Cape Town
A working city wedged between a mountain and two oceans.
4 to 6 nights
Boat trips and sunset cruises
Seal Island out of Hout Bay, or a glass of something off Clifton.
Three quite different boats. The short run out to the seal colony at Duiker Island, a sunset cruise along the Atlantic seaboard, and the catamaran across to the far side of Table Bay for the view back at the mountain.
The mountain was named from the sea, and it still looks best from there.
Duiker Island
Forty minutes out of Hout Bay harbour to a rock covered in Cape fur seals, several thousand of them, with the Sentinel behind you and the swell coming in off the Atlantic. It is the cheapest and shortest boat trip in the Cape and it is consistently one of the things children talk about afterwards. The boats are open and it gets wet.
Sunset along the seaboard
An hour and a half out of the V&A Waterfront, running down past Clifton and Camps Bay with the Twelve Apostles going pink above you and a drink in your hand. Best between November and March, when the sun sets late enough that you are not rushing dinner.
Across Table Bay
A larger catamaran, calmer water, and the only view that shows you the whole mountain at once with the city underneath it. Good in a breeze, good for anyone who does not much like small boats, and the one we put grandparents on.
The practical detail
- How long it takes
- Forty minutes to three hours, depending on the boat
- When it works best
- All year. Summer evenings from November to March give the best sunset cruises. Winter swell can cancel the Hout Bay runs at short notice.
- Who it suits
- No minimum age. Easy physically. Suitable for families. The seal island boats are short and open, which suits small children. The sunset cruises are longer and calmer. If anyone in the party gets seasick, we put you on the Table Bay catamaran, which barely moves.
Good to know
Where it happens
The Cape Peninsula
Forty miles of mountain and ocean, ending at a lighthouse.
0 to 2 nights
Itineraries that include it
4 days · 3 nights
Four Days in Cape Town
The city, the mountain and the peninsula, with a spare day for the weather.
7 days · 6 nights
The Classic Cape Week
The city, the peninsula, the Winelands and the whale coast, in one region.
8 days · 7 nights
A Family Week in the Cape
Penguins, a canopy tour, a boat and a beach, with the driving kept short.
7 days · 6 nights
A Cape Honeymoon
Seven days, two people, and a guide who knows when to disappear.
10 days · 9 nights
Ten Days in the Cape
The unhurried version, with time on the water and two nights on the coast.
Worth reading
Planning ·
The peninsula day, in the right order
Almost every visitor drives the Cape Peninsula the same way round, at the same time, and meets every coach in the Western Cape at Cape Point. There is no reason to, and the day is transformed by running it backwards.
Tell us this one matters
Some of these set the shape of a whole trip. Say which ones you care about on the enquiry form and we will build outwards from them.
We reply to every enquiry within one working day.