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Boulders Beach Tours › Where to See Penguins in Cape Town: Boulders Beach and Four Other PlacesUpdated 2026-09-11

Where to See Penguins in Cape Town: Boulders Beach and Four Other Places

Hours, prices and access verified by the Boulders Beach Tours team — last checked 2026-09-11

A group of African penguins walking along the sand past a granite boulder, with turquoise water and more boulders behind

The short answer. Boulders Beach in Simon's Town is the best place to see penguins in Cape Town: the Foxy Beach boardwalk puts you a few metres from a wild colony of 790 breeding pairs. Stony Point at Betty's Bay is the quieter second mainland colony, 70–90 minutes from the city. SANCCOB and the Two Oceans Aquarium show penguins in care, and Robben Island's ferry tour is about its history.

Five places around the city put you in front of an African penguin, and they are not the same kind of visit. Every Boulders Beach penguins tour we list goes to the first of them, and the reasons are below.

Five places to see penguins around Cape Town, compared

Where to see penguins around Cape Town: wild colonies and birds in care
PlaceWhereThe birdsHow you see them Adult fee (international)Open
Boulders BeachFalse Bay coast, 40 km south of the cityWild colony, 790 pairs (2026)Boardwalk, a few metres awayR245, card onlySeasonal: 08:00–17:00 in winter, to 19:30 in Dec–Jan
Stony PointBetty's Bay, 70–90 min driveWild colony Boardwalk through the colonyR4508:00–16:30, boardwalk to 16:00
SANCCOBTable ViewBirds in rehabilitationGuided tour, max 10R80Tours 09:00–15:00 on the hour
Two Oceans AquariumV&A WaterfrontCaptive-bred colony, plus rockhoppersExhibitTicket price on the aquarium's siteDaily 09:30–18:00
Robben IslandFerry from the V&A WaterfrontWild colony since 1983Not part of the tourR600 incl. ferry3.5-hour tours from 09:00

Only two of the five are wild mainland colonies you can walk to: Boulders and Stony Point. If you want wild birds, those are your two choices.

1. Boulders Beach: the colony most visitors mean

The penguins you see here live inside Table Mountain National Park, in the dune scrub behind Foxy Beach. SANParks and its partners counted 790 breeding pairs in June 2026, up from 698 a year earlier, about 2,528 birds in all. The story of how two pairs became that many is told on the Boulders Beach colony, and there are more facts about the Boulders Beach penguins in a post of their own.

What you see from the boardwalk

The walkway carries you to within a few metres of the birds, and it is the reserve's wheelchair-accessible route. The swimming cove and the car park are at the other two gates, set out in Foxy Beach, Boulders Beach and Seaforth, gate by gate.

Fees, hours and paying at the gate

International visitors pay R245 an adult and R120 a child aged 2–11, per day, by card only; reduced South African and SADC rates exist. The gate opens 08:00–17:00 from April to September and 07:00–19:30 in December and January, and the table of gate hours for every season covers the months between. Driving or taking the train instead? See reaching Boulders Beach without a tour.

Two hours at the colony, not one

The Penguin Encounter half day spends 2 of its 5 hours at Boulders. From $39 a person, rated 4.9 from 303 reviews.

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2. Stony Point, Betty's Bay: the quieter mainland colony

East across False Bay, CapeNature runs Stony Point Nature Reserve and calls its birds the third-largest breeding colony of African penguins in the world. You pay less at the gate: R45 for an adult, R30 for a child aged 4 to 17, and your Wild Card is accepted. You also get shorter hours than at Boulders, 08:00 to 16:30, with the last permits issued at 15:45 and the boardwalk closing at 16:00. From Cape Town your drive takes 70 to 90 minutes, depending on the traffic through Somerset West. None of the tours we list go there.

Boulders Beach or Stony Point?

  • Boulders if you are on a Cape Peninsula day or have one morning free, and if you want the beach and the granite as well as the birds.
  • Stony Point if you are driving the coast east towards Hermanus anyway, and it sits on your route.
  • Stony Point if you want the cheaper gate, R45 against R245.
  • Boulders for a late start: open to 17:00 even in winter, against 16:00 on the Stony Point boardwalk.

3. SANCCOB, Table View: penguins in rehabilitation

SANCCOB's seabird centre is at 22 Pentz Drive in Table View. It reopened to the public in November 2018 with a new seabird hospital, the largest facility of its kind in southern Africa.

  • Guided tours every hour from 09:00, the last at 15:00, at most 10 people.
  • Arrive for 11:00 or 15:00 and you see the home-pen feed.
  • You pay R80 as an international adult; your children pay R55 at 12 and under, nothing under 3.
  • 45 minutes to an hour; the kids' tour runs 30–45 minutes. Book ahead: walk-ins go in only when a slot is free.
  • A personalised tour of about 2.5 hours costs R605 a person, ages 16 and over, on weekdays, booked at least a month ahead.

4. Two Oceans Aquarium, V&A Waterfront: penguins that cannot go back

The aquarium's colony is in its third generation, every bird hatched and raised in its care, and South African law does not allow captive-bred penguins to be released. It also keeps northern rockhopper penguins, some rescued after stranding on the South African coast and rehabilitated by SANCCOB. It opens daily from 09:30 to 18:00 and sells a paid Penguin Experience; the price is on its own site.

5. Robben Island: a colony you pass on a tour about something else

Penguins were wiped out on the island by 1800, and a new colony has bred there since 1983. The Robben Island Museum tour, though, is a heritage tour: a ferry from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront, then a bus round the historical sites, 3.5 hours in all. A non-South African adult pays R600, a child under 18 R310. Departures are at 09:00, 11:00 and 13:00, plus 15:00 from 1 September to 30 April, weather permitting. The tour does not promise penguins: go for the history.

Did you know? September and October are the emptiest months at Boulders: the adults are at sea, feeding hard before the moult. In November and December the moulting birds come back and stand still ashore for about three weeks. The whole calendar is in the penguin year at Boulders, month by month.

Seeing the penguins on a tour from Cape Town

Every tour we list goes to Boulders; none goes to Stony Point, SANCCOB or Robben Island. Your choice is between a half day and a full one. The Penguin Encounter half day gives you 2 hours at the colony in 5 hours, and the other Boulders Beach half day tours run 5 to 6. The full peninsula days give about an hour at Boulders and add Cape Point: the Cape Point and Boulders full-day tour runs 8 hours, from $31 a person, rated 4.9 from 4,405 reviews.

Useful tip. Carry a bank card even on a tour. Most fares leave the conservation fee to you at the gate, which takes no cash; check what your tour fare covers before you book.

See the full-day tour

Penguins around Cape Town: questions

Where is the best place to see penguins in Cape Town?
Boulders Beach in Simon's Town, 40 km from the city. The Foxy Beach boardwalk takes you to within a few metres of a wild colony that counted 790 breeding pairs in June 2026. International adults pay R245 at the gate, by card.
Is Stony Point better than Boulders Beach?
It is quieter and cheaper, at R45 an adult and R30 a child aged 4 to 17, and CapeNature calls it the third-largest breeding colony of African penguins in the world. It is also 70 to 90 minutes from Cape Town and closes earlier: last permit 15:45, boardwalk 16:00. Boulders fits a Cape Peninsula day; Stony Point fits a drive east along the coast.
Can you see penguins on Robben Island?
A colony has bred on the island since 1983, but the Robben Island Museum tour is a heritage tour by ferry and bus and does not promise penguin viewing. It takes 3.5 hours from the V&A Waterfront and costs R600 for a non-South African adult.
Can you see penguins without leaving the city?
Yes, birds in care. The Two Oceans Aquarium at the V&A Waterfront keeps a captive-bred colony and rescued rockhoppers, open daily 09:30 to 18:00. SANCCOB's seabird hospital in Table View runs guided tours on the hour from 09:00 to 15:00, R80 for an international adult.
Do Cape Town penguin tours go to Stony Point?
None of the tours we list do: every one visits Boulders Beach, usually as part of a Cape Peninsula day. The half-day penguin tour gives you 2 hours at the colony in 5 hours; the full days give about an hour and add Cape Point.
When are there fewest penguins at Boulders Beach?
September and October, when the adults are at sea feeding before the moult. From November the moulting birds stand ashore for about three weeks, and February to August is the breeding season, with the most birds on the beach.

If you have one morning for penguins, spend it at Boulders, and you will find every fare, hour and gate detail for it on Boulders Beach Tours.

Stony Point is a drive; Boulders is a morning. These four days put you on the boardwalk with a guide.

Tours that stop at the Boulders colony