Simon's Town
Naval town on False Bay with Victorian shopfronts, the Boulders penguin colony next door, and Cape Point half an hour south.
Victorian shopfronts on St George's Street in Simon's Town with the naval harbour behind
Why people stay in Simon's Town
Simon's Town is a separate town on the False Bay side of the Cape Peninsula, roughly 40 kilometres and an hour from central Cape Town, and it has been the country's main naval base since the Royal Navy took it over more than two centuries ago. That history is the whole texture of the place: St George's Street is a near-continuous run of Victorian and Edwardian shopfronts with cast-iron balconies, the dockyard walls run along the water, and at 8am you will see sailors in white walking to the base past people buying bread.
The penguins are the reason most people come, and they deliver. The African penguin colony at Boulders, entered from Kleintuin Road about 1.5 kilometres south of Jubilee Square, gives you a boardwalk over the dune scrub to Foxy Beach where several thousand birds nest a couple of metres from your feet. Entry is around R200 for international adults and considerably less with a South African ID. Go at opening or after 4pm; between 10am and 3pm in January it is a slow shuffle of tour buses and selfie sticks.
What surprises people is how early the town goes to bed. At 9pm St George's Street is lit and empty, the last kitchens are closing, and the sound is halyards and the odd naval siren. Bertha's on Wharf Street and the Salty Sea Dog on Jubilee Square are the two dependable eating spots — fish and chips around R110, a proper linefish plate R180 to R240. There is no club, no late bar, nothing that resembles a night out. That is a feature if you came to sleep with the window open.
It suits families, birders, divers, older travellers and anyone using it as a base for the far peninsula — Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope are a 25-minute drive south on the M65, with a conservation fee around R400 for international visitors. It also suits swimmers: False Bay runs three to five degrees warmer than the Atlantic side, 17 to 20 degrees in February, which changes everything. Skip it if you are on a four-day trip and want the city, because that hour each way will eat your holiday.
Two good zones. The first is the historic strip along St George's Street and the lanes climbing behind it — Runciman Drive, Alfred Lane, Court Road — where guesthouses in old naval villas run R1,100 to R1,900 in January with harbour views and a two-minute walk to dinner. The second is the Boulders and Seaforth end near Kleintuin Road, quieter, greener, penguin noise at dawn, R1,300 to R2,400. Winter drops both bands by around a third. Book anything with a sea-facing balcony well ahead for December and January; the town has limited stock and fills. Avoid rooms directly on the M4 through-road at the Glencairn end, where traffic and the railway run close together, and check parking — St George's Street kerbside is full by 10am every summer day. Confirm whether breakfast is served, as many small places do not run a kitchen.
Things to do in Simon's Town
Enter at Kleintuin Road, off the M4 south of town. The elevated boardwalk runs through the colony to the Foxy Beach viewing decks where penguins nest within arm's reach. Around R200 for international adults, less for South Africans. Gates open early — be there at opening or after 4pm to avoid the coach crush.
Windmill Beach, reached from Bellevue Road on the south side of town, is the local alternative: two small granite-bouldered coves, free, no boardwalk, and penguins often waddling past on their own business. Sheltered from the southeaster, calm enough for children, and the water hits about 19 degrees in February. Parking is limited to a handful of bays.
The bronze Great Dane on Jubilee Square commemorates the only dog ever formally enlisted in the Royal Navy, who rode the Simon's Town train and drank in the bars until 1944. The square above the yacht basin also holds craft stalls and the Salty Sea Dog. Five minutes, free, and the anchor point of the whole waterfront.
Operators run guided sea-kayak trips from the jetty beside Jubilee Square down the coast to Boulders and back, roughly two hours for about R450 including gear. Morning departures before the southeaster comes up. You see the colony from the water, often with seals and occasionally a whale in the bay between July and November.
The Simon's Town Museum in the Old Residency on Court Road covers slavery, the Royal Navy and the forced removals of the 1960s; the Naval Museum in the dockyard covers ships and submarines. Both are cheap, around R20 to R40, both close by 4pm and are shut or short-staffed on Sundays. Together they take two hours.
Take the M4 south through the Murdock Valley, then the M65 to the Cape of Good Hope gate — 25 minutes. Conservation fee around R400 for international adults. Do the funicular or the steps to the old lighthouse, then the Cape of Good Hope sign. Leave Simon's Town by 8am to beat the tour buses.
What to see
Hotels near Simon's Town
No hotels are listed in Simon's Town yet. The nearest ones are on the region page.
Getting around Simon's Town
Driving is the honest answer: 50 to 60 minutes from Cape Town International via the M5, M3 and then the M4 coast road, and about an hour from the City Bowl. An e-hail from the airport runs R550 to R700 and drivers are reluctant to come back out for a return fare. Metrorail's Southern Line terminates at Simon's Town station, right on the water beside Jubilee Square — services to the terminus have been restored after years of suspension but remain schedule-dependent, so check on the day and travel in daylight. Golden Arrow buses connect Simon's Town with Fish Hoek and Wynberg. In town everything is walkable; Boulders is 20 minutes on foot.
Questions about Simon's Town
The conservation fee at the Boulders section is around R200 for international adult visitors, roughly a quarter of that for South African ID holders, and children pay less again. That covers the boardwalk to Foxy Beach and the Boulders Beach access. Windmill Beach and parts of the shoreline near Seaforth are free and often have penguins wandering, if you would rather not pay.
The Southern Line service to the Simon's Town terminus was suspended for several years and has since been restored, but reliability varies and schedules change. Check the day before, travel between 9am and 3pm, sit in a busy carriage and do not plan a late return on it. The run from Muizenberg south hugs the shoreline and is one of the great urban train rides anywhere when it is working.
It is the best base there is. The Cape of Good Hope gate is 25 minutes south on the M65 and you can be at the point before the first Cape Town coaches arrive at around 10am, which transforms the experience. Conservation entry runs about R400 for international adults. Fill the tank in town — there is no fuel inside the reserve and baboons will raid an unlocked car.
Yes, and more comfortably than on the Atlantic side. False Bay water reaches 17 to 20 degrees in late summer against 12 to 15 in Camps Bay. Seaforth and Windmill are sheltered coves with calm water and rock protection, good for children. Boulders itself has a small swimming beach. Great white activity in the bay has dropped sharply in recent years, but always swim at supervised beaches and heed any shark spotter flags.
