Boulders Beach half day tours run five to six hours instead of eight to ten, reach the penguin colony while the boardwalk is still quiet, and give you up to two hours there rather than one. You pay one park gate instead of two and you are back in the city for lunch.
Five to six hours, fifteen travellers at most, and the only half day that also reaches the Cape of Good Hope. A fee-inclusive grade is sold alongside, so the park gates can be settled at checkout.
From $54 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two hours at the colony, the longest stop on the list, on a five-hour run over Chapman's Peak and back along Boyes Drive. The conservation fee at the gate is yours on the day.
From $39 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A private afternoon start for up to seven, five hours, with half an hour at the colony and the late light on the coast road. Book it for the drive rather than a long spell with the birds.
From $203 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Leave early, spend one or two hours with the colony, and be back in the city while the full-day runs are still at Cape Point.
Check availabilityFive to six hours from a city pickup, rather than eight to ten. The route goes straight for the colony instead of working round the whole peninsula, adds one or two stops on the coast road, and has you back for lunch. You trade Cape Point for time at the boardwalk and an earlier arrival, which is the best hour of the day there. The longer shapes sit beside the Boulders Beach tickets listings.
A half day leaving the city early reaches the boardwalk within the first hour or two of opening, before the car park fills and before entry starts being paused in batches.
Twice what any full peninsula day allows. If the penguins are the reason you came, that is the whole argument on one line.
A full day visits both Boulders and the Cape of Good Hope reserve, and both charge separately. Skipping the second one is a real saving for a family.
Back in the city for lunch, with Table Mountain, the Waterfront or a beach still ahead of you. On a ten-hour day, the day is the day.
The comparison that decides this page.
| Half day | Full day | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours | 5 to 6 | 8 to 10 |
| At the colony | 30 minutes to 2 hours | About 1 hour |
| Cape Point | On one of the three | Always |
| Park gates charged | One, usually | Two |
| Arrives at the boardwalk | Morning, before the coaches | Afternoon |
| Back in the city | Early afternoon | 17:00 to 19:00 |
| From | $39 | $31 |
Neither is better in the abstract. If this is your only day outside Cape Town, take the full one; if you came for the birds, take this one. The full shapes are on the tour options page.
All three fares cover hotel pickup, the vehicle, the guide, bottled water and the Chapman's Peak toll. None includes lunch, which is the point: you eat back in the city. Two leave the conservation fee at the gate to you, and one sells a grade with all park fees included alongside the fare shown.
Fares run from $39 to $203 a person. Two leave in the morning and one is a private afternoon start, which is worth knowing before you book a morning flight. Vehicles carry between seven and twenty-two travellers depending on the listing, and every card names the figure.
Book two or three days ahead outside December and January, and a week ahead in them. Every one of these refunds in full if you cancel at least 24 hours before the start time.
The short runs leave early, reach the boardwalk before the coaches and pay one park gate instead of two.
Check availabilityAnyone with one free day in Cape Town and no car. A half day leaves Cape Point, the Cape of Good Hope and the old lighthouse entirely unseen, and those are the reason the peninsula is famous. A full day is the better use of a single day, and they are compared on the tour options page.
Anyone who wants Table Mountain as well should take a Table Mountain and Cape Point tour, which no half day includes. And a party of four who want to set their own hours will do better with a Boulders Beach private tour priced per car.
Deciding between five hours and ten? Both shapes are compared on Boulders Beach Tours.