Cape Explorer: Cape Point & Penguin Tour
Normal Price: Adult – R495 | Child – R255
What you get: 25% discount off the tour – excludes entry to the park (Booking Required)
Discover the Cape Peninsula & waddle with penguins on this tour that explores the Cape Point and Boulder Beach
The full-day Cape Point Explorer Tour takes you through the most scenic routes of the Cape Peninsula, with stops at Boulders Beach penguins’ colony close to Simon’s Town, and the Cape Point Nature Reserve, accompanied by a professional guide.
Cape Point Explorer Tour Highlights
- Full-day tour around the Cape Peninsula.
- Visit Boulders Beach and meet thousands of African penguins. (Note that entrance to Boulder Beach is excluded from the pass.)
- Hike to the Cape of Good Hope inside the Cape Point Nature Reserve.
- Ride up with the Funicular to the Cape Point lighthouse. (Note that the ticket for the funicular is excluded.)
OVERVIEW
The Cape Point Explorer Tour is a guided day tour to Cape Point in a luxury air-conditioned coach, operated by City Sightseeing South Africa. You will explore this spectacular nature reserve (part of the Cape Floral Kingdom World Heritage Site), with a stop at Boulders Beach, home to a colony of African penguins. This day tour to the Cape of Good Hope is a must-see for visitors and locals.
The Cape Point Explorer leaves Cape Town in the morning and starts with a scenic drive to Boulders Beach, through Muizenberg and Fish Hoek. The guide highlights the different points of interest along the way and is at hand to answer any questions you have about the route, Cape Point and Boulders Beach.
Boulders Beach is home to a colony of endangered African penguins, so this is your once-in-a-lifetime chance to come within metres of them in a natural environment. The pristine beach surrounded by impressive granite boulders is part of Table Mountain Nature Reserve.
After visiting the penguins, your next stop is Cape Point, where you can enjoy a bite to eat before exploring further. The Cape Point Nature Reserve offers some of the most breathtaking mountain and ocean scenery in the world. Using the Flying Dutchman Funicular to the viewing point below the lighthouse, you can admire the views across False Bay. There is an optional hike from the Cape of Good Hope to the top of Cape Point. At Cape Point, you can also follow the footsteps of early Portuguese explorers Vasco Da Gama and Bartolomeu Dias and enjoy several short walking trails leading to beautiful beaches and viewpoints.
After a day spent exploring, you can enjoy the coastal drive back to Cape Town via Scarborough and Kommetjie, with spectacular views from the Ou Kaapse Weg mountain pass.
A Cape Point Explorer Tour includes:
- Transport to and from Cape Point in a luxury air-conditioned coach
- A visit to Boulders Beach
- Entrance to Cape Point Nature Reserve
- Enjoy the Flying Dutchman Funicular at Cape Point
- Live guided tour (in English)
- Lunch and entrance to Boulders Beach and the Flying Dutchman Funicular are not included.
The Cape Point & Penguin Explorer Tour runs daily, with staggered departure times from 8:55 from select hotels and stops in Camps Bay, Sea Point, Green Point, and the city, as well as City Sightseeing tour offices at STOP 1 (V&A Waterfront) and stop 5 (Long Street). The return time is approximately 17:30. The duration of the tour is 8 hours.
HISTORY
Cape Point lies within the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve which forms part of the Cape Floral Kingdom, the smallest of the world’s floral kingdoms and one of the most diverse. The point was named the Cape of Storms by Bartolomeu Dias in 1488 because it was so dangerous to navigate.
Frequent violent storms and harsh winds were famous for forcing ships to run aground on the rocky coastline. The area was made safer in 1859, with the addition of a landmark lighthouse, which is now used as a central monitoring point for all other lighthouses on the coast of South Africa.
OPERATING HOURS
The Cape Point Explorer stops at nine different City Sightseeing (red bus) stops to pick up passengers. Departure stops:
- 08:55 – STOP 8: Camps Bay Beach Road (Opposite the Bay Hotel)
- 09:05 – STOP 9: President Hotel Sea Point (Corner Queens & Alexander Roads)
- 09:10 – STOP 10: St John’s Road Sea Point (Corner Beach & St John’s Roads)
- 09:12 – STOP 11: Winchester Mansions Sea Point – Beach Road (Opposite the hotel)
- 09:16 – STOP 12: Green Point Beach Road (Next to the lighthouse)
- 09:30 – STOP 1: V&A Waterfront City Sightseeing Tour Office
- 09:37 – STOP 4: Lower Long Street (Opposite the Cape Town International Convention Centre)
- 09:42 – STOP 5: 81 Long Street City Sightseeing Tour Office & Travel Depot
- 09:47 – STOP 15: Mount Nelson Hotel Bus Stop Corner Orange & Hatfield Streets
This is a full-day trip. Tours return approximately 17:30.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
City Sightseeing South Africa
81 Long St, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa
Phone: +27 (0)21 511 6000
Website: www.citysightseeing.co.za
WEATHER
Weather at 81 Long Street, Cape Town
Weather at Cape Point
Weather at Boulders Beach
THINGS TO KNOW
DID YOU KNOW
The Cape of Good Hope is commonly called the southernmost tip of Africa – but this is a misconception! The southernmost tip of Africa is Cape Agulhas, lying roughly 150km southeast of the Point.
