Forty-four beaches will fly the Blue Flag this summer‚ signifying clean‚ safe water and high environmental standards.
The beaches’ status was announced on Wednesday at the home of the legendary surfing spot Supertubes — Dolphin Beach in Jeffreys Bay‚ which has flown a Blue Flag for 16 consecutive years.
Only Humewood Beach in Port Elizabeth and Grotto Beach in Hermanus have been on the list for all 17 years the Blue Flag programme has been run locally by the Wildlife & Environmental Society of South Africa.
Blue Flag season begins on November 1‚ with 28 beaches in the Western Cape making it the top province‚ followed by nine in KwaZulu-Natal and seven in the Eastern Cape.
Another 22 beaches in the three provinces are listed as Blue Flag pilot sites‚ working towards full accreditation in future.