The vegetation of South African coasts owes its origin to two major seas—the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean. These huge water masses not only shape the varied faces of the coast, but function as major factors creating the coastal climate, and indeed the climate of the subcontinent in general. Tides and salt spray are other controlling factors shaping the ecology of coastal habitats. Hence all vegetation units forming part of the coastal vegetation in this chapter and depicted by our Map are those of which the origin, structure and dynamics are a function of the sea and its immediate influence in terms of flooding by sea water, influence of salt spray, formation and re-formation of coastal sediments (beaches, dunes, old dune plumes).