Hitting the beach with ease, thanks to MyCiti

I really love the beach.  But in recent years you would’ve found me going there less and less and rather opting for some pool time instead.  Why?  Well thanks to the traffic & parking hell you have to endure to actually get to one of our main beaches (I’m specifically referring to Clifton / Camps Bay).

The stress of driving around for way too long, fighting your way through the chaos, just to get a spot had become too much for me…  it was totally ruining my beach zen OK. 😉

But now we have the MyCiti bus system which has opened new routes including ones which will take you all the way from the city centre to Camps Bay in about 23min flat.  How great is that?

I’m a MyCiti Airport bus regular and it really is the easiest way to get to/from the airport, but I hadn’t tried any of the other local routes until recently, and now I am totally hooked.  This will now be the way I get to the beach during the crazy summer season, that’s for sure.

The closest stop to my place is in Adderley street and is called Groote Kerk (it’s an easy 5min walk from mine).  Each stop has detailed info about the routes that stop there, along with bus times, fares, other routes, etc:

The bus I took was the 107 (dark pink route), but you can also take the 106 (dark blue route) from the same stop to also get you to Camps Bay, that one just has a few extra stops.   The 107 passes by every 15min during peak times and every 30min during off-peak (or saver) times.

My bus arrived right on schedule, all shiny, new & totally modern, none of that scary 80s style bus nightmares you might still have stuck in your mind:

Just very important to note is that you can’t access a MyCiti bus without a myconnect card (except kids under 4 & 1m tall – they travel free):

MyCiti cards can be purchased at MyCiti Station Kiosks all around Cape Town.  This is also where you can top up your card with more monies & get your hands on discounted Mover packages (there’s a 2.5% – 3.5% admin charge when you load your card, but this is waived with a Mover package which starts from R80 up).  Check out this page for info on the station kiosk locations and opening times.

You can also top up your card at some cash-accepting Absa ATMs and participating retailers – more info about those over here. (But as I understand Mover packages you can only get at station kiosks)

My trip only cost me R6.50 (non-peak time) there and R7.90 back (peak time).  That a total of only R14.40 to arrive right in the middle of the Camps Bay strip:

You can save by avoiding peak times and also by pre-purchasing those Mover packages I mentioned above.  Here’s a breakdown of pricing taken from the MyCiti About Fares page:

You can also download & view route map info over here and timetable info over here (the Camps Bay route runs till around 10pm for example).

There are various CBD & Atlantic Seaboard routes, the Camps Bay routes, as well as a routes from the Melkbosstrand/Table View/West Beach/Big Bay/Parklands areas and then of course that great airport bus.  Coming in 2014 are routes to and from Hout Bay & Atlantis too.

That’s all very exciting indeed.  I really wouldn’t mind an easy bus trip to Hout Bay market every Sunday.  And just think, now you can enjoy a couple glasses of wine and maybe a cocktail or two without any stress about who’s gonna be the designated driver.  High fives all round to that.

So like I said, I’m a huge fan now and I’d definitely say you should give the MyCiti bus routes a bash for yourself too.  It’s pocket friendly, safe, easy & world class… what’s not to love…

xxx