Coastal cities look forward to a record New Year's weekend

Sizzling temperatures forecast for Durban and Cape Town over the New Year weekend are expected to lure a record number of visitors to the beach.

Officials in the coastal cities are bracing for a massive influx of beachgoers on the back of the bumper four-day Christmas weekend.

In Durban, about 301900 people went to beaches on the municipality's 100km of coastline on December 27 alone. Wet and windy weather on the Day of Goodwill kept many visitors away, but 102,480 people still went to the beach.

More than 707,000 visited the coast across all four days, said city spokesman Mandla Nsele.

In Cape Town, beachgoer numbers hit 250,000 at the long weekend, with about 100,000 on December 26, according to mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith. While these numbers were good, they were not as high as last year's, he said.

"The 2015-16 summer season saw the highest influx of beach visitors in over 10 years. [We] averaged more than 100,000 people per day on most days during December and January. This was most likely due to the heat waves and exceptionally high temperatures," said Smith.

Several luxury parties have been planned to ring in the new year.

Celebrities holidaying in Cape Town include include US YouTube star Casey Neistat, UK reality TV star Millie Mackintosh and Bollywood power couple Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's 414-foot superyacht, Octopus, arrived in the harbour on Wednesday.

Cape Town's luxury party venues have spared no expense in their New Year's Eve plans, but for those keen to enjoy the bright lights without feeling as if they are in a big city, the Happy Camper Tented Village offered a R650-a-night deal that includes a tent, mattress, blanket, pillow, and shower and ablution facilities.

Johnny Clegg and "pop rock collective" Slow Jack will perform at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden on New Year's Eve, but Western Cape traffic chief Kenny Africa is expecting a sleepless night for less festive reasons, fearing a repeat of the Christmas long weekend when 19 people died on the province's roads.

"We are geared for all events. Especially in the coastal areas, starting from Wilderness/Victoria Bay in the Southern Cape, Mossel Bay coming down to Hermanus, Somerset West, Gordon's Bay as well as the West Coast.

"We will maintain visible policing on those routes because we know people are going in their thousands to the beaches," said Africa.

Smith said early indications were that the weather would be good, which meant more people would head outdoors.

"Also, New Year's Day is traditionally one of Cape Town's busiest beach days. It is also the last weekend off for many people before they return to work and this year there is the additional public holiday on January 2, which means an extra opportunity for people to get out and about."

Nsele said Durban was also optimistic about massive visitor numbers, and was preparing to match last year's January 1 record of more than 500,000 people.