Come student days, the world was so big that the thought of really having or being the best this or that was impossible. With my university buddies, every term-break we would look forward to our holiday at Plettenberg Bay in large part because, just across the carpark from our rented prefab house, was Lookout Beach.

Lookout offered great waves for bodysurfing, the dolphins would frequently appear alongside, and at low tide it morphed into the ultimate cricket pitch. Touch rugby too for a change of pace.

So it was no surprise that some years ago I learnt that Lookout Beach had been voted the best beach in southern Africa. Who nominated it as such was irrelevant; because I knew it so well, and had by this stage literally visited a world of beaches and developed firm opinions, I could gauge for myself.

Lookout indeed had to be one of the finest beaches I’d ever played on. Lying around on a towel — apart from inviting melanomas — was just too boring.

And then, along with my holiday memories, about two years ago it was washed away by heavy winter storms. Literally, just like that. And so it led me to thinking about beaches; the sandy, the pebbled, the subtropical, the proverbial 'endless stretches' and those I’ve yet to visit.

Black Rock Beach; KZN: Starting on South Africa’s north-east coast, part of the Kosi Bay system and very close to the Mozambique border, this one is a winner because it’s expansive, less visited and the water is warm. It offers great snorkeling and a nice mix of rock-pools, rocky points and vegetation.

Umdumbi Beach; Wild Coast: The Wild Coast is home to some of the most remote, beautiful beaches in the world. Umdumbi has been voted as the country’s best beach by a local outdoors magazine.

Port St Johns 2nd beach; Wild Coast: in terms of visual aesthetics, it’s very important that you get 2nd beach, because it’s a stunner, fringed by lush subtropical vegetation. There is a real African vibe to this beach, with arts and crafts sold at every carpark and corner likely to draw a tourist. You have to keep an eye on your stuff however, as the unemployed and michievous youngsters tend to gather where the tourists do. If you’re a backpacker it won’t bug you, but it may well bug Mr Harrison and his family seeking out a little peace and privacy. Note: Port St Johns is not for the Mr Harrisons of the world!

Morgan's Bay; Eastern Cape: Just outside what is known as the Transkei or the Wild Coast, there’s a lovely 5km beach walk (part of the Wild Coast Meander) from the hotel of the same name (unpretentious, basic, excellent value) to the Kei river mouth lighthouse. Relatively less visited, but packed in season.

Cintsa; Eastern Cape: South of Morgan's Bay and close to East London. Like Lookout Beach was, Cintsa is long and wide and perfect for games.

Jeffrey's Bay; Eastern Cape: 'Supertubes' is one of the world’s most famous right point-breaks, with pros riding waves of up to a kilometre in the right conditions (it has 11 different surf breaks, Magnatubes and Boneyards among them). The town is new and architecturally barren, but the beach and rocks off Supertubes — with good riders on the waves — make for great photography. Stay clear in the traffic-packed peak holidays. When I first visited in 1983 as a student living on a diet of toast and oreganum, the place was tiny and the local surf competition was worth R800. Today, the Billabong Pro is worth millions of dollars.

Robberg; Western Cape: Plettenberg Bay’s only long beach now, is a beauty. So long that even in the heavily packed Dec-Jan season you will find yourself all alone. If you find parking…

Leisure Isle; Western Cape: I’ve thrown this in as a last-minute thought, but for families visiting Knysna with toddlers the beach on this little extension of land into Knysna lagoon is perfect. Calm, very shallow waters, with Featherbed Nature Reserve and the magnificent Knysna Heads just across the lagoon. A visual wonderland.

Camps Bay; Western Cape: An iconic Cape Town beach, with palm trees lining the promenade of cafés and restaurants and the Twelve Apostles behind. Bloody cold water, except from Feb to April, when it’s simply refreshing.

Muizenberg; Western Cape: This is, along with Fish Hoek, a rare warm-water Cape Town beach on the False Bay side of the city. Lots of history in the architecture, with some restoration after a period of neglect. The beach draws loads of local surfers and swimmers, with a number of good cafés on the promenade.

Plankiesbaai; Western Cape: 90 minutes north of Cape Town on the west coast road (R27), is Langebaan lagoon — part of the West Coast National Park. For the (remarkable) spring flower season of August and September the public can enter Postberg Nature Reserve from the national park — on the other side of the lagoon. And within that is this beautiful, secluded beach of sand and granite boulders. Great for picnics, very cold.

Whether Cape Vidal on the northern KwaZulu-Natal coast or the scenic but windy beaches of the southern Cape coast, there are loads of other beaches to be found. Even far north in northern Cape province. This is just for starters.

Angus Begg is the owner of the recently-established African Storybook Media. He is a prolific photo-journalist and TV producer, counting CNN Traveller amongst his clients.

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