More than 20 South African beaches have been awarded international Blue Flag status for excelling in safety, amenities, cleanliness and environmental standards.

The stakeholders who manage the beaches were honoured at the Blue Flags annual ceremony organised by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.

The department said that awarding Blue Flag status to beaches contributes towards the aims of the White Paper on Sustainable Coastal Development.

The Blue Flag programme is currently run in 40 countries globally and interest in the programme continues to grow.

The following beaches in KwaZulu-Natal received the Blue Flag status: Bronze Beach in Umhlanga Rocks, Durban’s North beach, Bay of Plenty, Westbrook beach and Addington beach, Margate, Ramsgate, Marina beach and Southbroom (Map Durban).

For the Eastern Cape (Map Eastern Cape), it was Port Elizabeth beaches: Wells Estate, Humewood, King’s and Dolphin beach, and Jeffrey’s Bay.

As for the Western Cape (Map Western Cape ), Lappiesbaai, Stilbaai, Grotto beach, Hermanus, Kleinmond, Hawston, Bikini, Gordon’s Bay and Cape Town’s Mnandi and Clifton’s 4th beach all received awards.

The department said there are currently 21 pilot beaches embarking on plans to achieve full status accreditation in 2008 and 2009.

“The growth in the number of Blue Flag beaches bodes well for the future and especially for visitors coming to South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

“Blue Flag beaches along the KwaZulu-Natal coastline, with their warm Indian Ocean waters and year-round swimming conditions, will be ideal places for soccer fans to relax.”

Despite the significant damage to many of the Blue Flag beaches as a result of the high seas and stormy conditions over the past few months, South African beaches continue to achieve world-class standards.

Those Blue Flag beaches that were damaged are all gearing up for the new season. An increasing number of beaches are now flying under the international eco-label of the Blue Flag. Worldwide, there are now almost 3,500 Blue Flag beaches and marinas.

Molo says: “Check out our maps of Cape Town for the best beaches in Cape Town such as Llandudno, Camps Bay, Clifton Beach (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th) and Bloubergstrand. Check out our map of the Western Cape for the locations.”