7 COOL FITNESS ACTIVITIES TO DO IN AND AROUND THE CBD
It’s amazing how many fitness activities are right on our doorstep in and around the CBD and often under-utilised. We have the commercial things which get absolutely swamped by foreigners in the summer months, however we have access to these all year round, so we’ll show you some new cool ideas to be healthy and have fun. Grab some friends, add the social factor and go play:
KAYAKING
Opposite the Shell Garage on Beach Rd, Mouille point, you can slip into a kayak, head out for a paddle, soak up the fresh sea air and quite often find yourself amongst the dolphins and seals looking back at the most beautiful city in the world.
You head out with a guide for a couple of hours and can either kayak alone or with a partner. The kayaks are very stable so your experience is guaranteed to be a good one and you’ll also get a great cardio workout with the drag.
So if you start work late or finish early during the week, go hire a kayak from http://kayak.co.za, get in the water, feel a million miles away from the city & embrace the tranquility.
ROCK CLIMBING
Head up to Higgovale Quarry, it’s great for beginners and has lots of varying routes so you can go back and keep progressing.
Climbing is a great developer of forearm strength, co-ordination, skill and full body movement.
Grab a landing mat and go wild or even learn to belay there.
They have recently put a fence up with a gate to keep out vagrants, it’s unlocked most of the time, and if it’s not, you can easily clamber around and down.
Map to get there: https://g.co/kgs/myZQhW
RUN – HIKE – RUN
The Pipe Track and Kasteelspoort offer a great morning sweat or stunning late afternoon sunset dose of activity.
In the summer months when Platteklip Gorge gets way too commercial, rather park your car at the top of Kloof Nek (First parking lot on Tafelberg Rd) and head out along the Pipe Track towards Camps Bay – There is a nice big sign.
It’s a gentle 3.5km of relatively flat terrain until you get to Kasteelspoort. Once at the top you can run a few paths around the dam or have a picnic before returning down. Obvs get your famous photo.
Once back down, you have the 3.5km run back to your car to top off a healthy and therapeutic time on our majestic mountain.
Also try getting a time up Lions Head and get treated to an amazing sunrise or run the route around it by getting on the path 50-100m down Kloof Nek.
SWIMMING
Everyone loves to be at one with water, to take a dip, bang out some lengths and it’s actually never more than a flutter kick away from the city hub.
The Long Street Baths, as it heated, is a great option all year around. It is often under utilised and for about R20 you can get your own lane for a leisurely swim or to do some drills. 25m pool.
Sea Point Pool is very well maintained, with spectacular views and amazing for a splash. Mornings are good for more serious swimmers wanting to get their distances in, however afternoons can be quite congested with peeps just enjoying a splash. Pick the right day and you’ll be cruising the 50m’s up and down, in what is an absolute gem of a setting.
Another option, opens a bit later 10am and is seasonal, is the Woodstock Swimming Pool. It’s about 40m’s. You will literally have it to yourself and for less than R10. On the flip side, catch it after school hours and it becomes a nightmare as the shallow end gets crowded. The width isn’t long (12-15m), so be prepared to do some under waters and/or throw in some fitness outside of the pool.
CYCLING
Cape Town to Table View along the MyCiti Bus route is a either a great way to commute or grab a quick out and back lunchtime cycle.
The path starts at the Civic Centre and makes its way along the new bus lane and through Paarden Eiland and then onto the R27. It currently ends at Bayside Shopping Centre, some 16km.
Bicycles are welcome on the MyCiti system and can be carried free of charge, as long as they are stored safely and securely and do not cause inconvenience to other passengers.
Another fun but rather commercial cycle in town is the monthly www.moonlightmass.co.za or if you want something with a bit more adrenaline, grab your mountain bike and head up to Deer Park: http://www.mtbroutes.co.za/deer-park-table-mountain-closest-citytown-cape-town
PARKOUR / FREERUNNING
For those who don’t know what it is, it’s best to describe as a primarily non-competitive physical discipline of training to move freely over and through any terrain using only the abilities of the body, principally through running, jumping, climbing and quadrupedal movement. In practice it focuses on developing the fundamental attributes required for such movement, which include functional strength and fitness, balance, spatial awareness, agility, coordination, precision, control and creative vision.
The CBD and harbour offer the perfect terrain, but do it from a liberation of movement perspective not as a rebel. So please don’t go into unauthorised terrains or inconvenience other pedestrians.
The beauty of this sport is that it’s minimalist and always accessible, you just need to start with the basics and keep improving and learning upon.
Cool vid of Kevin Francoome who visited 360: https://youtu.be/0iBVba_ex8E
Cape Town’s Parkour Guys: http://sabotageelite.com
SURFING
Keep your surfboard close at hand, as you might be blessed to catch some good swells close to the CBD before, during or after work.
There are a few places stretching from the Waterfront to the end of Seapoint where you can slip into the water and get a top up of your fav pastime.
• Thermopylae
You take off over the sunken remains of the Thermopylae that wrecked off Mouille Point in 1899. The take-off can be hairy, depending on swell size and tide. A rare point break which needs a southwest or west swell.
• Off The Wall
Breaking off the promenade wall of Mouille Point, adjacent to Sea Point. This urban reef break is insanely hollow and hard-breaking at times.
• Rocklands
This left reef breaks when other Sea Point spots are too small.
• Milton Pool Left
Hectic, fast-breaking left that needs big west swell and clean, glassy seas. It zips along, top-to-bottom, without tapering. Gets epic in the right swell. Usually not a wave.
• Solly’s
This spot is near The Pavilion. The outer reef (Solly’s Outer) works on big swell. Can be good. Short reef breaks left & right.
• Boat Bay
When the swell is too small for Off the Wall, this fun right-hander is worth a look. Runs along a rock spit next to the wall of the public swimming pool at The Pavilion. West swell and light southeast winds.
• Queens
Left-hand reef in front of the President Hotel is the last wave in Sea Point going south. Free fall take-offs and crunching close-outs. Picks up more swell than other Sea Point breaks. Beware the rocks at the end.
Bear in mind that this is the Atlantic Sea, so the water is cold — wetsuits required!
We are blessed to have so many fitness opportunities to throw ourselves into and the more you take care of your body, improve your stamina and increase functional strength, the greater your experiences are going to be. It really is a sin not to be healthy and active in the most beautiful city with such miraculous terrain.