Windmill Beach

Windmill Beach is a small, sheltered beach shore dive in Simon's Town, False Bay, situated within the No-take Zone of the Table Mountain National Park's Marine Protected Area, a short drive south of Cape Town. Large granite boulders enclose the bay, providing protection from wind and swell, and the bottom is sandy with areas of kelp-covered reef. The site maxes out at around 8 metres depth, making it accessible to beginners, snorkellers, and freedivers as well as scuba divers.

The beach offers two entry points: an east cove/channel to the right as you face the water, and a north cove/channel to the left. The rocky mouths of both coves are the most productive areas for exploring, with kelp holdfasts, boulders, crevices, and sandy patches creating varied microhabitats across the shallow bay.

Windmill Beach is best known for hosting all four endemic shyshark and catshark species. Puffadder shysharks are most often found between boulders and sandy reef; dark shysharks favour kelp fronds and holdfasts; pyjama and leopard catsharks tend to wedge into rock crevices and under ledges. Encounters are possible year-round, though colder winter water temperatures (roughly May to October) tend to bring more aggregations. Several nudibranch species are regularly seen here, with the large neon blue and orange Gasflame nudibranch among the most conspicuous. Sea-squirts, anemones, and urchins also inhabit the reef. The nearby Boulders Beach penguin colony means penguins may be encountered in the water, and seals are present in the area.