Cape Town, South Africa, is a bustling city with dozens of attractions and activities for both visitors and locals alike.
Unfortunately, during our visit we simply did not do the city justice as we only had about three days to pack it all in before the start of our overland safari through southern Africa. Although our days in the city were busy, by our departure we were kicking ourselves for not staying longer as Cape Town has so many incredible attractions worth checking out.
While we still regret missing some attractions, the following four major sights we did check out blew us away. So if you find yourself in Cape Town and are looking for an attraction to see, we can safely say that these four are definitely worth your time.
Visit the Penguins at Boulders Beach
If visiting wild penguins isn't enough to win you over, perhaps knowing that these penguins live on the beach may pique your interest. Yes, it is true, the penguins at Boulders Beach are not the cold weather variety that you'd see at the zoo or in the Antarctic, and instead spend most of their day on the shores of South Africa (and in some cases, Namibia) as they nest, search for food, and live their lives.
Exploring the habitat at Boulders Beach is important as the penguin population in Africa is in significant decline. Reports have suggested that over 95% of the African penguin population has been lost in the last one hundred years, and the conservation effort is going strong to help prevent an imminent extinction of these beautiful birds.
Visiting this specific spot helps the conservation effort by giving the penguins dedicated nesting areas and providing a clear line to prevent human interaction from causing direct harm to the birds. With any luck, the effort to save these creatures will pay off and their population will rebound; but as it stands right now, more work needs done.
Bike to the Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is the most south-western point on the African continent (and lost the title for most southern point by just a few miles). Although it is fairly easy to hop in a car and get down to this famous spot, we heard great things about the local biking tours that head down there along with a combined visit to Boulders Beach (see above).
This tour was great as it gave an opportunity to be out in the gorgeous nature of southern Cape Town while also providing the ability for more focused animal spottings as the region around the Cape of Good Hope is also full of wild game. For us this meant our first spotting of baboons, ostriches, and giant antelope, and was a great teaser into the wildlife spotting we were about to experience on our tour.
We can safely say that you will not get the same animal viewing opportunity if traveling by car as we saw many drivers speed past us completely unaware (or not interested even) in the fact that there was a massive ostrich right on the side of the road. The few that did stop told us that they never even noticed the ostrich and just assumed something was there thanks to the group of bikers who were stopped and taking photos along the side of the road. Yes, this is how most game drives work in Africa if you don't have a good guide!
The day tours to the Cape of Good Hope are quite long; however, the biking component is only a small component of the entire day out and should be suitable for most all visitors of any skill level.
Cage Dive with Great White Sharks
If you're looking for an adrenaline rush, cage diving with great white sharks in the waters outside of Cape Town will definitely get your blood pumping. These massive creatures are known to live in the waters off Gansbaai, about two hours outside of Cape Town, and many tour companies offer experiences where you can witness them in their natural habitat while behind the safety of a well-built dive cage.
We loved our experience cage diving with Viator (and you can check out a full video of our shark dive here), but we do have to point out that not all companies operate with the same level of ethics when it comes to caring for the sharks. The company that we went out with was a scientific research organization that helps with the great white shark conservation effort. So while the boat tours are used to fund that effort, they also take the time on each outing to monitor the sharks and collect valuable data from the field. Other companies do not have the same goals, and you'll likely hear stories of this when you're back in Cape Town about other companies relentlessly chumming the water and encouraging the sharks to more-or-less attack the cage in order to give the visitors a thrill.
As with all animal encounters, you need to do your research before booking with an organization to ensure that their goals and operations are inline with what you consider to be ethical.
Ascend Table Mountain
Finally, we come to what we think is the most beautiful geographic feature of Cape Town- Table Mountain! This mountain is incredibly beautiful as it appears to climb almost straight out of the water and then abruptly ends with a rather flat top that gives the appearance of a table meant for the gods.
Now, those who are more adventurous than us can climb the mountain in around two hours. We have heard stories of this and, having just come off hiking to Everest Base Camp in Nepal, a hike, no matter how brief, was not something we were interested in doing.
Luckily those who cannot hike or are too lazy to tackle the mountain on foot are in luck! Table Mountain also has a pretty slick cable car system that continually goes up and down the mountain while also providing some pretty stellar views of the city below. Once you are at the top a very nice walking trail is available that takes you to various corners of the mountain and provides city, nature, and ocean views at nearly every turn. So if you get a day full of good weather and want to head out to nature while also sticking close to the city, a trip up Table Mountain should definitely be your first consideration.
Mountain hikers note: the cable car does not always operate pending weather, so if you travel up on foot you may end up having to return down the way you came!
Other Attractions in Cape Town
As we mentioned previously, we missed quite a bit of what Cape Town has to offer. From vineyard tours in nearby Stellenbosch, exploring the museum at Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for many years, to visiting a nearby animal reserve to view wildlife, Cape Town and the surrounding region has enough activities to keep you busy for days on end.
Although I often get a bit sad when I look back on a destination that we've visited which we did not do justice, Cape Town is one of those places that I know we'll be returning to one day in order to do it all again.
