Cape Peninsula Travel Guide | Cape Town, South Africa
The Cape Peninsula was described by Sir Francis Drake in 1580 as "the fairest Cape in the circumference of the world". Cape Point marks the south western tip of the African continent, with stunning ocean and coastal scenery, broad sandy beaches and wave swept shores.
"The Fairest Cape in All the World"
Where Two Oceans Meet
Although Cape Agulhas is the true divide between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, Cape Point is where the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean on the west meet the warmer Indian Ocean waters on the east. Carried south and west by the powerful Benguela Current, the warm Indian Ocean waters surge and mix off this Cape of Storms.
Read More: Cape Point - Where Two Oceans Meet
The Fairest Cape
The Cape Peninsula, with its fishing harbors, sheer cliffs and wave-swept coves, separates warm and cold ocean shores. Rugged forest clad mountain ranges form scenic backdrops to the many white sandy beaches of the region, providing a popular vacation destination for international visitors, honeymooners, families and adventurers.
The Legend of the Flying Dutchman
Cape Point is home to the legend of the Flying Dutchman and the tales recounted by ancient mariners of this famous ghost ship. Witnesses claim to have seen the legendary 17th century ghost ship in full sail, ploughing through stormy seas in its eternal quest to round the Cape.
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Highlights of the Cape Peninsula (with links to Activities, Attractions)
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Videos about Cape Town and vicinity: Adventure, Attractions and Travel Information
The Cape Peninsula is
just 105 miles (170 km) from the southern tip of the African continent, Cape Aghulas, which is also the divide between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.
Wildlife and Safaris
Beaches and Surfing
Shark Cage Diving
Highlights of the Cape Peninsula
When planning a trip along the peninsula and down to Cape Point, it's always best to choose a day with little wind. If it's windy in Cape Town, it will be blowing a gale acrosss the exposed landscape of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve.
There are numerous routes to choose from to fully explore the peninsula - and several are highly recommended. Our own top four are indicated on the maps alongside. All ultimately lead to Cape Point, some 40 miles (65 Km) south of the city. Taking one route south, returning along one of the others will ensure a full day of spectacular touring.
Route (1) is the most direct route out of the city from the vicinity of Cape Town's Victoria and Alfred (V&A) Waterfront, via Kloof Nek and along the Atlantic Shore. Most drives around Cape Town provide stunning mountain and ocean views and this is one of the best. This is also one of the steepest routes out the the city, providing great views of Table Mountain. The road provides access to Signal Hill, Lion's Head, the access road to Table Mountain Cableway and to Clifton (read more about Cape Town) - or straight ahead down to Camps Bay and the Atlantic Seaboard.
"Must see" landmarks along the Atlantic coast include the coastal village of Llandudno, Hout Bay with its restaurants and duiker (seal) island trips, and Chapman's Peak Drive through to Noord Hoek.
Route (2) loops around the eastern side of Devil's Peak and behind Table Mountain, through Constantia Nek and on to Hout Bay. This is another picturesque route. Pause at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens or take a short diversion to Groot Constantia, the most historic wine estate in the region (founded in 1685).
Routes (3) and (4) take a more direct route south if time is short, either crossing the scenic mountain range of Silvermine Nature Reserve (great for picnics and mountain hikes) or along scenic Boyes Drive, with ocean views across Muizenberg and False Bay.
All our recommended routes converge at Fish Hoek on the False Bay coast, to explore the Attractions of False Bay - the beaches, trips to False Bay's Seal Island for shark_cage_diving_and_breaching and the penguin colony at Boulders.
The ultimate destination of a Peninsula tour is the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve and Cape Point. Our recommendation is that you explore the routes leading off left and right of the main road through the reserve, to visit one of the many shipwrecks, to snorkel or let the kids discover colorful sealife in the rock pools.
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Camps Bay
Camps Bay is a premier vacation destination, offering luxury hotels, serviced apartments and villas - and some great restaurants and sidewalk cafes. The Theater on the Bay and some trendy clubs in the area ensure that entertainment is close at hand.
Camps Bay Beach is one of the top beach attractions in Cape Town, with a wide palm-lined sandy beach with mountain backdrops provided by the Twelve Apostles and Lion's Head. A tidal pool at the southern end, safe ocean bathing and surfing make this a great beach option for everyone – singles, honeymooners and families. The sidewalk cafes and restaurants are just a step away from the beach.
The Atlantic Ocean along the western seaboard of the Peninsula is definitely chilly, so be prepared for a refreshing plunge into the waves!
Walks and Trails - There are some great walks and hiking trails in the vicinity of Camps Bay. Follow Victoria Rd north to Clifton's beaches, or up the mountain to Lion's Head. The Pipe Track contour path around Table Mountain is a popular trail providing spectacular mountain and bay views. This trail also provides access to climbs and trails up to the top of Table Mountain.
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The Atlantic Seaboard and Llandudno
From Camps Bay, the coastal road south along the peninsula hugs the shoreline, with the Twelve Apostles mountain range towering above on one side and the panorama of the Atlantic Ocean on the other. In the late afternoons of summer, take the time to pull into one of the view sites and savor the view as the sun sets over the ocean.
The Atlantic shore is mostly extremely rugged - with wave swept coves, cliffs and numerous ship wrecks – a hint at why mariners called this the Cape of Storms. The ocean on this side of the peninsula is cold and very clear – popular for crayfish snorkeling and scuba diving.
Llandudno - Nestled between mountains and sea, the elite residential village of Llandudno offers a secluded sandy beach for residents and day visitors. The white sands, huge outcrops of granite boulders and mountain backdrop all provide a most beautiful beach setting. LLandudno is not an ideal bathing beach, with extremely cold water and at times a rough surf. It is however a popular beach for sunbathing in summer.
There are no hotels, gas stations or shops here, so visitors to the beach need to pack a picnic lunch.
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Kirstenbosch Gardens
Kirstenbosch Gardens is renowned for the floral beauty and diversity of the plants on display, all indigenous to South Africa. The Gardens are set out on the lower slopes of the Table Mountain range, with cultivated as well as natural fynbos landscapes, consisting of the flora, shrubland and heath of the region. Paths provide leisurely walks among rolling lawns, streams and ponds, with proteas, cycads and a wonderful variety of birds to enjoy. Refreshments are available at the restaurant and tea room, with gift shops, a nursery - and Sunday concerts in the summer months.
More strenuous walks lead up to higher elevations within the gardens.
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Groot Constantia
The historical wine estate of Groot Constantia (Constantia Valley Winelands) dates back to 1685. The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle the region in 1652. Their farms provided much needed supplies for their trading ships sailing around the Cape en route to the Dutch colonies in the East Indies. Their role in the history of the Cape is clearly imprinted on both language and architecture. Groot Constantia presents a beautiful example of original Cape Dutch architecture, set in this old historic wine estate. The wines are superb – just perfect for that dinner party, to share the wonderful memories and photos of your trip with friends back home!
An inscription on the Grand Constance wine bottle commemorates the discovery of a broken fragment of a wine bottle from this estate, found on the beach at Lewes, Delaware (USA) in 2004. The fragment of glass was inscribed "Constantia Wyn" and it was traced by American historians with the other artifacts found, to the Severn, a British supply ship that sank in Delaware Bay in 1774. At a formal ceremony in Lewes, a certificate was presented to Groot Constantia estate that includes the quote:
"Because of the broken wine bottle recovered from the "Severn" for marketing to the colonies, the State of Delaware and the Groot Constantia Estate and Winery will always share an association. It continues today, uniquely providing a link to our past, our maritime heritage and our ties to the sea".
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Hout Bay and Chapman's Peak Drive
Hout Bay is a fishing harbor - and is a great place to stop for lunch, especially for sea food. The harbor is also departure point for tour boats to nearby Duiker Island, with its cacophony of raucous seals. The small rocky island is packed with thousands of seals, cavorting around and below the boat.
Surfing - Hout Bay is one of sixteen recognised big wave surfing spots around the globe and is known among the surfing community as "Dungeons". The international Red Bull Big Wave Africa competition is held here annually. (see also Top 10 Surf Spots: Dungeons.)
Chapman’s Peak drive is one of the most spectacular stretches of coastal road in South Africa and probably the world. It’s been compared to Italy’s Amalfi Drive, hewn out of the solid mountain rock. There are several view sites along the winding road, as it climbs high up the side of Chapman’s Peak and above the cliffs of Hout Bay.
Hiking - A four-hour hiking trail leads even higher up the slopes of the mountain, for stunning vistas across the bay. From June to November, whales can often be seen in the ocean below.
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Silvermine Nature Reserve and Boyes Drive
Sivermine Nature Reserve is a section of South Africa's Table Mountain National Park and includes the Cape Peninsula mountain range extending from Constantiaberg to Kalk Bay. This is a popular spot with relatively short and easy hiking trails leading to panoramic viewpoints south and east across the peninsula and False Bay.
The Hoerikwaggo Trail traverses the Reserve. When completed, this will allow hikers to take a spectacular four-night, five-day 60 mile (97 Km) trail from Cape Town all the way to Cape Point.
Day visitors to the reserve enjoy the hikes, picnics, mountain biking, birdwatching and the mountain flora.
One of our recommended routes to explore the peninsula en-route to Cape Point cuts through this scenic part of the peninsula mountains.
Boyes Drive is a recommended scenic drive above the shores of False Bay, with views from above the town and beaches of Muizenberg and the Cape Flats. The Drive provides clear views over the Bay, with space to pull off the road at several view sites. In the winter months, this drive provides a vantage point to look out for Southern Right whales in the Bay.
Boyes drive descends on the southbound side to join the coastal road (Main Road) at the seaside hamlet of Kalk Bay, a fishing harbor on the shores of False Bay.
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False Bay Attractions and Activities
Ocean bathing and surfing is available at numerous family-oriented beaches along the False Bay shore. The ocean temperature is measurably warmer here than in the the Atlantic waters on the other side of the peninsula. Good sandy beaches include Muizenberg, St James, Fish Hoek, Glen Cairn and Boulders Beach. Some beaches have tidal pools and quaint colorful beach huts.
Boulders has a large African penguin colony. Long wooden walkways ensure that everyone can enjoy the penguins and their antics from close at hand. Nearby Boulders Beach has safe bathing, popular with families. The gently sloping bathing beach with its huge granite boulders is well worth a visit. Penguins from the nearby colony zip around like torpedoes in the water, almost close enough to touch. Kids love it!
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Great White Shark Breaching and Cage Diving
If you’re visiting Cape Town during the winter months – May through September – then Seal Island in False Bay is the setting for unusual and spectacular shark behavior. During these winter months, migratory fish species leave the waters of False Bay and Great White sharks feed instead on Cape fur seals. Seal Island is home to many thousands of these seals.
But it’s the sharks’ technique for catching the seals that is so unique and characteristic of this place.
Here, the Great Whites often attack their prey with such explosive force that their entire body is propelled out the water. This breaching behavior is seldom seen anywhere else in the world and provides a spectacular sight.
Meet “Air Jaws”, False Bay’s Flying Great White Sharks!
Acknowledgements: African Shark Eco-Charters, Simon's Town.
A deep drop off on one side of the island allows the sharks to build up the tremendous momentum for their attack. The seals are incredibly agile and the first attack is often unsuccessful, resulting in a cat and mouse chase of epic proportions.
Simon’s Town on the Cape Peninsula is departure point for the 20 minute boat trip out to Seal Island - and just a forty five minute transfer from Cape Town. Trips provide surface viewing of the breaching behavior as well as shark cage dives.
No diving experience is required. The cage floats just below the surface and hoses provide air to the divers, just two at a time in the cage, allowing a great view without cumbersome gear.
The
Great White is very curious, often circling and approaching the cage. This is definitely an adrenalin rush!
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Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve and Cape Point
Cape Point marks the south western tip of the African continent, with some of the most breathtaking ocean and coastal scenery in the world. This is where two oceans meet – the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean on the west and the warmer Indian Ocean waters on the east.
The treacherous rocky reefs surrounding the Point are home to 26 recorded shipwrecks - and probably many more. Sea cliffs rise more than 800 feet above the waves crashing against the rocks far below.
Visitors can ride the Flying Dutchman funicular railcar for access to view sites high up on the point and overlooking the working Cape Point Lighthouse. Short trails lead to stunning views over the cliffs - with seabirds whirling and diving between their rocky nests and the sea. Whales too can often be seen between May and November on their annual migration around the Point.
Diaz beach nestles in a cove below the cliffs. This is a wave-swept pristine beach for hikers to explore. Sculptured sandstone pillars, sea caves and white sands are sculptured and swept clean by wind and storms.
Curio and merchandise shopping and the Two Oceans restaurant offer rest and refreshment before the return trip along the False Bay shore. There’s also a great deal more to explore within the Cape Point Nature Reserve. A wide variety of stunning dive sites, picnic sites and walks to tidal pools for the kids to explore, hiking trails, 1100 indigenous plant species, as well as baboons, antelope, ostriches and Cape zebra to spot.
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The Cape Floral Kingdom
One of the world's five Meditteranian-climate biodiversity hotspots, the Cape Floral Kingdom extends across the southern part of South Africa's Western and Eastern Cape Provinces. Over 8,000 plant species grow here of which 1,400 grow on Table Mountain. Unesco's World Heritage Committee declared the Cape Floral Region to be "outstanding universal significance to humanity", describing it as "one of the richest areas for plants in the world". The Cape Floral Region "represents less than 0.5% of the area of Africa, but is home to nearly 20% of the continent's flora," Unesco said in a statement. "Its plant species diversity, density and endemism are among the highest worldwide, and it has been identified as one of the world's 18 biodiversity hot-spots.
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