has probably stayed somewhere in Vietnam or Portugal in the last year or two. That's the bar, not "nice for this part of Cape Town." Reviews read harshly when a stay falls short of a standard the owner never knew they were being measured against.

What gets complained about isn't what owners spend money on. Owners tend to invest in the things that show up in photos: furniture, finishes, the view. Across the Muizenberg market, the features guests actually ask for most and find missing most often are cheap and unglamorous: working essentials, a hairdryer that's actually there, a straightforward way to drop bags off before check-in. A R200 hairdryer fixes more reviews than a new headboard.

Going from half-full to nearly-full doesn't mean twice the work. It can mean three or four times the work, because the gaps disappear. At 35% occupancy, there's usually a day or two between guests to fix anything that went wrong, restock, or recover from a late checkout. At 69%, roughly the Muizenberg average, those gaps shrink to almost nothing. Every turnover has less slack, so problems that used to get absorbed quietly between bookings now show up in the next guest's stay instead.

None of this is complicated to address individually. A price adjustment takes minutes. Answering an enquiry takes less. What makes hosting genuinely demanding is the requirement that dozens of these small, manageable tasks happen correctly, continuously, often at the same time, across a calendar that never stops moving.

It's also, in fairness, where the opportunity lives. The properties that consistently outperform their neighbours are rarely coasting on one standout feature. More often, they're the sum of hundreds of ordinary decisions made well and repeated without fail, until the accumulation becomes its own advantage. Seen this way, a holiday home stops looking like a fixed asset that occasionally hosts a guest, and starts looking like something closer to a living business, one that has to keep adjusting to stay ahead of a market, and a set of guest expectations that are constantly evolving.

* Source: PriceLabs Muizenberg whole-market data, June 2026.

Why Your Airbnb Needs Continuous Management

Two properties can sit on the same street, offer near-identical amenities, attract a similar type of guest, and still produce wildly different results over a year: one consistently booked, well reviewed, commanding a premium rate; the other limping along at the same price with half the occupancy. From the outside, this is genuinely puzzling. The answer rarely lies in anything visible.

Most owners, understandably, pour their attention into what can be seen: the furniture, the photography, the view, the finish. These choices matter, and dismissing them would be a mistake. But they're also the easiest part of the equation to get right, and the part where competitors are easiest to match. What separates the properties that pull ahead is almost always what happens after the listing goes live and nobody's watching: how often pricing actually gets revisited rather than left to drift, how quickly a guest message gets a reply, whether feedback from last month's stay became this month's small upgrade, whether a maintenance issue was caught before a guest had to mention it.

These differences are individually minor and collectively enormous. Properties under professional management tend to widen this gap the longer they operate, not because of where they sit or what they look like, but because someone is paying continuous attention to the parts of the business that are easy to neglect and hard to notice from a single stay.

Worth keeping in mind here: Muizenberg's market is still overwhelmingly made up of small-scale and individually run listings rather than large managed portfolios. Which means an owner benchmarking themselves against "the market" is, more often than not, really benchmarking against other independent hosts facing the exact same complexity alone, not against some professionalised standard that has already solved it.

The blind spot every individual Airbnb owner shares

An owner with one property sees one set of bookings, one occupancy rate, one set of reviews. That's the entire picture available to them. A management company running 50 properties across Cape Town sees 50 versions of that picture at once, which means they can spot things a single owner structurally cannot: that bookings for a specific weekend are coming in slower than usual across the whole area, that a particular amenity is suddenly showing up in more guest enquiries, that a competitor two streets over just dropped their rate and is about to take your booking.

That same scale applies to marketing. A single owner can list a property and hope it gets found. A management company is actively promoting an entire portfolio at once, professional photography, listing copy built around what guests actually search for, a consistent presence across platforms, and a brand that guests start to recognise and trust across multiple properties. That's not something an individual owner can reasonably fund or maintain alone, and it shows up directly in how often a listing gets seen before a guest even reaches the price.

This means an individual owner's picture of the market is narrow: their bookings, their reviews, their occupancy; all viewed in isolation. A professional operator's picture is built from dozens of these vantage points at once, tracking how demand shifts by season, how guest expectations move year over year, how comparable properties perform across different pockets of the same neighbourhood. Patterns nearly invisible from inside a single listing become obvious the moment you can see fifty of them side by side.

Pricing makes the point well. Plenty of owners still treat it as something close to guesswork dressed up in a spreadsheet: a base rate, a glance at what the place down the road is charging, a seasonal bump for December. The market itself has moved well past that. Right now in winter, the Muizenberg market is running an average daily rate near R1300 against 69% occupancy*. Put together, that works out to roughly R893 in average nightly revenue per available night, a number that matters more than the headline rate, because a high rate with low occupancy can earn less than a moderate rate that's consistently booked. These figures shift by the week as new bookings land and the booking window stretches or contracts.

Pricing intelligence has become less of a nice-to-have and more of a baseline expectation, mostly because the market it's trying to track refuses to stay in one place for long.

* Source: PriceLabs Muizenberg whole-market data, June 2026.

Why Cape Town's Airbnb Market Continues to Grow

Behind all of this sits a genuinely good news story.

One of the strongest signals emerging from current market data is that tourism demand continues building across South Africa and Cape Town.

The country recently recorded its strongest tourism performance since the pandemic, welcoming more than 10.5 million international visitors during 2025, a 17.6% increase on the year before and a national record*. Current arrival trends suggest international visitor numbers could comfortably exceed 11.5 million during 2026; a trajectory like that doesn't simply add up to more visitors. It changes the calculation for what a well-run property in a desirable location can realistically expect to earn. For owners already in the market, understanding how guest expectations have shifted is becoming just as important as the demand figures themselves.

Muizenberg in particular sits well inside this tailwind, helped along by growing international name-recognition, a steady rise in longer-stay travellers, and real investment landing in the area's infrastructure and public spaces. The planned redevelopment of the Muizenberg beachfront will only sharpen this further, with the major beachfront promenade works set for completion in December 2026.

The question worth asking has shifted, in other words. It's no longer whether demand exists, because it plainly does and shows little sign of slowing. It's whether a given property is actually positioned to take advantage of it, and this is where professional management earns its place, not as a convenience or an excess, but as the key factor standing between a potentially successful property and the demand sitting right in front of it. An owner working with a management team isn't paying for someone to answer messages. They're buying access to market intelligence, pricing judgment, and a level of attention that a property competing for travellers with dozens of other stays under their belt now effectively requires.

* Source: South African Department of Tourism, January 2026.

Why more owners are treating Airbnb as a long term investment rather than a side hustle

The way owners talk about their properties has changed noticeably over the past few years. It was once common, and perfectly reasonable, to treat a holiday home as something that earned a bit extra over the busy months, propped up informally by a family member who could let guests in when needed, with little structure beyond that. Owners also face a changing regulatory landscape. Our breakdown of Cape Town's 2026 rates policy explains the commercial reclassification, what it costs, and the timeline for when it takes effect.

That arrangement has aged poorly as expectations have risen and the upside has become harder to ignore. More owners now treat their listing the way they'd treat any other asset worth protecting: watching guest experience closely, refining pricing rather than setting it and forgetting it, paying attention to presentation and upkeep with an eye to long-term value rather than this season's booking calendar alone.

Underneath that shift is a fairly simple realisation: nothing about strong performance comes from one good decision. It comes from many ordinary ones, repeated without fail, for long enough that they start to compound. Pricing tracks demand instead of lagging behind it. Feedback gets acted on instead of filed away. The property keeps pace with what visitors expect instead of catching up to it months later. Occasional attention can't replicate this. Structure can, which is exactly the gap professional management tends to fill.

The Value of Professional Airbnb Management

Revenue tends to dominate the conversation around Airbnb performance, and understandably so. But talk to owners who've worked with a management team for a while, and what they often mention first isn't the numbers. It's the absence of worry, the sense of a problem no longer being theirs to carry alone.

A property in active use throws off a steady stream of small demands: a guest arriving at an odd hour, a booking that needs a quick reply, a maintenance issue that can't wait, a price that needs revisiting before the weekend. Each of these is manageable on its own. What erodes an owner's time and patience is the requirement that all of them happen reliably, often at once, without the standard slipping. That's a different kind of difficulty altogether, less about any single task and more about sustaining attention across all of them simultaneously.

Handing that over to a team that does it full-time changes the shape of ownership considerably. There's a particular kind of relief in knowing a guest message will be answered properly without you having to draft it from an airport lounge, in trusting that pricing is being watched even when you're not looking at it yourself, in knowing a small maintenance issue gets caught before it becomes the subject of a review. What that buys back, more than anything, is time: the ability to hold a property at arm's length without it losing momentum, fully active and well represented, while someone else carries the operational weight that performance actually depends on.

Why Peace of Mind Is the Greatest Return

The properties that do well over time are rarely explained by the listing alone. What lies underneath that performance are the systems, the strategy, and the continuous corrections made along the way, long before anyone ever clicked through to book.

This, in the end, is what professional management actually solves, and it isn't only convenience. It's a structural advantage built from experience, market visibility, and the discipline to keep doing the unglamorous work consistently, season after season. As Cape Town's market keeps shifting, the owners who come out ahead tend to be the ones who accepted early that good performance was never going to happen by accident. It gets built, deliberately, one decision at a time.

At Mui Stays, that's what we deliver: real peace of mind to you. Your property earns what it should because it's being professionally managed the way your investment deserves.

If you're serious about getting the most out of your property, we invite you to join the top 5% of properties in Cape Town .

Get your free property consultation and find out what your property could be earning with the right team behind it. Anyone can list a property. Partnering with Mui Stays is what makes it perform.

Surfing in Cape Town: Why Muizenberg Is In a League of Its Own

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 10:04:35 GMT

The complete guide to surfing in Muizenberg

False Bay catches the sun first, long before it reaches the rest of the city, and for a few minutes every morning Muizenberg looks like it is on fire. The water turns copper, then gold, then the pale blue that holds for the rest of the day, and somewhere in that short window the first surfers are already paddling out, cutting black lines across all that colour like they have somewhere urgent to be. By the time the morning light settles in, the beach is in full motion: boards everywhere, groups chatting in queues for coffee , someone's laugh carrying further than it should across the water. Between sessions, the dining scene runs from R80 market plates to Mozambican seafood and Mexican-inspired dinners. Our Muizenberg restaurant guide covers the full spread by budget, occasion and dietary need. This is a town that has spent over a hundred years organising itself entirely around this one daily event, and after six years of living here, I still find it spectacular every time I see it.

One thing I have noticed, again and again, is a particular pattern among the surfers who come here. Someone arrives for a short surf trip, and somehow finds a reason to stay on, an extra week, then another, sometimes far beyond what they originally booked. It happens often enough at Muizenberg that it barely raises an eyebrow anymore, just another traveller who came to surf and could not quite bring themselves to leave. From the outside it always struck me as a strange kind of loyalty for a sport that, on paper, you can do almost anywhere there is a coastline and a board. It took watching this happen over and over, more than anything else, to make me actually go looking for what makes this particular stretch of False Bay different.

Key Takeaways:

Muizenberg, on the False Bay coast of Cape Town's South Peninsula, is one of the world's most accessible and rewarding places to learn to surf. Its unique sandbank geography creates multiple wave breaks spread across kilometres of coastline, producing long, forgiving rides that reform multiple times before reaching shore. Cape Town's two-coastline geography means surfable conditions exist somewhere on the peninsula almost every day of the year, and a surf culture that is genuinely welcoming to beginners makes Muizenberg something very few surf destinations anywhere in the world can match. Winter is the best season for beginners. No equipment is needed. Accommodation ranges from Muizenberg beachfront guesthouses to self-catering properties throughout the South Peninsula, browse MUi STAYS for the perfect trip.

In this Guide:

Muizenberg surf conditions at a glance

Best months for beginners: May to September (winter), when north-westerly winds blow offshore over False Bay and produce the cleanest, most consistent swell
Water temperature: 14 to 16°C in winter (June to August), 18 to 22°C in summer (December to February)
Wetsuit: a 4/3mm fullsuit for winter sessions, a 3/2mm fullsuit for summer. Most surf schools include wetsuit hire in the lesson price
Wave height for beginners: 0.3 to 1 metre (1 to 3 feet). The whitewater reform zone is rideable at almost any swell size
Best tide: low to mid tide, when the sandbanks are at their shallowest and the wave peels most slowly
Board: soft-top longboard (8 to 9 feet). Every surf school and rental shop on the beachfront carries them
No equipment needed: all surf schools provide boards, wetsuits and instruction

Why Cape Town is a genuinely world-class surf destination

Stretch a map of the Cape Peninsula out flat and something immediately stands out. The land narrows to a long, thin finger pointing south, flanked on each side by completely different bodies of water. To the east, False Bay opens wide and shallow, its north-facing shoreline taking in Muizenberg, St James , Kalk Bay , Fish Hoek and Simon's Town in a long, sheltered arc. To the west, the Atlantic seaboard runs cold and exposed, facing the open ocean through Kommetjie, Noordhoek and Scarborough all the way down to Cape Point. Two coastlines, separated by a ridge of mountain, facing directions different enough that they rarely experience the same conditions at the same time.

For surfers, this geography is the whole story.

Wind direction determines the quality of a wave in ways that take a while to fully appreciate. When wind blows offshore, from the land out to sea, it does something extraordinary to a breaking wave: it holds the face open, combs the surface into clean lines, and organises incoming swells into the kind of consistent, well-shaped sets that surfers wake up early and drive long distances for. When wind blows onshore, from the sea towards the land, the wave face gets pushed and textured from the front, creating choppy, unpredictable conditions where reading a wave cleanly becomes genuinely difficult.

Cape Town's dominant summer wind is the south-easter, the Cape Doctor, a strong and persistent wind that sweeps across the city from roughly October through March. In summer, the south-easter blows onshore over False Bay, pushing into Muizenberg from the sea and roughening the afternoon conditions considerably. That same south-easter, crossing the mountain spine and reaching the Atlantic side, arrives as an offshore wind, holding the wave faces clean and producing excellent conditions at spots like Long Beach at Kommetjie and the beaches running south towards Scarborough. The same day, the same wind, two completely different surfing experiences on either side of the peninsula.

The best time of year to visit Cape Town for surfing

In winter the system reverses. The prevailing wind shifts to the north-westerly, which blows offshore over False Bay and produces the clean, consistent swells that give Muizenberg its best conditions of the year. Winter in Muizenberg , during what many visitors imagine as off-season, is when the surf regularly fires. The crowds thin, the swell becomes more reliable, and the mornings at Surfers Corner have a particular quality that regulars return for well before the sun comes up.

For anyone planning a surf trip to Cape Town, this means the peninsula functions almost like two destinations in one. Surfers who know the area check both coastlines each morning, read the forecast and the wind, and make a decision. On the days when False Bay is clean and offshore, Muizenberg delivers. On the days when the south-easter is up and the Atlantic side is firing, Long Beach or Kommetjie beckon. Almost every day of the year, there is somewhere on this peninsula producing rideable, quality surf.

For planning purposes, the best months to surf Muizenberg as a beginner are May through September. The north-westerly winds are most consistent during this period, the crowds are thinnest, and the swell direction produces the long, clean rides the beach is known for. Summer (October to March) still offers surfable days, particularly in the mornings before the south-easter picks up in the afternoon, but conditions are less reliable and the water can get busy. For experienced surfers chasing bigger swell on the Atlantic side, winter is equally the prime season at Long Beach and Kommetjie.

What is a surf break? This is what makes Muizenberg special

The term surf break comes up constantly around Muizenberg, and understanding it properly unlocks everything else about why this beach works so well.

A break is the specific place where a wave becomes rideable. Waves travel across the open ocean as swells, long pulses of energy moving through deep water, relatively flat and largely invisible from shore. When that swell hits a shallow area, whether a reef, a rock shelf, or a sandbank, the energy has nowhere to go but up. The wave steepens, pitches forward, and breaks. That moment, where the swell transforms into a rideable wall of water, is the break, and its character is entirely shaped by what sits beneath it. A sharp reef produces a fast, hollow, powerful wave that demands precision and experience. A gradual sandbank produces something slower, more forgiving, with more room for error and more time to find your feet. The personality of any surf spot is essentially a portrait of its seabed.

Most surf beaches, including many that are internationally famous, have one or two consistent breaks. All the action concentrates at one or two defined peaks, the crowd gathers there, and the whole dynamic of a session is shaped by that single point of competition. Beginners paddling out at those spots find themselves sharing tight space with experienced surfers, learning etiquette and pecking order before they have ridden a single wave.

Muizenberg's sandbanks shift constantly. The seabed along this stretch of False Bay is sandy rather than rocky, the banks moving with the swell, the season and the currents, creating and dissolving rideable sections along kilometres of open coastline. On a good day there are multiple wave breaks spread across kilometers of coastline simultaneously, each slightly different, each offering its own rideable section to a different pocket of surfers. The scene from the promenade tells the story clearly: surfers spread across what looks like the entire bay, spread not because they are lost but because the beach genuinely gives them that much space to work with. Understanding the break made me realise why Muizenberg is actually the perfect surf destination.

How the wave works, and why beginners do so well here

The gradual slope of Muizenberg's sandbanks does something to the character of the wave that makes this beach unlike almost anything else along the South African coast.

When a wave breaks over a slowly rising bank, it peels rather than pitches. Instead of rearing up and collapsing in one sharp, powerful motion, the wave unrolls along its face in a long, relatively unhurried arc, giving a surfer time to read it, get to their feet, and actually experience the ride. The difference between a wave that allows two seconds and one that allows 10 is enormous for a beginner, the difference between a wipeout and the moment everything clicks.

The wave also reforms. After breaking for the first time the whitewater settles, the remaining energy reorganises, and the wave breaks again further in, sometimes a third time before it reaches the sand. This creates stacked zones across the same stretch of water: the shallows for those just finding their feet in the whitewater, the middle section for surfers catching the reforming wave with a little more shape and power, and the outer break for those ready for a full, clean ride. The beach accommodates all of them at once, which is why Muizenberg looks so alive from the shore and why people at such different levels can share it so comfortably.

The surf culture at Muizenberg, and why it matters

There is an entire culture in surfing that people who have grown up away from the ocean are rarely aware of, and understanding it puts Muizenberg's atmosphere into sharp focus.

At competitive surf breaks, access to waves is governed by strict unwritten rules. The surfer positioned closest to the peak of a breaking wave has right of way, and anyone who paddles for a wave already claimed by someone else has committed the cardinal sin of dropping in. At popular reef breaks, particularly those with a single defined peak and a tight, experienced lineup, this hierarchy is enforced with real conviction. Localism, the territorial protection of waves by those who surf a spot regularly, is a genuine feature of surf culture around the world, and for someone learning to surf, paddling out into an established lineup can feel actively unwelcoming before a single wave has been caught.

Muizenberg has built its identity on something different. The abundance of breaks spread across the beach means the whole dynamic of the lineup stays open and generous rather than concentrated and competitive. There is enough ocean for everyone, and the culture reflects that. The surf schools, the dawn patrol regulars, the travelling surfers who return every winter, they all share a beach that has always understood itself as a place where people come to learn, to improve, and to enjoy being in the water. That atmosphere is one of Muizenberg's most underrated qualities, and for a first-time surfer it matters enormously.

Surf schools, board hire and what a lesson costs

Muizenberg's beachfront has more surf schools per kilometre than almost anywhere in South Africa, and the competition between them keeps the quality high and the prices reasonable. Most schools operate from Surfer's Corner along Beach Road, and all of them include board and wetsuit hire in the lesson price.

Gary's Surf School has been running since 1989 and is the longest-established school on the beach. Group lessons run for about an hour with the instructor followed by a further hour of practice time with the equipment. Surf Emporium is run by nine-time South African champion Roxy Davis and offers both once-off lessons and a structured weekly Learn 2 Surf programme for those staying longer. Surfshack sits at Surfer's Corner and caters to beginners through to intermediate surfers, with both private and group sessions available daily. Reef surf shop also offers lessons and board hire.

Group lessons generally cost between R500 and R650 per session. Private lessons range from R750 to R1,000. Board and wetsuit hire for those who want to surf independently runs from around R150 to R250 for two hours. Lesson times follow the tide rather than a fixed schedule, so schools will confirm your session time the day before or morning of.

Sharks: what you actually need to know

There are sharks in False Bay, including great whites, and drone footage of them moving through the lineup at Muizenberg circulates on social media with enough regularity to give the impression of constant danger. The reality is considerably more measured. The great white population along this stretch of coast has shifted over recent years, influenced partly by increased orca presence in South African waters, but sharks have been part of this bay for as long as people have been surfing here.

What distinguishes Muizenberg is the shark spotting programme, one of the most established and well-resourced of its kind in the world. Trained spotters work from the hillside above the beach with clear sightlines across the bay, operating a flag and siren system that clears the water immediately when a shark is confirmed close to shore. The system works, and everyone in the water treats it seriously.

Surfers have been paddling out at Muizenberg for over a century with full awareness that sharks share the bay. The spotting programme, the statistical reality of the risk, and the straightforward awareness that comes with surfing here regularly all combine to make the water feel far safer in practice than the footage might suggest.

Beyond surfing: the South Peninsula as a reason to book flights

Surfing is what draws most people to Muizenberg for the first time. The magic and diversity of the South Peninsula is what keeps them coming back.

The coastal path from Muizenberg through St James into Kalk Bay is the kind of walk that ends up on the highlight reel of a trip regardless of what else happened. Kalk Bay itself sits fifteen minutes along the coast and operates as a kind of compressed best-of: a working fishing harbour that still brings in fresh catch most mornings, a main street lined with galleries, bookshops and restaurants that punch well above their square footage, and a general atmosphere of creative, unhurried life that makes an afternoon there disappear very pleasantly. For surfers, Kalk Bay reef is also worth knowing about: a fast, powerful wave breaking over rock that draws experienced and professional surfers on the right day and is spectacular to watch from the harbour wall even if you have no intention of paddling out. The tidal pools at St James and the sheltered swimming at Fish Hoek offer calm, warm, protected water that is perfect for families and anyone who wants to be in the ocean on their own terms.

Further down the peninsula, Simon's Town carries its naval history with a Victorian main street in excellent condition and Boulders Beach just around the headland, where one of the most accessible African penguin colonies on the continent goes about its business with complete indifference to the people watching from a respectful distance. The drive from Simon's Town to Cape Point cuts through the Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park, the fynbos rolling over the mountains on both sides of the road, both coastlines visible from the higher passes, the whole experience carrying the particular feeling of being at the edge of something vast. In winter, southern right whales come into False Bay to calve between June and November, close enough to the shore along the Muizenberg promenade and the St James walkway that watching them requires nothing more than showing up.

A surf trip to Cape Town that builds time in for all of this becomes something much richer than a surf trip.

Getting to Muizenberg

Muizenberg is roughly 25 kilometres from Cape Town International Airport, about 30 minutes by car outside of rush hour. From the City Bowl or V&A Waterfront, the drive takes around 20 to 25 minutes via the M3 and then Main Road through Retreat. There is free street parking along Beach Road near Surfer's Corner, though it fills up on good-weather weekends. A few small paid lots sit closer to the beachfront.

The Southern Line train runs from Cape Town Station to Muizenberg Station, which is a five-minute walk from the beach. The train is scenic (it hugs the False Bay coastline from Fish Hoek) but service reliability varies, so check schedules on the day. Uber and Bolt operate throughout the South Peninsula and are the most practical option for visitors without a car.

Where to stay for a Cape Town surf trip

Staying in Muizenberg places you within the heart of Surfers Corner, the surf schools, the board hire and the miles of consistent waves. Mui Stays has a wide range of apartments and stays here to match almost any kind of surf trip. For beachfront convenience, you can stay in one of the one-bedroom apartments in the Empire building, right on the sand, or in the newly built Wavescapes apartments, which offer that same beachfront position in a fresh, modern setting. For something with more of a local, lived-in feel, there are homely apartments tucked into the village itself, just back from the water.

Beyond Muizenberg, you can stay across the South Peninsula, including Kalk Bay, Simon's Town and Fish Hoek, putting the entire coastline within easy reach for travellers who want to explore beyond the surf.

For surfers travelling in a group or with more experience, the Atlantic side of the peninsula has its own appeal, particularly for kitesurfing and the days when the wind favours that coastline instead. Sunset Bay Stays in Hout Bay offers a five-bedroom retreat with a pool, ocean views from every bedroom and a dedicated workspace for those balancing remote work with their time in the water. Drift Sunset Beach House , on the Atlantic seaboard at Sunset Beach, is a six-bedroom villa just steps from one of the world's most recognised kitesurfing beaches, with two private suites, multiple communal living areas and balconies that take in Table Mountain and the ocean at once.

The South Peninsula rewards staying longer than originally planned. The beach pulls you in on the first morning, and the coastal villages, the mountains and the drive to Cape Point fill the days around it. Most people who come here for the surf find themselves doing the same thing I did six years ago: watching the sun come up over False Bay, telling themselves it is just a week, and quietly working out how to make it longer.

How to optimise your Cape Town Airbnb for more bookings and better reviews

Thu, 28 May 2026 12:07:02 GMT

Cape Town’s Airbnb market has changed dramatically over the past few years.

What was once a fairly casual way to generate additional income from a spare room, holiday apartment, or investment property has evolved into a highly competitive hospitality environment where guest expectations now play a direct role in occupancy, reviews, and long-term revenue performance. Our 2026 Cape Town Airbnb performance data quantifies that gap at approximately R40,000 per property in a single peak season.

In 2026, guests are arriving with clearer expectations around comfort, convenience, communication, and overall experience. At the same time, the market itself has become far more competitive, particularly across high-demand areas like the City Bowl, Atlantic Seaboard, and South Peninsula, where professionally managed listings are continuing to raise the standard of what guests expect from short-term rentals in Cape Town.

This shift matters for owners because Airbnb performance is no longer driven by location alone. Strong occupancy, higher nightly rates, repeat bookings, and consistently positive reviews increasingly come from properties that are actively optimised around how people actually travel, book, and live while away from home.

Professional property management companies continuously monitor booking behaviour, occupancy trends, pricing fluctuations and operational performance across the Cape Town short-term rental market. Certain patterns become very clear when managing properties at scale. The strongest-performing Airbnb listings are rarely successful due to luck. They are usually the result of ongoing operational oversight, thoughtful setup, an active pricing strategy and a detailed understanding of what guests value most.

Many owners still approach Airbnb as a passive side project. The reality is that guest expectations in mature short-term rental markets increasingly resemble those of boutique hospitality environments. Properties that consistently perform well tend to feel considered, seamless, well-maintained, and professionally operated from the guest’s perspective, even when much of that operational work remains invisible behind the scenes.

As Cape Town continues attracting international travellers, digital nomads and longer-stay guests, the gap between casually managed listings and professionally optimised properties is becoming increasingly visible in occupancy, reviews and long-term revenue performance.

Key Takeaways:

Guests increasingly expect Airbnb properties to feel professionally managed and thoughtfully prepared.
Operational consistency now plays a major role in occupancy and long-term revenue performance.
Longer stays and remote work trends continue influencing how successful Airbnb properties are designed and managed.
Dynamic pricing, active management, and higher hospitality standards have become major competitive advantages in Cape Town’s short-term rental market.
The strongest-performing Airbnb properties increasingly operate more like hospitality businesses than passive investments.
Professionally managed Airbnb listings often outperform self-managed properties over time because they adapt faster to guest behaviour, operational demands, and changing market conditions.

In this Guide:

Guests are prioritising comfort, convenience, and thoughtful design

One of the clearest patterns emerging across the Cape Town Airbnb market is that guests are increasingly prioritising functionality and ease alongside aesthetics. Beautiful interiors still matter, particularly in visually driven destinations like Cape Town, but visitors are placing growing value on how practical and livable a property feels once they have settled into their stay.

Amenities data across the market consistently shows increasing demand for features such as reliable WiFi, luggage drop-off options, washing facilities, usable kitchens, work-friendly spaces, parking and everyday essentials. These are not necessarily luxury features, yet they play a major role in overall guest satisfaction and review performance while also painting a much bigger picture around how people are travelling and living while away from home.

Today’s guests are increasingly drawn to spaces that feel genuinely considered as places to live in, not simply places to stay in. The properties performing best are often the ones where the details have clearly been thought through properly, from the lighting and textures to the layout, comfort, practicality, and the smaller touches guests only really notice once they are already there. There is a huge difference between a property that photographs well online and one that feels intuitive, comfortable, and effortless to inhabit for several days or weeks at a time, and guests have become remarkably good at recognising that distinction.

That feeling is usually created through dozens of small operational and design decisions working together quietly in the background. Guests notice whether there are enough charging points near the bed, whether the lighting feels comfortable to work under for several hours, whether kitchen equipment is genuinely usable for longer stays, whether check-in instructions feel calm and easy to follow after a long flight, and whether the property overall feels properly prepared for real day-to-day living rather than simply a short-term stay. Guests may never specifically mention international plug adaptors, USB charging points, or good lighting in a review, yet they absolutely remember when a space felt easy, calming, practical, and thoughtfully prepared for the reality of modern travel.

What many owners underestimate is how much these smaller details start shaping the overall emotional experience of a stay. A guest may never specifically mention poor lighting or a need for international plug adaptors in a review, but they absolutely remember when a space felt easy, comfortable, calming, and intuitive to spend time in, influencing their desire to return. The opposite is true as well. Once a market becomes more competitive, small frustrations become far more noticeable because guests are comparing your property against dozens of other highly polished options they have stayed in previously.

This is one of the reasons professionally managed Airbnb properties tend to outperform more casually operated listings over time. Behind the scenes, there is usually continuous refinement happening based on guest feedback, booking behaviour, operational experience, and a much broader understanding of how travellers are interacting with the market overall. When those patterns are being monitored across an entire portfolio rather than a single property in isolation, shifts in guest expectations are often identified and implemented far earlier.

Operational quality is becoming one of the clearest differentiators in Cape Town’s Airbnb market. Guests are no longer evaluating properties purely on location, décor, or price, but on how well the entire stay experience actually functions once they arrive.

As longer stays, remote work travel, and flexible booking patterns continue reshaping guest expectations, operational responsiveness is increasingly becoming part of the product itself rather than simply the service supporting it.

Longer stays are reshaping what successful Airbnbs look like

Longer stays continue to play a growing role across Cape Town’s short-term rental market, driven partly by digital nomad culture, flexible work schedules, and people increasingly blending work, lifestyle, and travel together as a way of life.

People are no longer only booking Airbnbs as short holiday accommodation for a few nights at a time. Increasingly, they are aiming to temporarily live inside these spaces while still maintaining elements of their normal routine, whether that means working remotely during the day, cooking proper meals in the evenings, staying close to a favourite surf break for several weeks, or simply wanting a slower and more local experience of the city.

A property designed purely around short weekend stays often feels very different once somebody has been living inside it for ten days, three weeks, or even several months. Small things become amplified over time. Guests start noticing whether there is anywhere genuinely comfortable to work from for several hours a day, whether the kitchen is actually practical to cook in properly, whether storage makes sense for longer stays, whether the lighting feels calming in the evenings, and whether the overall space settles into feeling easy to inhabit over time.

This is part of the reason longer-stay guests often end up being some of the most detail-oriented reviewers, which in itself is an operational advantage. They notice how the space functions beyond the first impression and whether it continues feeling comfortable once the novelty of arriving somewhere new starts fading slightly.

Across areas like Muizenberg, Kalk Bay, Simon’s Town, Green Point, Sea Point, and parts of the City Bowl, many travellers are also actively looking for spaces that feel connected to local life rather than isolated from it. They want cafés they can return to repeatedly, walks that become familiar and environments that feel calm enough to settle into rather than simply pass through briefly. The walking-distance access to independent restaurants , cafes and surf schools is part of what makes these areas appeal to the longer-stay guests who increasingly drive occupancy.

That has significant implications for owners because longer stays often require a much more considered operational setup than many people initially anticipate. The property needs to continue functioning comfortably over time, not just look appealing for the first twenty minutes after check-in.

Longer-stay demand also creates major opportunities from a revenue perspective when managed properly, particularly during quieter seasonal periods where remote workers and extended-stay travellers can help create far more stable occupancy throughout the year. Professionally managed properties are usually able to adapt to these patterns far faster because they are monitoring booking behaviour, seasonal demand shifts, and guest feedback across multiple listings simultaneously rather than making decisions based on a single property in isolation. This is part of what makes the South Peninsula an increasingly popular base for longer winter stays. Our Cape Town winter travel guide covers the full experience from a guest's perspective.

As Cape Town’s Airbnb market continues maturing, the listings performing most consistently are increasingly the ones evolving alongside the way people actually travel in 2026 rather than relying on assumptions about what worked several years ago.

Booking behaviour is becoming more dynamic and competitive

One of the biggest misconceptions many owners still have about Airbnb in Cape Town is that demand behaves relatively predictably once a property is listed properly. Good photos, a well-furnished apartment, decent reviews, open calendar, and the assumption that bookings will more or less flow steadily from there.

That may have been closer to reality several years ago when the market was less saturated and guests were generally less discerning, but the upper end of the short-term rental market operates very differently now. Booking behaviour has become far more fragmented, reactive, and difficult to predict cleanly because people are travelling in completely different ways to how they were even a few years ago.

Some guests are securing December holidays six months ahead of time while others are booking a Sea Point apartment on a Thursday afternoon because the weather forecast suddenly looks good for the weekend. Remote workers often extend stays gradually week by week once they settle into a property that they enjoy, while international travellers increasingly blend work trips with holidays and families plan around school calendars and longer seasonal stays rather than fixed itineraries.

You can see this shift very clearly in Cape Town’s booking window trends. There is no longer one predictable booking pattern owners can comfortably build static pricing and calendar strategies around, particularly in a market where demand fluctuates constantly between suburbs, seasons, and weather patterns.

The properties performing consistently well are usually being actively monitored and adjusted in response to those shifts almost continuously. Pricing changes around demand movement, occupancy gaps and the type of guest the property is attracting at a particular time of year. Minimum stay strategies evolve as booking patterns change, quieter periods are managed differently to peak season, and availability is often adjusted dynamically rather than remaining fixed for months at a time.

Cape Town makes this even more noticeable because different parts of the city behave completely differently throughout the year. A Muizenberg property catering to surfers, remote workers, and longer stays moves very differently to a Clifton apartment focused almost entirely around peak summer tourism.

The owners generating the strongest long-term returns are usually the ones treating Airbnb less like passive property income and more like an actively managed hospitality business that requires continuous oversight, market awareness, and responsiveness to changing guest behaviour. Increasingly, revenue performance is determined not only by the quality of the property itself, but by how intelligently it is being positioned and managed over time relative to the rest of the market around it.

Guests increasingly expect Professionally Managed standards

Guests remember whether arriving at the property felt calm and straightforward after a long international flight, and whether communication felt responsive when something small went wrong during the stay. Increasingly, people can sense when a property has been thoughtfully prepared and actively cared for compared to when it feels more like an investment unit uploaded onto Airbnb and left to run itself.

In Cape Town specifically, that operational layer becomes particularly important because there are so many local variables constantly influencing the guest experience in ways owners often underestimate at first.

A beautiful apartment means very little if a guest arrives during load shedding and cannot immediately understand how the backup power setup works, or if fibre connectivity drops during an important work call and there is no clear support structure in place to resolve the issue quickly. The same applies to winter damp, coastal humidity, maintenance delays, inconsistent housekeeping, unclear check-in processes, or properties that simply do not feel properly prepared for somebody to comfortably settle into for more than a night or two.

Over time, these smaller operational details are often what separate consistently high-performing listings from average ones. What guests remember most clearly is whether the overall experience felt easy, comfortable, and reliable from beginning to end.

That sense of ease has quietly become one of the most valuable things a property can offer because travellers now expect spaces to function smoothly in a way that simply was not standard across Airbnb several years ago. Reliable WiFi, fast responses, good lighting, practical amenities, clear communication, comfortable layouts, and thoughtful preparation are increasingly being interpreted as basic expectations rather than premium extras.

A lot of owners still underestimate how operationally intensive Airbnb has become at the higher-performing end of the market, particularly in a destination like Cape Town where guest expectations are increasingly shaped by international hospitality standards rather than local comparisons alone. The listings generating the strongest long-term returns are very rarely passive because maintaining that level of consistency requires ongoing attention, responsiveness, and continuous refinement over time.

Why high-performing Cape Town Airbnbs require active management

One of the biggest misconceptions about Airbnb is that strong performance is mostly driven by the property itself. In reality, once a market matures, performance becomes increasingly driven by operations.

That shift is happening very quickly across Cape Town.

A beautiful apartment might attract initial interest, but sustaining high occupancy, strong reviews, pricing power, and repeat bookings over time requires a level of responsiveness and ongoing refinement that many owners underestimate until they are already deep in the operational realities of short-term rentals themselves.

Guests are travelling more frequently, working remotely across multiple countries, and comparing properties globally rather than locally. As a result, expectations around communication, reliability, comfort, maintenance, cleanliness, and overall ease have risen dramatically across the market. Travellers notice very quickly when a property feels actively managed versus when it feels like somebody is trying to host around the rest of their life.

At the same time, Cape Town has become a far more operationally demanding market than many owners initially expect. Seasonal demand shifts quickly, guest behaviour changes constantly, coastal maintenance becomes ongoing, and occupancy creates a surprisingly intensive housekeeping, logistics, and support layer over time. Managing one property casually is already difficult. Maintaining consistently high standards while adapting alongside a rapidly evolving market is something else entirely. For a closer look at the operational reality, our guide to running an Airbnb in Cape Town covers what most owners only learn after their first year.

This is increasingly where the performance gap starts opening up.

In many ways, the Cape Town Airbnb market has now matured beyond passive hosting. Owners wanting to remain competitive over the next phase of the market increasingly need the kind of operational oversight, pricing intelligence, responsiveness, and continuous optimisation that is extremely difficult to maintain consistently without professional infrastructure behind it.

At Mui Stays, that operational layer is managed continuously behind the scenes across pricing strategy, guest communication, maintenance coordination, booking performance, and ongoing property refinement throughout the year. Increasingly, that level of active management is becoming one of the clearest differentiators between properties that plateau and those that continue compounding performance over time.

If you would like a clearer idea of how your property could be positioned and performing within the current Cape Town Airbnb market, you can request a free revenue estimate from the Mui Stays team here: https://www.muistays.com/list-with-us

Cape Town winter travel guide 2026: where to stay and what to do along the South Peninsula

Wed, 06 May 2026 17:20:34 GMT

Visiting Cape Town in winter is one of South Africa's most underrated holidays.

Here is why the South Peninsula deserves more of your attention.

There is a ritual that plays out in workplaces across the country with such reliable regularity that most employed South Africans will recognise it immediately. The leave calendar opens, everyone grabs the December dates, and the scramble that follows is fast and merciless. By the time the dust settles, Easter is gone too, then the September school holidays, and winter sits on the calendar largely untouched, passed over in the rush.

The people who have actually cracked it, who come back from holidays genuinely restored, tend to have figured out something the December crowd has not: winter is where the real opportunity lives.

Youth Day on 16 June, Women’s Day observed on Monday 10 August, and Heritage Day on 24 September each sit within a calendar configuration where roughly ten days of annual leave creates close to three uninterrupted weeks away. It also happens to be the point in the year when accommodation rates are at their most accessible, competition for reservations has largely relaxed, and the South Peninsula of Cape Town in particular, is producing some of the finest conditions it generates all year.

Taken as a proper break, a slower working stint, or simply time away long enough to feel restorative, winter on the South Peninsula makes a compelling case for itself. Mui Stays operates a carefully curated collection of properties across the False Bay coastline, from Muizenberg through to Simon’s Town , allowing you to experience different parts of the peninsula while keeping the reassurance that comes with booking through a trusted local brand. Whether staying in one place for several weeks or moving gradually along the coast, guests can expect the same consistent standard of quality, comfort and thoughtful hospitality across the portfolio, making a longer winter stay feel both seamless and genuinely easy to settle into.

In this travel guide, we explore what makes a Cape Town winter on the South Peninsula so rewarding, from where to stay in Muizenberg, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek and Simon’s Town to the best winter activities, restaurants, coastal drives and long-stay accommodation options across the False Bay coastline.

Key Takeaways:

Winter is the most overlooked opportunity on the South African leave calendar
Average winter temperatures on the False Bay coast sit between 14 and 18 degrees
Southern right whales move through False Bay from June to November
Winter nightly rates are significantly lower than peak season
Every town from Muizenberg to Simon’s Town sits within 15 to 20 minutes of the next
Booking direct at muistays.com saves up to 25% versus third-party platforms

In this Guide:

What Cape Town’s winter season actually offers

The South Peninsula stretches south from the city between mountain and coastline, with the Atlantic on one side and False Bay on the other. The False Bay coast, from Muizenberg through to Simon’s Town, faces east across a wide mountain-rimmed bay and catches the morning sun in a way that gives it a completely different character to the city-facing Atlantic side.

Winter here consistently surprises visitors arriving from the Highveld. Average days sit between 14 and 18 degrees, clear skies open between passing fronts, and the atmosphere feels far milder than most people expect. The rain, when it arrives, sometimes carries real drama and at other times settles into a fine mist that you can walk through comfortably with the right jacket. In between, the peninsula feels open, calm, and quietly active in a way that peak summer rarely allows.

The swell builds through winter and so does the surf culture along Surfers Corner in Muizenberg , where long, consistent waves have built a reputation as one of the most accessible learn-to-surf breaks on the African continent. Southern right whales move through False Bay from June through to November, coming close enough to the shoreline to be watched without a boat or any particular effort beyond showing up for a fine walk along Boyes Drive.

These are not off-season compromises. They are some of the South Peninsula’s defining experiences, arriving at the exact point in the year when it is easiest to access them.

Why the finances favour a longer stay

Winter rates across Cape Town create opportunities where staying longer becomes more achievable than most people assume. Properties that are difficult to secure in peak season open up at rates that allow for weeks rather than days, and the overall cost of being here settles into something manageable over time.

Self-catering options mean you can keep day-to-day costs manageable, shopping at local markets and cooking in a well-equipped kitchen rather than eating out for every meal. The portfolio spans everything from compact apartments for a solo traveller or couple through to larger properties sleeping six to ten people, well suited to groups splitting costs across a longer stay.

Midweek nights tend to come in lower than weekends, and building flexibility into a stay translates directly into access to properties that weekend-only pricing might put out of reach. Booking directly through muistays.com rather than a third-party platform saves up to 25% on the nightly rate with no platform fees, and across two to three weeks that saving adds up meaningfully.

Getting around the South Peninsula

The South Peninsula is compact enough that transport is simpler than it might first appear. The Metrorail coastal line from Cape Town to Simon's Town is one of those travel experiences that earns its own place in the memory of a trip, with single trips running under R10 and the route hugging the False Bay shoreline for much of its length. On a clear winter morning with the bay flat and the mountains behind Muizenberg catching the early light, it is one of the more quietly beautiful commutes available anywhere in the country. Reliability varies and a backup plan is sensible, but the train is worth doing for its own sake, and for movement between Muizenberg, St James, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek and Simon's Town it works well enough to build a day around. Uber operates reliably along the coast at rates that remain genuinely affordable, and the peninsula has a well-established cycling community with the relatively flat coastal road lending itself to a morning out on a bike.

Walking, though, is the mode of transport the peninsula rewards most generously. Muizenberg, Kalk Bay and Simon's Town are each properly walkable within themselves, and the coastal mountain path along Boyes Drive connecting them offers one of the more spectacular walks on the peninsula, with views across the full sweep of False Bay below. Walking from Muizenberg through to Simon's Town and catching the train back is the kind of afternoon that becomes a fixed point in the memory of a longer stay. For the Atlantic side, a car or Uber opens things up considerably. Cape Town International Airport sits approximately 30 minutes from Muizenberg along a route that avoids the city centre entirely.

How to plan three weeks in Cape Town

A stay on the South Peninsula affords a looser approach than most trips. Every town between Muizenberg and Simon's Town is reachable from any other within 15 to 20 minutes, which means the pressure to be in the right place at the right time largely dissolves. Anchor yourself somewhere long enough to feel at home, then move when the mood shifts, or stay put and let the peninsula come to you through day trips and unhurried afternoons.

A three-week shape that works especially well: begin with a week to ten days in Muizenberg, long enough to settle into the surf rhythm and explore St James and Kalk Bay properly. Move south to Fish Hoek from there, with Glencairn, Noordhoek and Hout Bay from that base. Spend the final days back toward Muizenberg, close to the airport, with the satisfying full-circle quality of returning somewhere familiar with three weeks of coastline under your belt. Winter availability is open enough that a degree of spontaneity is possible throughout, and booking direct at muistays.com secures the best rate at each stop.

Muizenberg

Africa’s oldest surf town announces itself in vivid colour. The Victorian beach huts along the shoreline have become one of the most photographed stretches of coastline in the world. Behind them the mountain rises steeply, and in front, Surfers Corner runs with a consistency of wave that has been drawing people here since long before anyone thought to photograph it.

Muizenberg works particularly well for a longer stay, carrying the largest concentration of accommodation along the False Bay coast, including most established coffee shop and restaurant culture along the bay. It takes about three days to start feeling like a local and about a week to not want to leave.

The waves at Surfers Corner are long, consistent and forgiving, shaped by the geography of the bay in a way that makes them ideal for learning and for building real confidence in the water. Surf schools along the beach, including Nexgen , Roxy Surf School and Lifestyle Surf , offer lessons with a surf coach, board and wetsuit hire for around R500 a session. Alternatively, you can just hire a board and wetsuit for R110 for 90 minute, when you get the hang of it. In winter the swell adds enough energy to keep all surfers genuinely engaged.

Best Coffee shops in Muizenberg

Hans and Lloyd remains one of the strongest winter morning options on the coastline, with its indoor fireplace, micro-roastery and excellent post-surf breakfasts.
Hang Ten Cafe sits almost directly on the beachfront and works well for a quick coffee before the water.
Harvest Cafe and Empire Cafe on York Road are reliable choices for longer mornings with good coffee and steady WiFi.
Joon in the village shifts comfortably between daytime coffee stop and relaxed evening pizza spot.

Restaurants in Muizenberg

Dimples Dumpling House brings real personality to the village with handmade dumplings, bao and ramen served in a courtyard that feels especially good on colder evenings.
Tortuga Loca on Main Road is a sustainable Mexican and Latin American restaurant covering the casual end of the evening with real conviction.
Carla's Mozambican on York Road with its fresh prawns has been an institution along this stretch long enough to have earned that description without qualification.
NY Slice and the Vietnamese Street Kitchen , both on Main Road fill in the gaps for a quick bite.
The Commons covers vegetarian and vegan dining with a view directly over Surfers Corner.
On the nights when the weather has turned properly wild, Tiger's Milk and Hudsons are both on the doorstep and have a warm indoor vibe.

Things to do in Muizenberg

The Bluebird Garage Market on Thursday and Friday evenings brings food, music and a communal atmosphere that makes winter nights feel unexpectedly festive.
The walk along Boyes Drive toward Kalk Bay remains one of the finest free experiences on the peninsula, particularly on clear mornings with the full sweep of False Bay below.
Hot Huts operates mobile sauna sessions along the coastline, and after a cold surf the combination feels almost absurdly good.

Weekly winter rates in Muizenberg start from around R5,000 for a well-located apartment sleeping two, through to the R20,000 range for larger properties sleeping up to ten, all serviced throughout.

A stay at the Beach Loft in Empire building you right on Surfers Corner, making it especially well suited to travellers who want to make the most of good beach days.

St. James and Kalk Bay

St. James sits close enough to Muizenberg that the walk between them has become a natural morning ritual for regulars, yet the atmosphere changes almost immediately once you arrive. Where Muizenberg carries surf culture and movement, St. James feels quieter and more composed, with its tidal pool tucked below the railway line and a small row of beach huts echoing Muizenberg’s famous colours at a gentler scale.

Further along the coast, Kalk Bay unfolds against the mountain in layers of painted buildings, narrow stairways, antique stores, galleries and restaurants that have accumulated genuine character over decades. The harbour remains a working one, which gives the town a texture many coastal destinations eventually lose.

Kalky’s on the harbour wall has been serving fish and chips long enough that the queue outside it on a good afternoon is its own kind of recommendation. The harbour walk on a winter morning, with fishing boats moving through the mist, the seals and seagulls setting the scene, stays with you longer than most things that cost money.

Coffee in St. James and Kalk Bay

Olympia Cafe has anchored the Kalk Bay strip since 1997, with a blackboard menu built around what is fresh and seasonal.
Sirocco sits beside the station under a towering palm, with the old SA Railways dining carriage becoming an especially good refuge when the weather turns.
Ohana occupies one of the most dramatic positions on the coastline, directly above the railway tracks with the ocean immediately below.

Dining options

Harbour House remains the occasion dinner on this side of the peninsula, with floor-to-ceiling windows over the water and fresh seafood handled with real care.
Salt consistently ranks among the strongest restaurants on the South Peninsula, balancing long lunches and slower evening dinners equally well.
Satori continues to hold its place as the reliable Italian option, with wood-fired pizzas and good pasta.
Cape to Cuba carries cocktails, harbour views and enough atmosphere to stretch a dinner comfortably later into the evening.

Activities and things to do

Studio Muse above Olympia runs therapeutic pottery classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Kalk Bay Books , frequently described as the bookshop with the best view in the world, rewards at least an hour of wandering on almost any afternoon.
The antique dealers and small galleries along Main Road suit the slower pace that longer stays allow.
The clifftops above St James and the harbour wall in Kalk Bay both become excellent whale-watching points during the season.

A stay at Sea Peep studio places you within walking distance of the harbour, Olympia Cafe, the tidal pools and the main road itself, making Kalk Bay particularly rewarding for travellers wanting to spend days at a time moving almost entirely on foot.

Fish Hoek

Fish Hoek tends to be underestimated, which suits the people who know it well. The beach here is one of the longest and most sheltered on the peninsula, facing north-east across the bay in a way that produces calmer, more genuinely swimmable water than the rest of the coastline manages during winter.

The whale watching from Fish Hoek is among the best in the bay. Southern right whales move through the waters from June through to October, and the Elsie’s Peak trail above the town offers views that will genuinely change your life. Sea kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding operate comfortably within the sheltered bay, while the surrounding mountains open into hiking routes that feel greener and more dramatic during the wetter months.

Coffee and local spots

Peak Cafe remains the most reliable option for a slower morning or a working session with good coffee.
Chalk and Cheese and C’est La Vie handle the day-to-day rhythm of the town well, particularly for takeaway coffee and lighter breakfasts.

Things to do

Glencairn , tucked between Fish Hoek and Simon’s Town, is one of the quieter beaches on the peninsula, shallow, calm and often almost empty during winter.
Silvermine Nature Reserve opens into hiking routes through winter fynbos at its most lush, with views across both sides of the peninsula from the upper trails.
On colder afternoons, Constantia sits only 25 minutes away, bringing some of the oldest wine estates in South Africa into easy reach.

Fish Hoek works especially well for travellers wanting slightly more space and a quieter pace without losing access to the rest of the coastline. A stay at Glen Heights sleeping up to 6 places you close to Glencairn and the mountain routes above the bay.

Simon’s Town

Simon’s Town sits at the southern end of the False Bay coastline with the quiet permanence of a town shaped over generations by life around the harbour and a community that still feels deeply connected to the coastline around it.

The oldest naval base in the southern hemisphere occupies the harbour, and the Victorian buildings along the waterfront carry a scale and solidity the other peninsula towns do not quite replicate.

The pace here is genuinely slower. Independent shops line the main road, the harbour sits directly beneath the mountain, and the curve of False Bay opens out in front of the town in a way that gives even ordinary afternoons a sense of occasion.

Boulders Beach , just beyond the town centre, remains one of the defining experiences of the South Peninsula. The African penguin colony here is one of the only land-based colonies in the world, and visiting during winter changes the experience entirely. The boardwalks quieten down, the colony settles into a calmer rhythm, and the chance to watch the penguins properly rather than through the movement of a crowd becomes something genuinely memorable.

The Scratch Patch Mineral World nearby, the naval museum on the waterfront, and the historical architecture along the main road make Simon's Town a place that rewards more than a single afternoon. Sundowners from the waterfront, with False Bay catching the last light and the mountain going dark behind the town, are worth planning a day around.

Coffee and slower afternoons

Vida e Caffe remains the most reliable setup for a focused morning with coffee and WiFi.
Baker and Bean and The Lighthouse Cafe offer something more local and unhurried around the harbour.

A stay at Timbers Ocean House sleeping 6 places the harbour, Boulders Beach and the southern coastline within easy reach, making Simon’s Town especially rewarding for travellers wanting to slow the pace down properly toward the end of a longer stay.

The Atlantic side: Noordhoek, Hout Bay and Chapman's Peak

If the False Bay side is where you settle into the rhythm of the South Peninsula, the Atlantic side is where you remember how dramatic this stretch of coastline actually is.

Chapman’s Peak Drive remains the centrepiece, a road carved directly into the cliffside above the Atlantic with sweeping drops and views that genuinely stop conversations mid-sentence. In winter the road quietens down, the light sharpens, and the drive between Noordhoek and Hout Bay becomes one of the most spectacular afternoons available anywhere on the peninsula.

Noordhoek’s Long beach feels almost wild during winter, wide, pale and often nearly empty apart from horseback riders and the occasional surfer moving through the Atlantic swell. The Noordhoek Farm Village rewards a slower afternoon, anchored by The Foodbarn, chef Franck Dangereux’s Mediterranean-inspired restaurant and tapas bar.

Hout Bay carries a different energy entirely, with a working harbour that still smells and sounds like one. The Bay Harbour Market remains worth timing a visit around for the food, local craft and live music, particularly on colder evenings when the indoor atmosphere settles in properly.

The Mui Stays property collection extend across the Atlantic side too. Palmcove Stay offers a quieter Noordhoek setting for up to 4 travellers wanting more time on the western coastline, while groups up to 10 can enjoy a villa like Sunset Bay Stays in Hout Bay make extended winter trips considerably more accessible when costs are shared across friends or family.

Further south, Kommetjie, Scarborough and Misty Cliffs begin to feel increasingly remote in the best possible way, with Atlantic sunsets and near-empty roads creating the sense that you have reached the far edge of the peninsula entirely.

How to plan a Cape Town winter stay

A winter stay on the South Peninsula has a way of shifting from a short escape into something far more restorative once you give it enough time. The slower pace, lower winter rates, quieter coastline and easy movement between Muizenberg, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek and Simon’s Town create a version of Cape Town that feels considerably more liveable than the peak-season experience most visitors know. What begins as a holiday often ends with people wishing they had stayed longer.

Booking directly through muistays.com saves up to 25% on the nightly rate compared to third-party platforms, with no additional platform fees. Across two to three weeks, that difference becomes meaningful enough to shape the trip itself, whether that means extending the stay, upgrading the property, or simply arriving with more freedom built into the experience.

Browse the full Mui Stays property portfolio and plan your South Peninsula winter stay directly at muistays.com .

Frequently asked questions about visiting Cape Town in winter

Is Cape Town worth visiting in winter?

Cape Town's South Peninsula is one of the most rewarding parts of the country to visit in winter. Average temperatures sit between 14 and 18 degrees on the False Bay coast, winter whale watching runs from June through November, and accommodation rates drop well below peak season pricing. The quieter beaches, open restaurants and easier access to popular attractions make winter a genuinely appealing time to visit.

What is the weather like in Cape Town in winter?

Winter in Cape Town runs from June through August, with cool days averaging 14 to 18 degrees along the False Bay coast. Rain arrives with cold fronts, sometimes heavy and dramatic, other times as a light mist. Clear, sunny days open between fronts, and the False Bay side of the peninsula tends to feel milder than the Atlantic side.

Can you surf in Cape Town in winter?

Winter produces some of the best surfing conditions along the False Bay coast. The swell builds through the season, and Surfers Corner in Muizenberg offers consistent, forgiving waves suited to all levels. Surf schools operate year-round, with board and wetsuit hire available from around R110 for 90 minutes.

When is whale season in Cape Town?

Southern right whales move through False Bay from June through to November. The coastline between Fish Hoek and Simon's Town offers particularly good shore-based whale watching, and Boyes Drive between Muizenberg and Kalk Bay provides elevated views across the bay.

Is it cheaper to visit Cape Town in winter?

Winter accommodation rates are significantly lower than peak season. Self-catering apartments in Muizenberg start from around R5,000 per week for two people, and booking directly through muistays.com saves up to 25% compared to third-party booking platforms.

Cape Town Airbnb performance in 2026: how does your property compare?

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 15:40:10 GMT

If you own a short-term rental in Cape Town right now, you will have felt the noise. Legislation conversations, shifting platform dynamics, neighbours quietly exiting the market, and a general sentiment that has made reasonable owners ask reasonable questions about whether the opportunity is still what it was.

So we went to the data. Over the past year we analysed performance across more than 800 active Cape Town Airbnb listings, then held that market picture up against our own portfolio results across the Cape Peninsula, and what came back was not what the noise suggested. The market is growing, rates are rising, demand is absorbing new supply, and within all of that, a clear and measurable gap has opened up between properties that are actively capturing the opportunity and properties that are quietly leaving most of it behind.

The difference between an actively managed Cape Town Airbnb and a self-managed one was worth approximately R40,000 in a single peak season.

Key Findings:

The Cape Town Airbnb market grew supply by 20% year on year and demand kept pace
The gap between peak season performance and market average occupancy translates to approximately R40,000 per property
Properties with active professional management generate a disproportionately higher share of total bookings
The median guest books within 14 days of arrival. How that window is managed determines income
The biggest cost most owners never see is underperformance, and it compounds every month
Airbnb income in Cape Town is real, growing, and increasingly determined by how well a property is managed

The Cape Town Airbnb market in 2026: what the data actually shows

That R40,000 figure is actually a conservative estimate, and understanding why requires knowing the three numbers that ultimately determine Airbnb income in Cape Town.

Occupancy rate is the percentage of available nights that are actually booked. If your property is available for 300 nights and guests stayed for 200 of them, your occupancy rate is 67%, which is almost exactly where the Cape Town market sits on an annual basis. Two in every three available nights being booked across the market as a whole. That is the baseline every owner should be measuring against.

Average nightly rate is what guests actually paid per night across all bookings, accounting for seasonal variation, platform differences, and how actively the pricing was managed. This number varies significantly between properties in the same market, in the same street, with similar bedrooms and similar views.

Revenue per available night combines both into a single performance measure. It accounts for what a property charged and how consistently someone paid it, making it the most complete indicator of how a property is performing relative to its potential. A property charging a premium rate but sitting half empty earns less than a well-priced property that stays consistently booked. Getting both right simultaneously is where the real income lives.

The reason the R40,000 estimate is conservative is that it was calculated using only the occupancy gap, with the nightly rate held constant across both scenarios. In reality, actively managed properties in this market also achieve meaningfully higher average nightly rates than self-managed equivalents. When both variables are working together, the annual income gap between a professionally managed property and a self-managed one is considerably wider than a single peak season occupancy calculation suggests.

Now to the broader market picture, because the context matters. Over the past year, across more than 800 active Cape Town Airbnb listings, the performance data is considerably more compelling than the general conversation suggests. Supply grew by roughly 20% year on year. More listings, more competition, a more crowded market by any surface reading. And yet bookings grew alongside that supply increase, across every bedroom category. Average nightly rates moved upward. Revenue per available night increased. The market absorbed a significant wave of new listings and continued to strengthen. For owners wondering whether the opportunity is still real, the data answers that question clearly.

The market is maturing. Supply is rising, demand is keeping pace, rates are strengthening, and the gap between properties that are managed with precision and properties that are running on autopilot is becoming one of the most significant performance differentiators in the Cape Town Airbnb market. The data shows exactly what that gap looks like, and exactly what is driving it.

If you look closely at the occupancy chart, you will notice a dip in the Mui Stays line through the early winter months. That period coincided with the onboarding of a significant number of brand new apartments from Wavescapes, a luxury development in the heart of Muizenberg, coming onto the rental market for the very first time. Each required full setup and preparation before they could be listed, which naturally affected portfolio averages through the shoulder season. By peak season those same properties were among the strongest contributors to the results you see at the right of that chart.

Why the same market produces completely different results

Picture this. You own a two-bedroom apartment in Cape Town. You listed it on Airbnb yourself a couple of years ago, took some decent photos, set a price that felt right, and started receiving bookings. Guests arrive, leave reasonable reviews, and income lands in your account. You adjust the rate occasionally, up in December and down a little in winter. It feels like things are working.

The question worth sitting with is whether your property is performing anywhere near its actual potential.

Here is what the data shows. Individual self-managing hosts account for roughly 38% of all active Airbnb listings across this market. Their share of total bookings is less than 30%. That gap exists across every bedroom category, every season, and every price point in the data. It is consistent and it is growing.

The reason sits in operational complexity. And it compounds quietly in the background, whether an owner is aware of it or building it into their thinking.

Pricing is the clearest illustration. Nearly half of all Airbnb listings in Cape Town are operating with a fixed rate. The same price in peak January as in quiet June. The booking data shows clearly what happens to those properties relative to the ones being actively priced. The difference in booking capture is significant and measurable.

Dynamic pricing is one of many moving parts that directly impact Airbnb income, and it rarely produces results in isolation. The tool requires accurate market intelligence to function well. It needs calibration against competitor behaviour, local event demand, seasonal patterns, and platform algorithm signals. It requires someone monitoring it and adjusting when conditions shift. A property with one pricing tool switched on but everything else left to default will see modest improvement at best. The properties generating meaningfully stronger income are the ones where every variable is optimised together, consistently, over time.

We cover the full operational picture in our guide to what it actually takes to run an Airbnb in Cape Town , including the details most owners only discover after their first year of hosting.

The extended stay pattern in the data makes the same point from a different angle. The single largest booking category across Cape Town Airbnb listings right now is stays of 8 to 14 nights. These guests generate the highest revenue per booking and the lowest operational cost per night. Whether a property is configured to attract them depends on minimum stay settings, weekly pricing structures, and calendar management that most owners set once and rarely revisit. The data suggests a large proportion of self-managed properties are inadvertently directing these guests toward better-configured competitors.

This is what operational complexity looks like across a live market. A series of settings, calibrations, and daily decisions that individually seem small and collectively determine whether a property is performing at its ceiling or well below it. The owners whose income numbers sit at the top of this market have all of those variables working together. The data is consistent on this point across every segment we looked at.

What 85% peak season occupancy actually looks like

This is what Airbnb income looks like in Cape Town when every variable is actively managed.

Between December 2025 and February 2026, the Mui Stays portfolio across the Cape Peninsula ran at 85% occupancy. The average nightly rate across that window was R2,496. Multiple properties were fully booked for the entire period. Weekend occupancy across the portfolio reached between 97% and 98%. The market average for the same period sat at 67%.

Converting that gap into real numbers makes it tangible. On a property available for 90 days over peak season, the difference between 67% and 85% occupancy is 16 nights. At an average nightly rate of R2,496, that is approximately R40,000 in additional revenue per property, in a single season.

Those numbers come from a range of property types, sizes, and price points across the Cape Peninsula. What the properties share is consistent, active management applied across every variable that influences income. The location matters. The interior matters. The operational system behind the listing matters considerably more.

The December results were determined in September. Pricing strategy was in place before the first wave of peak season searches arrived on the platforms. Calendars and minimum stay settings were reviewed and configured before demand peaked. Channel distribution was optimised so that bookings came through the platforms delivering the strongest rates alongside strong volume. The operational standards protecting review scores were maintained through every single turnover, every guest communication, every check-in and check-out across the portfolio.

Peak season performance is the visible output of work that runs mostly out of sight, and that is entirely by design. The goal of professional property management is a full calendar and consistent income, generated through a system that operates whether the owner is thinking about their property or doing something else entirely.

The operational details that move the income needle

There are four things the data surfaces consistently across Cape Town Airbnb listings that have a direct impact on income. Each one operates quietly. All of them are worth understanding.

The booking window and how it is managed has a direct effect on what a property earns. The median booking window across this market is 14 days. Most guests are searching and booking within two weeks of arrival. A property with gaps in its calendar inside that window, priced at a rate that reflects September thinking rather than today's demand, will leave those nights unfilled. Empty nights represent permanent revenue loss. Managing the short booking window is a daily exercise that requires real-time pricing decisions and active calendar attention.

Length of stay optimisation affects income in ways that compound across a full season. The dominant booking category in this market by nights booked is the 8 to 14 day stay. These guests generate strong revenue per booking and tend to be the most straightforward operationally. Whether a property attracts them or directs them elsewhere depends on minimum stay settings, weekly pricing configuration, and calendar structure. These variables interact in ways that reward careful setup and ongoing management.

Platform mix shapes the income a property generates from the same pool of demand. Airbnb guests in this market pay meaningfully more per night on average than guests arriving through other major booking platforms. Managing distribution across multiple channels requires understanding which platforms deliver which guest profile at which price point, and making active decisions about where to focus, how to price per channel, and how to maintain listing quality across all of them simultaneously.

Guest experience standards determine review scores, and review scores determine platform visibility, and platform visibility drives booking volume. The data across this market shows a consistent pattern of small guest expectations that, when met consistently, protect and strengthen a property's position on every platform it appears on. When those standards are maintained through professional operational management rather than best-effort self-management, the compounding effect on visibility and income over a full year is significant. For a detailed look at how guest expectations have shifted and what owners can do about it, see our guide to optimising your Cape Town Airbnb for more bookings .

These four variables are interconnected. Optimising one without the others produces limited results. Managing all of them well, consistently, across a live property in a competitive market, is what professional property management actually involves. The income gap in this market between properties where that is happening and properties where it is reflects exactly that.

What this means for your Cape Town property

The data in our research points in one direction consistently. The Cape Town Airbnb market is performing. Demand is real, rates are strengthening, and the opportunity for well-managed properties is growing. What determines whether a property captures that opportunity fully is almost entirely operational.

For the owner who has been managing their own Cape Town Airbnb and reading this with a growing sense that the numbers could look different, that instinct is worth acting on. The gap between where most self-managed properties sit and where the market's best performing properties are is measurable in real revenue. The market is ready to deliver more. The question is whether the operational system behind a property is ready to capture it.

For the Mui Stays owner reading this and wondering what all of this work looks like in practice, this post is the answer. The pricing decisions made months before peak season. The channel calibration that brings in the right guests at the right rate. The operational consistency that protects review scores and platform visibility through every single turnover. The 85% occupancy and R2,496 average nightly rate last summer are the output of that system running as it should. That is what professional management delivers. The data makes the value of it plain.

For the owner sitting on a Cape Town property that has yet to be activated, the market data makes a straightforward case. Demand exists across every bedroom category. The season is long. Guests are searching and booking and paying strong rates. The difference between a property that captures that demand well from day one and one that learns slowly through lost revenue is the quality of management behind it from the start.

The biggest cost most owners never see is underperformance. It does not appear on an invoice. It shows up as the gap between what a property earned and what the data shows it could have earned with the right system behind it.

Mui Stays manages properties across the Cape Peninsula with consistent hosting standards, active revenue management, multi-channel distribution, and local market knowledge built from being inside this market every single day. The results in this post are a track record, built across a real portfolio in this real market.

If you want to understand how your property compares to current Airbnb income benchmarks in Cape Town, we will run the numbers with you . No obligation. Just an honest look at where your property stands and what the opportunity ahead of it actually represents.

The data is there. The market is ready. The question is whether your property is positioned to make the most of it.

Frequently asked questions about Airbnb performance in Cape Town

How much can you earn from an Airbnb in Cape Town?

Earnings vary significantly depending on location, property size, and how actively the listing is managed. Market data from 800+ Cape Town listings shows the average occupancy rate sits around 67% annually, with average nightly rates varying by area and season. Professionally managed properties in this market achieved 85% occupancy during peak season at an average nightly rate of R2,496, generating approximately R40,000 more per property than the market average in a single season.

Is Airbnb profitable in Cape Town in 2026?

The Cape Town short-term rental market grew supply by 20% year on year and demand kept pace. Average nightly rates and revenue per available night both increased. For owners running well-managed properties, the market continues to offer strong returns, with the gap between professional and self-managed results widening.

What occupancy rate should I expect from my Cape Town Airbnb?

The market average across Cape Town sits at approximately 67% annually. During peak season (December to February), professionally managed properties can achieve 85% or higher, with weekend occupancy reaching 97-98%. Shoulder and winter seasons produce lower occupancy, though longer-stay bookings and flexible pricing can stabilise income year-round.

What is the average nightly rate for an Airbnb in Cape Town?

Average nightly rates vary by area, property size, and season. Across the market, rates have been trending upward through 2026. The strongest rates are achieved during peak season (December to February) and by properties that use dynamic pricing rather than fixed rates. Nearly half of all Cape Town Airbnb listings still operate with a fixed rate year-round, which the data shows consistently underperforms actively priced equivalents.

What’s Going On in Green Point

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 05:56:01 GMT

Your Guide to Green Point: Eat, Explore & Experience

A Warm Welcome to Green Point

Green Point sits between the bustling V&A Waterfront and the iconic Table Mountain, making it one of Cape Town’s most vibrant neighborhoods. From landscaped parks and leafy streets to trendy restaurants and boutique shops, it’s the perfect mix of city energy and coastal charm. Often considered a hidden gem, Green Point gives visitors a taste of local life while keeping you close to the city’s main attractions. Locals love it for its walkable streets, stunning sunset views, and relaxed yet lively vibe—giving travelers insider access to the best of Cape Town.

Getting Around Green Point

Green Point is compact and walking-friendly, making it easy to explore on foot. Bike paths and pedestrian lanes make it simple to stroll between cafés, parks, and shops. For longer trips, Uber and other ride-sharing services are widely available, and car rentals are a convenient option if you plan to explore Cape Town’s outskirts. Street parking is available, though it can fill up quickly during peak hours, so be sure to check for pay-and-display zones or secure parking facilities. Staying with MUi STAYS puts you just minutes from all the neighborhood highlights.

Where to Eat

Breakfast & Brunch

The Power & The Glory – Trendy café known for hearty breakfasts and fresh pastries. Must-try: avo toast with poached eggs.
Jason Bakery – Artisanal breads and inventive brunch dishes in a cozy setting. Must-try: croissant sandwich with smoked salmon.

Lunch & Casual Bites

Tashas – A lively, modern eatery perfect for light lunches and salads. Must-try: quinoa bowl with seasonal toppings.
V&A Food Market – Variety of street food and local delicacies; ideal for trying a little bit of everything.

Dinner & Special Occasions

Belthazar Steak & Seafood – Classic, upscale steakhouse with panoramic harbor views. Must-try: fresh Cape seafood platter.
Sevruga – Elegant seafood and sushi restaurant, perfect for a romantic evening or celebration.

Best Coffee Shops & Cafés

Bootlegger Coffee Company – Popular spot for locals, perfect for work or people-watching. Try the flat white with a slice of banana bread.
Deluxe Coffeeworks – Small, cozy café with artisanal pastries and specialty coffee blends.

What to Do & Explore

Green Point Urban Park – A landscaped park with walking paths, playgrounds, and a biodiversity garden. Perfect for families and outdoor workouts.
Cape Town Stadium – Attend sports matches, concerts, or simply admire the architecture.
V&A Waterfront – Shop, dine, or take a boat tour. A short stroll away and packed with experiences for all ages.
Green Point Lighthouse & Promenade – Scenic coastal walk with breathtaking sunset views.

Family-Friendly Options

Playgrounds and green spaces within the Urban Park.
Family-friendly eateries and ice cream shops.

Unique Local Experiences

Sunset yoga sessions at the park or along the promenade.
Weekend markets and live music at nearby venues.

Nightlife & Sundowners

Asoka – Cocktail bar with a chic interior and vibrant vibe.
The Village Idiot – Casual pub with local craft beers and friendly atmosphere.
Sundowners at the Promenade – Grab a drink and watch the sunset over the Atlantic, a favorite with locals.

Hidden Gems (Insider Tips)

Explore the side streets for quirky art galleries and boutiques.
Small cafés tucked away behind Green Point Main Road offer a quiet respite from the buzz.
Catch a free sunset concert at the Urban Park during summer weekends.

Day Trips & Nearby Adventures

Drive to Sea Point or Camps Bay for coastal hikes and scenic beach walks.
Short trip to Signal Hill for panoramic views of the city and harbor.
Explore the Cape Town CBD for museums, historic streets, and cultural experiences.

Practical Info

Grocery Stores & Essentials – Pick n Pay and Woolworths within walking distance.
Safety Tips – Stay aware of your surroundings at night; use well-lit routes and secure parking.
Wi-Fi & Remote Work Spots – Many cafés and coworking spaces offer reliable Wi-Fi.

Ready for Your Stay?

Whether you’re here to stroll the promenade, shop at the Waterfront, enjoy a vibrant night out, or simply relax in lush green spaces, Green Point has it all. When you’re ready to unwind, your MUi STAYS home is just around the corner—your perfect base for a memorable Cape Town adventure.

What’s Going On in Saint James

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 05:50:57 GMT

Your Guide to St James: Colourful Charm by the Sea

A Little Seaside Gem

The quaint village of St James, just 26 km south of Cape Town, sits tucked between the mountains and the sea on the False Bay coastline. Famous for its brightly painted Victorian-style bathing boxes, tidal pool, and dramatic mountain backdrop, this is one of the Cape Peninsula’s most picturesque and historic spots. Once a fashionable seaside resort during the Victorian era, today St James still retains its charm, with heritage homes, sweeping ocean views, and a vibrant community spirit.

Things to Do in St James

St James Tidal Pool – A large, protected pool loved by families for safe swimming and tidal exploring.
Danger Beach – A more adventurous surf spot with deep local roots.
Beach Huts – Snap the iconic colourful bathing boxes for one of Cape Town’s most Instagram-worthy shots.
Rock Pools & Shell Collecting – Perfect for kids and the young at heart.
Walk to Kalk Bay – Stroll along cobbled streets to antique shops, galleries, and boutique cafés.
Boyes Drive Lookout – Drive above St James for sweeping views of False Bay, with whale and shark sightings in season.
Cultural Stops – Explore Rhodes’ Cottage or discover the fascinating stories behind St James Church, built in 1858 for Filipino fishermen.

Where to Eat & Drink

Pizza Shed, St James
56 Main Road, St James

Known for its incredible Neapolitan “Canotto” style pizza, with airy crusts and dough that ferments for 72 hours before baking in a wood-fired oven. Sit down for the full experience and enjoy some of the best pizza in Cape Town.

Folk Café, St James
Old Post Office, 54 Main Road, St James

A community hub with seasonal, ethical, and freshly made food. From plant-based meals to Cape wines, craft beer, and seriously good coffee, Folk Café offers both a restaurant and deli experience. Families love the kids’ play area and cozy fireplace, while digital nomads appreciate the reliable Wi-Fi (even during load shedding).

Nearby in Kalk Bay
A short walk away, Kalk Bay offers an eclectic food scene—from fresh seafood at Harbour House to artisanal ice cream, tapas bars, and quirky bakeries.

Explore the Area

St James may be small—just 200m wide by 2 km long—but it’s surrounded by incredible experiences:

Kalk Bay Harbour – Watch the fishing boats come in or browse the markets.
Boulders Beach (Simon’s Town) – Meet the African penguins in their natural habitat.
Cape Point Nature Reserve – A must-do day trip further along the peninsula.

When to Visit

St James is an all-year-round destination. The east-facing beach is sheltered from the Cape’s strong westerly winds, making it a great swimming spot even when other beaches are blustery. Summer is the most popular season, but winter brings whale watching opportunities from Boyes Drive.

Ready to Explore St James?

Whether you’re dipping into the tidal pool, snapping photos of the colourful beach huts, or enjoying world-class pizza by the sea, St James offers a unique slice of Cape Peninsula life. And when you’re ready to rest, our MUi STAYS properties in Muizenberg and the surrounding areas are just minutes away—making it easy to explore, unwind, and experience the best of Cape Town’s coastline.

How to Run Your Vacation Rental Property: DIY vs Host vs Professional Agent Models

undefined (MUi STAYS ) — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 12:29:46 GMT

Owning a vacation rental in Cape Town can be a powerful wealth-building tool — but how you manage it can make or break your returns. Do you roll up your sleeves as a DIY operator or do you outsource everything to a full-service agency and focus on your primary income? Is the stress and effort of managing a vacation rental yourself worth it, and are you maximising returns going it alone?

In this article we will provide an objective breakdown of the income, costs, and effort associated with each model, fuelled by The 7 Laws of Wealth-Building with Vacation Rental Property.

Tips to Maximise Your Vacation Rental Investment

If you’re a vacation rental owner in Cape Town and asking yourself “What’s the best way to run my Airbnb”, you have a few options.

DIY - Manage the property yourself
Co-host - Find a family member, friend or one-man-band who does this for extra cash
Professional Agency - or partner with a professional vacation rental agency in Cape Town to handle everything

So, do you dig deep and find the hours to manage it yourself or do you bring in the professionals with a broad market reach and industry insight? There are a few considerations.

Looking Beyond the Management Fees

The investment you’re looking to utilise as an income stream most likely came at a cost (and not purely a financial one), and so it’s natural to want to extract as much value out of it as possible. The thing is, when you’re deciding on how you’re going to manage the property it’s important that you don’t only consider the immediate costs should professional management be included in the mix.

The decision you make directly impacts your returns, your stress levels, and whether you own a passive investment or a second job. Yes, if you go it alone you avoid the costs associated with a professional service, but the mistake many investors make is to simply compare direct fees alone.

The true cost of management lies in the unseen effort, hidden expenses, and the immense lost opportunity from not maximising your property's potential. The hours you spend managing bookings, the stress of handling emergencies, and the revenue lost to a limited marketing reach are all real costs that eat into your profit and peace of mind. Added to that, while you may see yourself as a hospitality expert, sometimes it’s smarter to leave it up to the professionals who do this day in and day out.

Vacation Rental Management Matrix: DIY vs Co-Host vs Professional Agent Models

So, how much does it cost to run an Airbnb if you outsource the product to the professionals?

The following table provides a high-level overview that summarises the core trade-offs between the three primary management models.

Vacation rental pricing comparison

The above is only a guide to what the typical scenarios look like, but each property and each market has nuances that may further impact your decision. It’s best to speak to the vacation rental professionals, like MUi STAYS.

These numbers show the potential. Find out what your property could achieve. Complete the form here to book a call with us here to get an instant financial projection for your property.

Beyond the Fees: A Real-World Case Study

Now that you’ve seen the high-level overview in the matrix, let’s apply these principles to a tangible, real-world case study for the remainder of this article. Here we’re looking at our own in-house management systems compared with performance data from the Airbnb platform for a typical single-bedroom apartment in Muizenberg, valued at R1,900,000. By ‘typical’ we mean that there was nothing special about it - no unique selling points, no frills or special features.

We’ve broken this down into three key components three key stages:

Breaking Down Property Management: 9 Critical Tasks for Investors
Vacation Rental Revenue: Projected Cashflow from a Case Study
Vacation Rental Capital Appreciation: Combining Annual Profit with Capital Growth

Viewing a management fee as a simple expense is a common mistake; it should be seen as an investment in maximising your total return..

1. Breaking Down Property Management: 9 Critical Tasks for Investors

To understand how the different management models lead to such vastly different financial outcomes, we need to dissect the essential day-to-day tasks of running a successful vacation rental in Cape Town . The value of a professional agency becomes clear when you see how they handle each component systematically, turning potential owner stress into operational excellence.

Here’s how the three models stack up across the nine critical elements of property management.

4.1. Guest Communication & Support

DIY (Owner-Managed): The owner is responsible for all guest inquiries, pre-arrival questions, in-stay issues, and post-stay follow-ups, 24/7. This is a high-stress, high-time commitment that directly impacts review quality. This is a difficult approach for someone with a full-time job.
Co-Host Model: A co-host handles most guest communication, but the owner often remains involved in escalations or complex issues. The quality of service can vary greatly depending on the individual co-host.
Professional Agency (MUi STAYS Model): Utilises a dedicated, 24/7 support team to provide professional, 5-star service. This ensures rapid response times and consistent quality, leading to better reviews (broader market appeal and improved public brand perception) and guest satisfaction.

4.2. Marketing & Listing Optimisation

DIY (Owner-Managed): Owners typically only list on Airbnb, potentially leaving up to 75% of revenue on the table. And for DIY owners, listing optimisation is often guesswork.
Co-Host Model: A co-host may have more experience with basic listing optimisation but still lacks the access to a full spectrum of booking channels.
Professional Agency (MUi STAYS Model): Employs professional distribution across over 100 channels plus direct corporate and tourism networks, unlocking the full 75% of the market that DIY managers miss (a key part of Law #2: Cash Flow ).

4.3. Pricing Strategy & Revenue Management

DIY (Owner-Managed): Pricing is often based on guesswork or simply copying neighbours, leading to a high risk of devaluing the property or missing out on peak-season revenue.
Co-Host Model: Can offer basic pricing advice based on experience, but typically lacks sophisticated, data-driven tools.
Professional Agency (MUi STAYS Model): Uses dynamic, data-driven technology to adjust pricing in real time, maximising revenue and protecting the property's brand from devaluation (as outlined in
Law #7: Brand Integrity ).

4.4. Cleaning & Turnover Management

DIY (Owner-Managed): Finding, training, and scheduling reliable cleaners is time-consuming and fraught with potential inconsistency, which is a common cause of poor reviews.
Co-Host Model: Provides basic oversight of cleaning staff but may not have formalised checklists or inspection processes.
Professional Agency (MUi STAYS Model): Uses professionally trained cleaning teams with automated scheduling and quality control systems to ensure a consistent, 5-star level of cleanliness for every guest arrival (a core principle of
Law #3: Operational Efficiency ).

4.5. Maintenance & Repairs

DIY (Owner-Managed): Dealing with maintenance is unpredictable, stressful, and often costly, as owners lack a network of vetted, reliable contractors for emergency call-outs.
Co-Host Model: Offers basic coordination for repairs, acting as a point of contact but without the 24/7 response systems of an agency.
Professional Agency (MUi STAYS Model): Provides proactive maintenance plans and a 24/7 emergency response team with a network of vetted professionals, ensuring issues are resolved quickly and cost-effectively.

4.6. Financial Reporting & Analytics

DIY (Owner-Managed): Financial tracking is typically manual, time-consuming, and prone to errors, providing no real performance insights.
Co-Host Model: May provide limited, basic summaries of income and expenses.
Professional Agency (MUi STAYS Model): Offers transparent, real-time financial dashboards, providing owners with clear insights into their property's performance and making tax preparation effortless.

4.7. Brand Building & Reputation Management

DIY (Owner-Managed): Reputation management is reactive and vulnerable to the whims of a few bad reviews.
Co-Host Model: Has a limited scope for proactive brand building beyond the standard platform review requests.
Professional Agency (MUi STAYS Model): Proactively manages reputation to build a 4.5+ star brand that can command a 10-20% price premium over comparable listings (as detailed in
Law #7: Brand Integrity ).

4.8. Local Community & Partnership Integration

DIY (Owner-Managed): Building strategic local partnerships lacks scale and requires very high effort, resulting in a missed Return on Involvement.
Co-Host Model: May have limited local connections but cannot formalise partnerships at a scale that provides significant value.
Professional Agency (MUi STAYS Model): Uniquely able to operate at scale to engage in active civic improvement (like the Muizenberg beach hut preservation) and secure exclusive guest deals, such as discounts at local restaurants or free surf lessons. This enhances the guest experience, drives referrals, and boosts property value (directly applying
Law #5: Community and Law #6: Partnerships ).

4.9. Problem Solving & Crisis Management

DIY (Owner-Managed): A crisis like a burst geyser or a security issue can cause extreme stress and lead to costly errors when handled without experience. The owner is on call 24/7.
Co-Host Model: Response to crises can be variable depending on the individual co-host’s experience and availability.

Professional Agency (MUi STAYS Model): Has dedicated 24/7 support and established protocols for handling any crisis, giving the owner complete peace of mind.

2. Vacation Rental Revenue: Projected Cashflow from a Case Study

Now we debate the numbers. By applying the fee structures and operational costs to our average R1,900,000 single apartment, we can see the real-world net profit and return on investment for each management model. For this comparison, we’ve included an estimate for Turnover & Operational Costs (guest supplies, professional laundry, minor maintenance) at a conservative 15% of gross revenue for all models.

For this comparison, we will use the following, more detailed fee structure:

Platform Fees: We will use a blended average of 18.5% for platform fees. This is calculated from the updated host fees on major platforms (e.g., Airbnb at 15% + VAT, and Booking.com at 15% + VAT plus additional payout fees).
Turnover & Operational Costs: 15% of gross revenue for all models.
Management Fees: 0% for DIY, 15% to 25% for Co-Host, and 20% to 30% for Professional Agency.

Scenario 1: The DIY Investor

This investor relies solely on platform bookings and manages everything themselves.

Gross Revenue: R181,000
Less Platform Fees (18.46% of Gross): -R33,413
Less Turnover & Operational Costs (15% of Gross): -R27,150
Net Revenue (Before Owner's Time): R120,437

Scenario 2: The Co-Host Model

This investor hires a co-host to manage the property, who charges a fee on top of the platform and operational costs.

Gross Revenue: R181,000
Less Platform Fees (18.46% of Gross): -R33,413
Less Co-Host Management Fee (15% of Gross): -R27,150
Less Turnover & Operational Costs (15% of Gross): -R27,150
Net Revenue (Before Owner's Time): R93,287

Scenario 3: The Professional Agency Model (MUi STAYS)

The agency achieves higher gross revenue through a multi-channel strategy where 50% of bookings are direct (no platform fees).

Gross Revenue: R282,000
Less Platform Fees (18.46% on 50% of bookings): -R26,029
Less Pro Management Fee (21.5% of Gross): -R60,630
Less Turnover & Operational Costs (15% of Gross): -R42,300
Net Revenue (Passive Income): R153,041

Final ROI Showdown

Here we calculate the final annual return on the R1,900,000 property investment, factoring in the true net revenue of each model.

Vacation Rental Capital Appreciation: Combining Annual Profit with Capital Growth

We’ve seen the difference in annual cash flow, but the ultimate value of an investment is realised upon its sale. This is where professional management creates a significant, often overlooked, financial advantage.

Instead of relying on hypothetical discounts or premiums, let's look at a real-life market example. Recently, two similar two-bedroom, sea-facing apartments in the area were listed for R5.5 million at the same time:

One property, managed by MUi STAYS , had a complete history of bookings, revenue, and guest reviews. It sold within 24 hours at the full asking price of R5.5 million .
The other, a self-managed property , sat on the market for five months and was finally sold for R4.9 million .

Why the R600,000 difference and the drastically faster sale? The MUi STAYS property was not just bricks and mortar; it was a verifiable, turn-key business. The historical performance data gave the buyer deep insight into the "going concern" they were acquiring, justifying the sales price and making the purchase decision a confident one. The self-managed property lacked this proof, leading to uncertainty, prolonged negotiation, and a substantial loss in value for the owner.

While the table below uses a conservative baseline of 7% capital appreciation for all models to ensure a fair comparison, keep in mind that this real-world example demonstrates the potential for a much greater upside with professional management. The table combines this appreciation with your compounded earnings to reveal the Total 5-Year ROI —the complete percentage return on your initial investment.

Total Investment Value Projection (5-Year Horizon @ 7% Growth)

As the numbers clearly show, while a co-host offers a respectable return, the professional agency model adds nearly R300,000 ( ROI of 86.6% is over 18 percentage points higher ) more to the investor's pocket over five years. Added to that, the heavy lifting is all managed by the professionals, making it a truly passive gain.

This means that the gap between the DIY approach (76%) and professional management is, based on the above example, over R160,000 . This proves that the short-term cost of an agency fee is minuscule compared to the significant long-term value created through higher earnings, compounded returns, and superior capital growth.

Conclusion: From Active Manager to Strategic Investor

The choice between DIY, co-host, and professional management is perhaps the most significant of all.

The data-driven forecast of our R1.9 million case study (with real data) leaves no room for doubt: while a DIY approach can quickly become a low-paying, high-stress job, and a co-host offers a safer middle ground, only a professional agency operates as a true wealth-creation engine.

At the end of the day, the choice defines your role in the asset and whether or not you are able to maximise returns.

The first step is understanding what your property should be earning. To get a free calculation to know exactly what sort of value you can unlock, book a free consultation on our ‘ Manage My Property ’ page.

As one of Cape Town’s most trusted vacation rental management partners, we’ve helped hundreds of property owners like you extract the most value out of their investment as possible.

What’s Going On in Sunset Beach

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 18:51:40 GMT

Your Guide to Sunset Beach: Luxury, Surf & Sunsets

Luxury Living in Sunset Beach

Sunset Beach is one of Cape Town’s most exclusive seaside suburbs, known for its long stretch of white sand, world-class kitesurfing, and unforgettable views of Table Mountain and Robben Island. Just 15 minutes from the city centre, this tranquil estate blends luxury living with easy access to Cape Town’s best shopping, dining, and entertainment.

The beach gets its name from the suburb that surrounds it, and as the name promises — the sunsets here are among the best in the world.

Getting Around

By Car: Renting a car is the easiest way to explore. Parking is free along the beach and plentiful in shopping areas.

Uber/Bolt: Reliable and affordable for quick trips into Blouberg, Table View, or Cape Town CBD.

On Foot: Sunset Beach itself is walkable — perfect for morning strolls and sunset walks.

Proximity: Just 20 minutes to the V&A Waterfront, 10 minutes to Canal Walk Mall, and 30 minutes to Cape Town International Airport.

Where to Eat

Breakfast & Brunch

Petits Fours (Bloubergstrand)

Cozy bistro with ocean views; don’t miss their pastries.

Reload Espresso Bar (Table View)

Modern café with excellent coffee and light bites.

Lunch

Ons Huisie (Bloubergstrand)

Historic cottage serving Cape Malay–inspired seafood.

Forneria Italia

Local favourite for wood-fired pizzas and fresh pasta.

Dinner

Blowfish (Table View)

Sushi and seafood with a panoramic view of Table Mountain.

Catch 22 (Blouberg)

Lively spot for seafood, steaks, and cocktails.

Café Orca (Melkbosstrand)

West Coast classic, perfect for a special night out.

Coffee Shops & Cafés

Petits Fours - Croissants and cappuccinos with a sea breeze.
Reload Espresso Bar - Great for remote work or quick takeaway.
Moksh Blouberg - More of a restaurant, but locals rave about their masala chai.

What to Do & Explore

Outdoor Activities

Kitesurfing & Windsurfing - Sunset Beach is a global hotspot for kiteboarding.
Surfing - Consistent waves for confident surfers.
Beach Walks - Long, uncrowded stretches of sand, perfect for a quiet escape.
Whale & Dolphin Watching - Spot whales (Aug–Nov) and dolphins all year.

Attractions

Table Bay Nature Reserve – Birdwatching paradise with pelicans and flamingos.
Milnerton Golf Course – Scenic 18-hole course with lagoon and ocean views.
Canal Walk Mall – Massive shopping centre with restaurants and cinemas.
Blouberg beachfront – Ice cream shops, playgrounds, and safe swimming areas.

Nightlife & Sundowners

Blue Peter (Bloubergstrand) - Sundowners on the lawn with live music.
Catch 22 - Cocktails with panoramic sea views.
Blowfish - Chic sushi and sundowners.
The Beach Tavern - Local pub with a relaxed vibe.

Hidden Gems (Insider Tips)

Secret Viewpoint – Walk toward Milnerton Lagoon at low tide for an unbeatable photo of Table Mountain.
Quiet Stretch – Head north from Sunset Beach toward Dolphin Beach for a private slice of sand.
Local Favourite – Friday sundowners at Blue Peter — arrive early to get a lawn spot.

Day Trips & Nearby Adventures

Cape Town City Bowl – Explore Table Mountain, Bo-Kaap, and the V&A Waterfront (15–20 mins).
Durbanville Wine Valley – Boutique wine farms just 25 minutes inland.
Melkbosstrand – Quaint seaside town with great seafood (15 mins north).
Cape Point – Scenic drive down the peninsula, about 1 hour away.

Practical Info

Groceries : Woolworths & Checkers (Table View, 5 mins).
Pharmacy : Clicks & Dis-Chem nearby.
ATMs : Available at malls and petrol stations.
Wi-Fi : Most cafés (Reload, Petits Fours) have reliable Wi-Fi if you’re working remotely.
Safety Tip : Sunset Beach is safe, but as with all of Cape Town, avoid leaving valuables unattended.

Your Seaside Escape Awaits

From the pristine sands of Sunset Beach to the exhilarating waves perfect for kitesurfing and surfing, this exclusive coastal haven has something for everyone. Indulge in world-class dining, sip cocktails as the sun dips behind Table Mountain, explore nearby nature reserves, or simply unwind in the comfort of your luxurious accommodation.

Whether you’re seeking adventure, tranquility, or a family-friendly getaway, Sunset Beach offers the perfect balance of luxury, leisure, and lifestyle . Make this seaside paradise your home for the holiday, and let the beauty, elegance, and charm of Sunset Beach leave you refreshed, inspired, and longing to return.

What’s Going On in Cape Town City (CBD)

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 18:51:10 GMT

Your Guide to Cape Town’s CBD: Eat, Explore & Experience

The Heart of the Mother City

The Cape Town Central Business District (CBD) is the vibrant commercial, cultural, and historical heart of the City Bowl. Nestled between Table Mountain and the Port of Cape Town, it’s a bustling hub for business, government, tourism, and entertainment. Whether you’re a local, expat, or visitor, the CBD offers a mix of rich history, urban living, and world-class attractions.

Getting Around

Walking-Friendly: Most attractions, restaurants, and cafés are within walking distance of each other.
Uber & Taxi: Reliable and convenient for evening outings.
Public Transport: MyCiTi bus system and Cape Town Train Station provide easy access across the city.
Parking: Limited street parking is available; some hotels and shopping centers offer secure parking.
Proximity: The CBD is centrally located, making it easy to reach nearby neighborhoods like Bo-Kaap, De Waterkant, and the V&A Waterfront.

Where to Eat

Breakfast / Brunch

Tribe Coffee Café: Stylish café with great coffee and healthy breakfast options. Must-try: avo toast and flat white.
The Company Garden’s Restaurant: Family-friendly, light meals, and local teas surrounded by greenery.

Lunch

Nuri Sushi Factory: Fresh sushi in a casual setting. Try the dragon roll or chef’s special.
Eastern Food Bazaar: Middle Eastern flavors, perfect for a quick and tasty lunch.

Dinner / Special Occasion

Fyn: Ultra-modern African-Japanese fine dining at the Gorgeous George hotel. Signature dish: rice-smoked duck breast.
La Parada Bree Street: Social Spanish tapas in a lively setting—perfect for dinner with friends.

Coffee Shops & Cafés

Deluxe Coffeeworks: Central, buzzing, and welcoming. Try their single-origin espresso.
Kamili Coffee: Cozy, homely vibes with freshly roasted beans and pastries.
Bean There: Ethical, high-quality coffee served in an eclectic African-inspired interior.

What to Do & Explore

Outdoor & Nature : Walk through the Company’s Garden or explore the Fan Walk connecting historic sites.
Cultural Attractions: Castle of Good Hope, Bo-Kaap Museum, District Six Museum, and the Slave Lodge.
Family-Friendly: Greenmarket Square, Company’s Garden, and interactive museum exhibits.
Unique Experiences: City Walk storytelling tours, guided cycling with AWOL Tours, and visiting boutique galleries like Whatiftheworld.

Nightlife & Sundowners

Long Street: Bustling bars, live music, and nightlife.
Bree Street: Trendy rooftop bars and cocktail lounges.
Gigi Rooftop at Gorgeous George: Glamorous spot for cocktails with panoramic city views at sunset.

Hidden Gems (Insider Tips)

Secret Viewpoints: Hidden terraces near St George’s Mall overlook the city skyline.
Small Shops & Local Finds: Artisan boutiques and craft stores on Bree Street.
Local Events: City Walk Saturdays for pop-up markets and cultural experiences.

Day Trips & Nearby Adventures

Short Drives: V&A Waterfront, Table Mountain hikes, and Signal Hill for sunset views.
Wine Regions: Constantia Valley and Stellenbosch within 30–60 minutes’ drive.
Coastal Excursions: Camps Bay or Clifton beaches for sun and sea.

Practical Info

Groceries & Essentials: Pick & Pay, Woolworths, and smaller convenience stores.
Pharmacies & ATMs: Available throughout the CBD; most hotels also have nearby ATMs.
Safety Tips: Stick to well-lit areas, avoid isolated streets at night, and use registered transport.
Wi-Fi: Many cafés and public spaces offer free Wi-Fi for remote work.

Your Cape Town CBD Adventure Awaits

Whether you’re here to explore Cape Town’s history, taste world-class cuisine, or soak in the city’s vibrant energy, the CBD has something for everyone. And when you’re ready to unwind, your home at MUi STAYS is just around the corner, offering comfort and convenience in the heart of it all.

What’s Going On in Hout Bay

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 18:50:33 GMT

Your Guide to Hout Bay: The Seaside Jewel of Cape Town

Nature, Culture, and Harbour Life

Tucked between the dramatic Cape Mountains and the sparkling Atlantic Ocean, Hout Bay is a seaside town that feels like a well-kept secret—yet it’s just a short 25-minute drive from Cape Town’s city centre. With its long sandy beaches, bustling harbour, and vibrant local markets, this charming fishing village offers a unique blend of natural beauty, rich history, and genuine local culture.

For travellers looking to escape the city bustle without venturing too far, Hout Bay is a hidden gem waiting to be explored—a must-visit destination for those who want to see Cape Town from a fresh, local perspective.

Getting Around

Getting around Hout Bay is easy, whether you’re exploring the town itself or heading out to nearby attractions. The area is very walking-friendly, especially around the harbour, beach, and local markets, making it perfect for leisurely strolls.

For longer trips, Uber and ride-sharing services are readily available, giving you flexibility to explore surrounding areas like Noordhoek, Chapman's Peak, or Cape Point at your own pace.

If you prefer to rent a car, it’s a convenient way to access hiking trails, scenic drives, and hidden beaches. Just be aware that parking can get busy in popular spots, especially during weekends and peak season.

Where to Eat

Breakfast & Brunch

Deli Delish – Wholesome all-day breakfast with family-friendly vibes. Try the Twisted Eggs Benedict or freshly baked pastries.
La Cuccina – A deli-style café with à la carte breakfasts and sweet treats. Perfect for a quick takeaway or cozy sit-down.

Lunch

Chapman’s Peak Hotel – Seafood with sweeping bay views; the fried calamari is a local favorite.
Fish on the Rocks – Casual, hands-on fish restaurant at the harbour’s edge; don’t miss the snoek and calamari.

Dinner / Special Occasion

Cheyne Morrisby – Modern Asian cuisine with a sharing-focused yum cha menu. Must-try: tuna tataki taco.
Massimo’s – Family-friendly Italian with gluten-free and vegan options, ideal for a relaxed evening.

Coffee Shops & Cafés

La Cuccina – Great for people-watching and takeaway coffee; try their freshly baked carrot cake.
Clay Café – Creative café meets pottery studio; sip coffee while painting your own masterpiece.
Bay Harbour Market cafés – Seasonal coffee stalls and pastries; enjoy the lively market atmosphere.

What to Do & Explore

Outdoor Activities

Surfing at Hout Bay Beach or Dungeons for more experienced surfers.
Hikes like Hout Bay Corner or trails along the surrounding mountains.
Kayak trips towards Chapman’s Peak or Seal Island.

Attractions

World of Birds – Africa’s largest bird park with over 3,000 birds.
Lichtenstein Castle – Unique Gothic-style castle, available for tours or events.

Family-Friendly Options

Harbour walks, playgrounds, and Clay Café pottery painting.
Bay Harbour Market – Fun for all ages with live music and food stalls.

Unique Local Experiences

Township tour of Imizamo Yethu for cultural insight.
Yoga on the beach or sunset picnics at Hout Bay Beach.

Nightlife & Sundowners

The Lookout Deck – Casual harbour-side restaurant perfect for sunset drinks.
Pakalolo – Live music and a buzzy bar atmosphere.
Dunes Beach Restaurant & Bar – Relaxed seaside spot for beers with the family or friends.

Hidden Gems (Insider Tips)

Secret viewpoints along Suikerbossie Pass for panoramic bay views.
Small local shops tucked away in Oakhurst Farm Park.
Weekday morning strolls along the quieter sections of the harbour.

Day Trips & Nearby Adventures

Short drives along Chapman’s Peak Drive or Constantia Wine Route.
Visit nearby Noordhoek for beaches or Cape Point for scenic hikes.
Explore neighbouring towns like Simon’s Town or Kommetjie.

Practical Info

Grocery stores and pharmacies in the centre of town; ATMs widely available.
Locals recommend keeping your belongings secure and avoiding walking alone at night.
Wi-Fi is available at most cafés, markets, and restaurants if you need to work remotely.

Ready for Your Stay?

Whether you’re here to surf the waves, explore scenic trails, discover hidden gems, or savor the local cuisine, Hout Bay has something for everyone. From family adventures at the beach to tranquil moments watching the sunset over the harbor, every day brings a new experience.

And when it’s time to unwind, your home away from home with MUi STAYS is just around the corner. Enjoy comfortable, stylish accommodations, attentive service, and the perfect base to make the most of your Hout Bay getaway. Your adventure starts here—relax, explore, and make memories that will last a lifetime.

What’s Going On in Simon’s Town

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 18:50:00 GMT

Your Guide to Simon’s Town: Eat, Explore & Experience

Experience Simon’s Town, the Heart of False Bay

Welcome to Simon’s Town, a historic seaside village just 35km from Cape Town. Nestled on the shores of False Bay, Simon’s Town is home to the South African Navy, a rich maritime heritage, and of course, the famous colony of African Penguins at Boulders Beach. Whether you’re here for adventure, history, or a relaxed coastal getaway, Simon’s Town offers a unique blend of charm, nature, and unforgettable experiences.

Getting Around

Train – Simon’s Town Station connects directly to Cape Town along one of the most scenic railway lines in the world.

Golden Arrow Bus & Minibus Taxis – Regular connections to surrounding towns.

Uber & Ride-Sharing – Convenient for flexible exploring.

Hakuna Matuktuk – A fun tuk-tuk service with Wi-Fi that’s perfect for short scenic rides.

Pro Tip: Use Google Maps for real-time updates, and remember to keep belongings secure, especially at night.

Where to Eat

Saveur Restaurant – Contemporary European-style dining with ocean views. Don’t miss the West Coast mussels or a hearty breakfast.
Black Marlin – A destination restaurant famous for seafood platters, Cape Rock lobster, and a stellar wine list.
The Peckish Penguin – A casual spot for homemade smash burgers (including vegan options). Great for a quick bite.

Coffee Shops & Cafés

Monocle & Mermaid – Cozy café with a strong coffee culture and pastries, perfect for a morning start.
Seaforth Restaurant Café Section – Beachfront spot ideal for a cappuccino with a view.
Sweetest Thing – Known for delicious pastries and baked treats (the lemon meringue is a favorite!).

What to Do & Explore

Boulders Beach – Spend the day with penguins in their natural habitat (keep a 5m distance).
Scratch Patch & Cave Golf – Fun for families—dig for polished gemstones and enjoy a quirky underground mini-golf course.
South African Naval Museum – Explore naval history, from ship bridges to diving equipment. Free entry.
SAS Assegaai Submarine Museum – Step aboard a real submarine and hear stories from navy veterans.
Warrior Toy Museum – 4,000 model cars, dolls, teddy bears, and working train sets.

Nightlife & Sundowners

Seaforth Beach at Sunset – A relaxed local favorite.
Harbourview Restaurant Bar – Sip cocktails while watching the boats.
False Bay Yacht Club – Join for sundowners with one of the best coastal views.

Hidden Gems (Insider Tips)

Just Nuisance Grave & Statue – Climb Barnard Street steps to visit the famous navy dog’s grave and enjoy panoramic views.
Whale View Manor Day Spa – Indulge in a tranquil seaside spa treatment.
Simon’s Town Ghost Walk – Discover the haunted history of this old naval town.

Day Trips & Nearby Adventures

Cape Point – Just a short drive away; take the funicular to the lighthouse for epic views.
Swartkop Hike – A beautiful fynbos hike with sweeping views of False Bay.
The Great African Sea Forests – Snorkel or dive where My Octopus Teacher was filmed.
Kalk Bay – A quirky fishing village nearby, perfect for antiques, art, and fresh fish ‘n chips.
Wine Estates of Constantia – South Africa’s oldest wine route is only 30 minutes away.

Practical Info

Grocery Stores – Pick n Pay in the town center for essentials.
Pharmacies & ATMs – Found along St. George’s Street.
Wi-Fi & Work Spots – Many cafés (like Monocle & Mermaid) welcome remote workers.
Safety Tip: Avoid walking alone at night and keep valuables close when traveling.

Come Stay, Explore & Relax

Simon’s Town is where nature meets history , where you can sip coffee by the harbour in the morning, kayak with penguins at midday, and enjoy fresh seafood as the sun sets. Whether you’re here for a weekend or a long holiday, Simon’s Town has everything you need for a memorable stay.

At the end of each adventure, you’ll have a cozy home waiting for you. So unpack, unwind, and make Simon’s Town your base for exploring the best of the Cape.

What’s Going On in Glencairn

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 18:49:28 GMT

Your Guide to Glencairn: Eat, Explore & Experience

Why Glencairn Will Steal Your Heart

Just 4 km north of Simon’s Town, the small seaside village of Glencairn is one of the Cape Peninsula’s best-kept secrets. With its mountainside homes overlooking False Bay, a pristine family beach, tidal pool, and wetlands teeming with wildlife, Glencairn is the perfect balance between nature and coastal living.

Central to the Cape Point Route, it’s just 10 minutes from the penguins at Boulders Beach, 2 km from Harbour Bay Shopping Centre, and a short drive to Cape Point. But with such beauty at your doorstep, you may never want to leave!

Getting Around

Train – Glencairn has its own train stop at the south end of the suburb, with stunning sea views along the route into Cape Town.
Golden Arrow Bus & Minibus Taxis – Public transport connects Glencairn to surrounding towns.
Uber & Ride-Sharing – Convenient for day trips or evenings out.
Google Maps – Use apps for navigation and real-time updates. Locals are friendly and often happy to share directions.

Please Note: As in all coastal towns, keep belongings secure and avoid walking alone late at night.

Where to Eat

Hotel Glencairn – Built in 1904, this landmark is loved for its hearty burgers, craft beers, and relaxed atmosphere. Downstairs you’ll also find a vegan café, quirky bar, and waste-free grocer with fresh bread and organic produce.
Dixie’s Restaurant – A family-run favorite for over 40 years, serving generous portions of seafood, steaks, and pub classics. Known for its welcoming vibe and ocean views.
Harbour Bay (2 km away) – Offers a variety of restaurants from casual dining to sushi and fine seafood.

Coffee Shops & Cafés

Hotel Glencairn Vegan Café – Fresh, wholesome options with excellent coffee.
Nearby Simon’s Town & Kalk Bay – Within minutes, you’ll find artisan bakeries and coffee shops perfect for a morning flat white.

What to Do & Explore

Glencairn Beach & Tidal Pool – A long sandy beach perfect for swimming, surfing, kayaking, and snorkeling. The refurbished tidal pool is safe for kids and great for long swims.
Whale Watching – From July to November, Southern Right Whales grace False Bay. Dolphins and seals are often spotted year-round.
Glencairn Wetland – A conservation area ideal for birdwatching, family walks, and spotting Cape clawless otters, mongooses, and buck.
Scuba Diving – Explore the wreck of the Glencairn Barge, a popular dive site surrounded by fascinating reefs.
Scratch Patch & Cave Golf (nearby) – A fun family outing where kids (and adults) can collect polished gemstones or enjoy mini-golf in a cave setting.

Nightlife & Sundowners

Hotel Glencairn Bar – A relaxed spot for locals and travelers alike, with craft beers and live music events.
Dixie’s – A go-to for sundowners overlooking False Bay.
Simon’s Town & Kalk Bay – Just minutes away, offering wine bars, pubs, and live entertainment.

Hidden Gems (Insider Tips)

The Wetland Trails – Quiet, scenic paths perfect for sunset walks and birdwatching.
Locals’ Tip: The tidal pool at high tide is magical — bring goggles to spot fish and sea life.
Nearby Quarry Dive Site – A local favorite for diving enthusiasts.

Day Trips & Nearby Adventures

Cape Point Nature Reserve – Just a short drive, with hiking trails, wildlife, and the iconic lighthouse.
Boulders Beach – Meet the African penguin colony, only 10 minutes away.
Kalk Bay – A quirky fishing village with art galleries, vintage shops, and world-class restaurants.
Chapman’s Peak Drive – One of the most scenic drives in the world, connecting Noordhoek to Hout Bay.

Practical Info

Grocery Stores – Nearby Harbour Bay Shopping Centre has Pick n Pay and Woolworths.
Pharmacies & ATMs – Available at Harbour Bay and Fish Hoek.
Wi-Fi Spots – Most cafés and restaurants in the area offer free Wi-Fi.
Beach Safety – Swim only when lifeguards are on duty, and always stay within the designated swimming areas.

Your Home by the Bay Awaits

Glencairn is the kind of place that lingers in your memory — from tidal pool swims and mountain hikes to whale watching and family dinners overlooking False Bay. Whether you’re here for relaxation, adventure, or simply to soak up the coastal charm, this hidden gem offers everything you need.

And when you’re ready to relax, your holiday home in Glencairn is waiting — a cozy, scenic retreat just steps away from all the beauty the Cape Peninsula has to offer.

What’s Going On in Fish Hoek

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 18:48:21 GMT

Your Guide to Fish Hoek: Swim, Stroll & Soak Up the Sun

Why Visit Fish Hoek?

Fish Hoek is one of Cape Town’s most family-friendly seaside suburbs , set on the False Bay coast and surrounded by rugged mountains. Known for its long, sandy beach and calm, relatively warm waters, it’s a favorite for swimmers, families, and anyone seeking a relaxed coastal vibe.

It’s quieter than Cape Town city, yet only 25 minutes away — making it a perfect base for beach days, whale watching, and exploring the Cape Peninsula.

Top Things to Do

Fish Hoek Beach

1.5 km stretch of soft white sand, ideal for swimming and sandcastle building.
Lifeguards and shark spotters on duty, plus a shark exclusion net in season.
Jager Walk: a paved coastal path leading toward Sunny Cove with beautiful views.
Dog-friendly sections and wheelchair access points.

Whale & Dolphin Watching

Between June–November , spot Southern Right and Humpback whales breaching in the bay.
Dolphins often make appearances year-round.

Outdoor & Adventure

Kayaking & Paddleboarding – calm waters are perfect for beginners.
Elsie’s Peak Hike – panoramic views over False Bay.
Silvermine Nature Reserve – nearby trails and birdwatching.
Clovelly Country Club – scenic 18-hole golf course.

Culture & History

Peers Cave – hike up to this Stone Age site, where “Fish Hoek Man” (12,000 years old) was discovered.
Fish Hoek Valley Museum – small but fascinating, with archaeology and local history.
Trek Fishing – watch fishermen practice this traditional method on the northern end of the beach.

Where to Eat

Casual & Local Favorites

Fish Hoek Galley – right on the beach, perfect for seafood, ice cream, and whale spotting.
Barracudas – relaxed beachfront restaurant specializing in fresh seafood with family-friendly vibes.
Classic Takeaways – Spur, Steers, Debonairs, plus plenty of fish & chips spots for a beach picnic.

Coffee Shops & Cafés

Grab an ice cream from The Galley and enjoy it on the sand.
Small beachfront cafés serve up easy breakfasts, sandwiches, and takeaway coffees with a sea view.

Insider Tips

Fish Hoek is known as one of the safest beaches in Cape Town thanks to its calm waters and shark safety measures.

Sunrise here is magical — the bay faces east, so grab a coffee and stroll Jager Walk as the day begins.
If you’re here in whale season, bring binoculars — the views from the beachfront are spectacular.
Fish Hoek is “old school Cape Town” — expect slower service, family-owned shops, and a relaxed atmosphere that’s part of its charm.

Day Trips Nearby

Simon’s Town & Boulders Beach – just 10 minutes away, home to African penguins.

Kalk Bay – quirky antique shops, art galleries, and trendy eateries.

Cape Point Nature Reserve – dramatic scenery and hiking trails.

Your Fish Hoek Adventure Awaits

Whether you’re here for a family holiday, a romantic retreat, or just a weekend escape, Fish Hoek offers a little bit of everything — safe swimming, mountain hikes, and timeless seaside charm. And when you’re ready to relax after a day of sun and sea, your Airbnb stay is the perfect place to call home.

What’s Going On in Kalk Bay

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 18:43:40 GMT

Your Guide to Kalk Bay: Where to Eat, Shop & Explore

Why Visit Kalk Bay?

Kalk Bay is one of Cape Town’s coolest seaside villages, recently listed by Forbes as one of the 12 coolest neighborhoods in the world . It’s a quirky mix of fishing boats, tidal pools, antique shops, art galleries, and some of the best dining spots on the False Bay coast. Think: a little bohemian, a little historic, and a lot of charm.

Where to Eat

Casual & Local Favorites

Kalky’s – A Kalk Bay institution! Grab legendary fish & chips at the harbour, bring your own wine, and enjoy the buzz of fishermen hauling in the day’s catch.
Bob’s Bagel Café – Tucked away near the park, this spot is perfect for a lazy breakfast or coffee with fresh bagels and smoothies.
Olympia Café & Bakery – Bustling and rustic, known for its chalkboard menu and massive portions. Don’t miss the famous bakery next door for pastries and fresh bread.

Something Special

Harbour House – Fine dining perched on the rocks with unbeatable ocean views. Perfect for a romantic dinner (book in advance, ask for table 40 if you can!).
Cape to Cuba – A vibrant Cuban-inspired restaurant/bar where salsa beats meet ocean breezes. Great for cocktails and lively evenings.

Other Must-Try Stops

Lekker – South African comfort food and desserts like milk tart and koeksisters.

SALT – Laid-back tapas and seafood plates with a rustic vibe.

The Brass Bell – Iconic live music, seaside decks, and endless ocean views.

Coffee, Sweets & Treats

Ice Café – Famous homemade ice cream in rotating flavors like cinnamon, black cherry, and peanut butter.
Courtyard Café – A hidden gem for coffee, brunch, and family-friendly vibes.
Ohana Beach Café – Vegan-friendly, oceanfront café known for the Ohana Bun (pecan + butterscotch pastry that sells out daily).

What to Do & Explore

Kalk Bay Harbour & Lighthouse – Watch fishermen unload their catch, spot seals lazing around, and take that perfect red-and-white lighthouse photo.
Dalebrook Tidal Pool – An Instagrammable sunrise swim spot (lockers + coffee across the road at Chardonnay Deli).
Boomslang Cave Hike – A family-friendly cave hike with sweeping False Bay views. Best done with a local guide.
Lever Street Park – Local hangout for families; grab a bagel and coffee from Bob’s while the kids play.
Shopping – Browse antiques at Kalk Bay Trading Post , art at Kalk Bay Modern , and eclectic designs at Kalk Bay Co-op .

Nightlife & Sundowners

The Brass Bell – Sundowners with live music by the ocean.
Cape to Cuba – Cocktails + salsa beats under giant palm fronds.
Harbour House & Live Bait – Perfect for a glass of wine while whale watching in season.

Why Guests Love Kalk Bay

Kalk Bay has a slower pace than Cape Town city, with salty air, quirky shops, seals in the harbour, and a buzzing yet laid-back vibe. It’s a mix of seaside holiday mood and bohemian charm — perfect for a day trip, but even better if you linger.

✨ Insider Tip : From your Airbnb in Muizenberg or St James, you’re only a few minutes away by car, Uber, or even train. That makes Kalk Bay an easy must-do for guests looking for authentic False Bay flavor.

What’s going on in Muizenberg

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 18:36:18 GMT

Your Guide to Muizenberg: Eat, Explore & Experience

Tucked between the mountains and the sea, Muizenberg is one of Cape Town’s most vibrant and welcoming seaside suburbs. Known for its colourful beach huts, warm waters, and laid-back surf culture, this coastal gem has a way of making visitors feel instantly at home.

Far more than just a beach town, Muizenberg is a hidden gem where history, creativity, and community meet. Whether you’re chasing your first wave, strolling through eclectic streets lined with local art, or simply soaking up the salty breeze with a coffee in hand, this is a place that invites you to slow down and truly live in the moment.

Loved by locals and travelers alike, Muizenberg is a must-visit destination that blends the energy of Cape Town with the charm of a small seaside village. It’s where adventure and relaxation flow side by side—making it the perfect spot to explore, unwind, and connect.

Getting Around

One of the best things about Muizenberg is how easy it is to get around. The beachfront, shops, cafés, and many of our MUi STAYS listings are within walking distance, making it a relaxed and pedestrian-friendly area.

Train
The Muizenberg Train Station, located just minutes from the beachfront, offers a scenic and affordable route to neighboring suburbs and even Cape Town’s city center. It’s a great way to enjoy the coastline while getting from point A to point B.

Uber
For added convenience, ride-sharing services like Uber are readily available and make exploring simple. Whether you’re heading to Kalk Bay for fresh seafood or taking in the views along Boyes Drive, Uber gives you flexibility and peace of mind.

Google Maps
Navigating Muizenberg is straightforward with mapping apps, which provide real-time updates and easy directions. And if you’re in doubt, don’t hesitate to ask a local—Muizenberg is known for its friendly community, always happy to point you to hidden gems.

Parking & Safety
Parking is available near the beachfront and around most attractions, though it can get busy on sunny weekends. As with any city, keep your belongings secure, and avoid walking alone at night.

With its accessible transport options and welcoming atmosphere, Muizenberg makes it easy to explore all the charm this iconic seaside town has to offer.

Where to Eat

Breakfast & Brunch

Empire Café – A local favorite for fresh breakfasts and ocean views. Their scrambled eggs on sourdough and fresh smoothies are perfect for a slow start to the day.

Knead Bakery – Famous for wood-fired breads and pastries, this beachfront spot is ideal for a coffee and croissant before hitting the waves.

Lunch

Tiger’s Milk – Laid-back and stylish, this Muizenberg landmark offers great burgers, wood-fired pizzas, and cold craft beers. The upstairs balcony has one of the best views of Surfers Corner.

Hang Ten Café – Casual, surf-inspired dining with healthy wraps, smoothies, and freshly pressed juices. A great spot for something light and energizing.

Dinner

Brass Bell (Kalk Bay, nearby) – Just a short ride away, this iconic oceanfront restaurant is perfect for seafood lovers. Think fresh mussels, calamari, and sushi, with waves crashing just meters away.

Oven-Baked Pizza Co. – For a relaxed evening, enjoy wood-fired pizza and craft beers in a cozy, local-friendly setting.

Coffee Shops & Cafés

Muizenberg has become a destination for serious coffee lovers. Beyond the surfboards and beach walks, you’ll find a vibrant café culture:

Bootlegger Coffee Company – Trendy and modern, perfect for working remotely with a strong Americano or flat white.

Vida e Caffè – A lively spot for a quick takeaway cappuccino and a pastel de nata.

Hans & Lloyd Coffee Co. – With artisan coffee, relaxed vibes, and a perfect carrot cake slice to match.

Empire Café – Not just for breakfast, their coffee is locally roasted, smooth, and pairs beautifully with fresh pastries.

What to Do & Explore

From riding the warm waves at Africa’s oldest surf town to hiking scenic mountain trails, Muizenberg is bursting with activities for every type of traveler.

Outdoor Activities

Surfing at Surfers Corner – The birthplace of surfing in South Africa and the perfect place to learn. Surf schools line the beachfront, offering lessons for beginners and rentals for pros.

Muizenberg Water Slides – Fun for kids and families, with solar-heated slides right by the beach.

Hiking Boyes Drive & Muizenberg Peak – For panoramic views of False Bay and beyond.

Attractions & Culture

Muizenberg Pavilion & Beach Huts – Snap the iconic rainbow-colored huts and soak up the historic seaside charm.

Blue Bird Garage Market – Every Thursday & Friday evening, this vibrant market serves up street food, live music, and local crafts.

Casa Labia Cultural Centre – An elegant historic building with art exhibitions, live music, and a café with sweeping views.

Family-Friendly Fun

Putt-putt on the beachfront.

Sunrise or sunset walks along the sand.

Calm, warm waters ideal for kids to splash and swim.

Nightlife & Sundowners

As the sun dips behind the mountains, Muizenberg shifts into an easy-going nightlife scene.

Tiger’s Milk – Not only for lunch; in the evenings, it’s buzzing with music, cocktails, and a lively surf crowd.

The Commons – A cozy, artsy space to enjoy South African wines and local live music.

Blue Bird Garage Market (Friday nights) – The place to be for live bands, local DJs, and a laid-back community vibe.

Practical Info

Muizenberg is a relaxed and welcoming seaside town, but like any destination, it’s best to keep a few practical tips in mind. When out and about, keep your belongings secure and avoid walking alone at night. Essential amenities such as grocery stores, pharmacies, and ATMs are close to the beachfront and easily accessible from our MUi STAYS properties.

With these simple tips in mind, you can enjoy the ease, safety, and charm of Muizenberg while making the most of your stay.

Ready to Experience Muizenberg?

From sunrise surfs to sunset strolls, Muizenberg has a way of filling your days with adventure, flavor, and relaxation. Whether you’re here to discover its rich history, explore the vibrant food scene, or simply soak in the easy-going coastal vibe, this seaside town offers something for everyone.

And when the day winds down, you can retreat to the comfort of your MUi STAYS home where thoughtful touches, cozy spaces, and warm hospitality make your stay just as memorable as the moments you’ll create in Muizenberg.

Beach Hut 2025 Art Show

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 09:12:51 GMT

Preserving Heritage Through Art: Own a unique piece of Cape Town History

Muizenberg, Cape Town – The Beach Hut 2025 Art Show is set to captivate art lovers and heritage enthusiasts alike, combining creative expression with a vital cause: the ongoing preservation of Muizenberg's iconic beach huts. Running through February to March from Wednesday to Saturday at Beach Huts Studios, this unique fundraising initiative offers the community a chance to own extraordinary artwork while supporting the future of these beloved landmarks, the Muizenberg Beach Huts.

After the renovations of the Beach Huts in Muizenberg were completed, the organisers were tasked with funding the ongoing maintenance of these uniquely iconic structures. Dubbed “Cape Town’s MOST iconic structures,” the Beach Huts are a key part of Cape Town’s image. In fact, they are arguably South Africa’s most iconic structures.

The Beach Hut 2025 Art Show was born as a response. Celebrated local artists have collaborated to create stunning, beach hut-inspired pieces, each carefully curated by AJ Burns and Gavin Larkin. Adding to its uniqueness, each artwork is framed in certified original wood recovered from the refurbishment of the Beach Huts. These unique frames are designed by local framer and artist Adrian van Staaden from Cape Art and Frame and fabricated by Beach Hut Studios. They are truly a once-in-a-lifetime creation. This reclaimed wood is the last of its kind, as the newly rebuilt huts now use sustainable and long-lasting Nutec material.

Beach Hut Studios played a pivotal role in this initiative. A newly created space for artistic collaboration, Beach Hut Studios explores the opportunities that Beach Huts bring to the community, both locally and nationally. The initiative highlights the benefits these structures bring to the tourism economy while fostering job creation and local skills development. By engaging with local artists and crafters and supporting preservation efforts, Beach Hut Studios ensures that Muizenberg’s rich culture and history are celebrated and sustained.

Proceeds from the sale of all artworks goes towards funding the ongoing maintenance of the Beach Huts, which is already creating employment in preserving these icons. So they can continue to represent Cape Town and South Africa in showcasing our colourful diversity and unique offerings throughout the world.

The Beach Huts 2025 Art Show has officially launched and will run for a 2 month period. The studio is open Wed to Sat, 10am to 6pm. Located in the old post office building in Muizenberg, it’s an intimate space that overlooks the very Beach Huts themselves.

For more information, media inquiries, or collaboration opportunities, please contact: Beach Hut Studios

Email: info@beachhut.studio

Phone: +27 21 788 2829

Website: www.beachhut.studio

June 2024 Airbnb Trend Analysis

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:22:48 GMT

Tourism is Up, AirBnB’s are Up… But Why Isn’t My Revenue?

June 2024 Vacation Rentals Report

Introduction

With the increasing number of AirBnB properties entering the vacation rental market, many property owners, particularly in Cape Town, South Africa, are left wondering about the future prospects for their investments. As a Cape Town-based property management company focusing on the Muizenberg area, we at MUi STAYS are frequently asked about the future of AirBnB in this region .

Why Muizenberg?

Muizenberg stands out as the most affordable town on the South Peninsula of Cape Town, offering excellent surfing conditions year-round for all levels, from beginners to kite surfers. The community here is vibrant, with a strong local culture that’s intimately involved in community development projects. It’s the modern traveler's ideal destination.

Our Approach:

MUi STAYS employs a market-driven approach to property management, leveraging advanced AI-driven market software and a dedicated team whose livelihoods depend on it. This combination allows us to optimize returns for our clients using real-time data and insights. A tech-savvy approach to property management.

Current Market Overview

Despite the increase in tourism and AirBnB listings, revenue for property owners has declined in recent months. Here are some insights into the factors influencing this trend:

Post-COVID Property Shift:

Investors moved their money to safer assets in Cape Town, increasing the number of short-term rental (STR) properties by over 6000 in 2022/2023 alone, according to AirDNA™.
This shift was driven by the perception that Cape Town offers a more stable and attractive investment compared to cities like Johannesburg and Durban.

Tourism Demand:

Recent data from WESGRO shows that international tourists in the 2023/2024 season exceeded pre-pandemic levels, with 2.8 million visitors compared to 2.6 million previously.
However, local visitor numbers have dropped significantly, from 8.3 million in 2019/2020 to 5.9 million last season, impacting overall demand and spreading fewer visitors over an increased number of rental properties.

STR Income Trends:

In 2022, STR rental incomes spiked due to post-pandemic revenge travel trends and a lower supply of available properties.
The trend continued into 2023 when the market began to saturate as more properties became available. This trend has contributed to the recent decline in rental incomes.

Key Challenges in 2024

The first quarter of 2024 has missed expectations and forecasts for several reasons, and here are some as I see them:

Local Visitor Decline: Despite an increase in international visitors, the significant drop in local visitor numbers has strained the market, with 23% fewer visitors spread over 20% more properties. It’s like organizing a massive braai but only your vegan friends show up.
Early Winter: An early Easter led to an unexpected early start to the low season. Many establishments, including ours, were unprepared for the sudden drop in demand, resulting in a record low for April.
Election Uncertainty: Both local and global elections have created economic uncertainty, affecting travel plans and market stability. The South African election particularly impacted the market, with a noticeable drop in bookings towards the end of May. When the votes are being counted, tourists prefer to stay home.

Future Outlook for 2024/2025

Looking ahead, several market forces are expected to shape the vacation rental market. While this is not an exhaustive list and many other factors come into play, these are some of the more major trends impacting the market at the moment:

Positive Election Outcome:

The positive result of the South African GNU election is expected to boost foreign investment and strengthen the Rand.
A stronger Rand could attract more foreign visitors but may slightly dilute spending power for international tourists due to currency exchange rates.

Global Inflation Correction:

Inflation correction globally may increase the attractiveness of South Africa as a travel destination.
The high cost of living in countries like the UK, where a burger and beer is approaching R1000, makes South Africa a more appealing and affordable option for travel.

Ongoing Elections:

Continued election uncertainty worldwide, with 64 countries holding elections this year, some of them significant source markets, may negatively impact travel demand as people tend to stay home during such times.
This uncertainty can be likened to mini lockdowns, reducing overall travel activity.

Interest Rate Decreases:

It is widely anticipated that interest rates will be cut. The lower interest rates are expected to boost property investment, with a potential shift towards long-term residential rentals due to the ongoing housing crisis.
Lower borrowing costs will make STR rental returns more appealing, but it will most likely have a far more significant effect on the longer-term residential rentals and home ownership market. Think of it as a happy hour special for home buyers—lower rates, higher spirits!

The Housing Crisis:

The current housing crisis has made finding rental accommodation increasingly difficult, driving investors to consider long-term residential rentals over short-term vacation rentals.
This shift may positively impact the short-term rental market, as more properties become available for long-term tenants, creating less competition in the market.

Shifting Geographies:

Renewed hope for South Africa's economic prospects might lead to a shift in investment interest toward major economic hubs like Johannesburg, potentially slowing the demand of the Cape Town property market. Economic opportunities are the biggest migration influencer outside of war.

Regulatory Uncertainty:

Potential regulatory changes could impact the vacation rental market significantly. For example, regulations in other regions have limited the number of rental nights allowed, drastically affecting the market.
Local regulatory bodies like Body Corporates may also start limiting the number of AirBnB licenses available in sectional titled complexes, affecting the investment landscape for vacation rentals.

Conclusion:

The vacation rental market is subject to various ebbs and flows, that all work to keep the market following the macro trend. While the long-term outlook is slightly positive (we still need to see what the GNU can deliver), the short- to medium-term could see further volatility and lower AirBnB incomes. Investors may shift toward more stable investments, but we expect a renewal of interest in the STR market in the medium to long term.

For personalised property management solutions and to stay ahead in this dynamic market, consider partnering with MUi STAYS. Keep an eye out for our next update, where we will analyse Q2 results and provide insights for the rest of the year.

About the Author: Daniel, a qualified engineer with extensive global experience in business development for major corporations, has successfully transitioned to the tourism and hospitality industry in Cape Town. His systematic and engineered approach has helped grow MUi STAYS into a leading property and hospitality management company.

For more information and to discuss your property management needs, contact MUi STAYS today.

Travel Safe, Daniel

Disclaimer : The information and recommendations provided in this report are based on current market trends and data available at the time of writing. They are intended for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or investment advice. MUi STAYS and the author, make no guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information provided. Any actions taken based on this information are at the reader's own risk. We strongly recommend consulting with a professional financial advisor before making any investment decisions. MUi STAYS and Daniel shall not be held liable for any losses or damages arising from the use of this report.

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Muizenberg holiday accommodation: a local guide on where to stay

Muizenberg holiday accommodation in Cape Town: a local guide

Where to stay in Muizenberg: the short answer:

In this Guide:

What to consider when choosing holiday accommodation in Muizenberg

Where is the best place to stay in Muizenberg?

Surfers Corner and Muizenberg beachfront holiday accommodation

Beachfront holiday apartments in Muizenberg

Is the Muizenberg beachfront the right place to stay?

Main Road holiday accommodation in Muizenberg

Holiday accommodation in Muizenberg Village

Zandvlei and greater Muizenberg accommodation

Which Muizenberg location suits your holiday?

Getting around Muizenberg

Frequently asked questions about holiday accommodation in Muizenberg

What is the best area to stay in Muizenberg?

Is there self-catering accommodation in Muizenberg?

Can I book accommodation in Muizenberg with breakfast included ?

Are there beachfront apartments in Muizenberg ?

What is the difference between Empire and Wavescapes ?

W here should surfers stay in Muizenberg ?

Can I stay in Muizenberg without a car ?

I s Muizenberg suitable for families ?

Which Muizenberg accommodation has a swimming pool ?

W hat should I look for when searching for a Muizenberg Airbnb ?

Booking holiday accommodation in Muizenberg

Airbnb property management in Cape Town: what owners should expect from a management company

Key Takeaways:

In this article: ﻿

1. Pricing and revenue management for Cape Town short-term rentals

2. Listing distribution across Airbnb, Booking.com and other platforms

3. Cape Town's short-term rental by-laws and what they mean for owners

4. Cleaning, maintenance, linen and turnover operations

Cleaning standards and guest-ready inspections

Linen and laundry management

Guest supply replenishment

Property condition checks and quality control

Maintenance coordination around the booking calendar

5. Guest communication and operational support

6. Property maintenance and preparation between bookings

7. Owner reporting, oversight and communication

Looking for an Airbnb property manager in Cape Town?

Frequently asked questions about Airbnb Property Management

What does an Airbnb property management company actually do?

How much does Airbnb property management cost in Cape Town?

What is the difference between a co-host and a property management company?

When should I appoint an Airbnb property manager?

Is it still worth investing in short-term rentals in Cape Town with the proposed by-law changes?

Best restaurants in Muizenberg: a local guide for every appetite and budget

The complete guide to Restaurants in Muizenberg

Restaurants in Muizenberg: the short answer:

In this Guide:

Full guide to restaurants in Muizenberg by area

Restaurants on York Road, Muizenberg

Empire Café

Harvest Café

Hans & Lloyd Coffee Co.

Carla’s Mozambique Restaurant

The Striped Horse

Surfers Corner and beachfront restaurants

Hang Ten Café

The Commons

Lagerchinos

Knead Bakery & Café

Bootlegger XS Muizenberg

KAUAI Muizenberg

vida e caffè at Roxy’s Surf Shop

Starbucks Muizenberg

Lucky Fish & Chips Muizenberg

Ocean Basket Muizenberg

Santa Monica Spur

Free Bird Muizenberg

Tiger’s Milk Muizenberg

Hudsons The Burger Joint

Restaurants on Palmer Road in Muizenberg Village

Joon

Dimples Dumpling House

Restaurants on Main Road, Muizenberg

Tortuga Loca

In this article:

In this article:

In this article: