There are some days in Cape Town that are best spent with nowhere too firmly planned.

A slow breakfast in Kalk Bay. A coffee for the road. The windows down as you follow the coastline south, with the ocean beside you and the mountains rising ahead.

Then, a little later, you find yourself standing among the granite boulders of Simon’s Town, watching African penguins waddle between the rocks and disappear into the water.

One of the lovely things about staying at Dalebrook Place in Kalk Bay is having this kind of morning right on your doorstep. Boulders is close enough to make an easy half-day, and the journey there is part of the experience too.

There’s really only one thing worth deciding in advance, and that’s what time you leave. Go early and the rest of the day can look after itself.

From Kalk Bay to Boulders Beach

Boulders Beach is around 10–15 minutes by car from Kalk Bay, depending on traffic, making it one of those easy Cape Peninsula outings that doesn’t need a full day of travelling.

You carry on south down Main Road, through Fish Hoek and Glencairn, and then Simon’s Town appears around the bay with the naval dockyard in front of you. The colony sits just beyond the town.

If you have the time, don’t rush it.

This is a stretch of coastline made for stopping. Pull over for the view. Take the scenic route. Stop for a coffee. Wander down to the water.

You’re on holiday, after all.

If you’d rather not drive, the Southern Line train runs all the way to Simon’s Town station, and it’s about twenty to thirty minutes’ walk from there to the colony along the seafront. If you do drive, come early — the parking near the entrance is limited and it fills up through the morning.

Meet the African penguins at Boulders Beach

The main reason to make the journey is, of course, the penguins.

Boulders Beach is home to a colony of African penguins, one of the most remarkable wildlife experiences you can have in Cape Town. The annual census in June 2026 counted about 2,528 birds here, somewhere between eight and nine percent of every African penguin left in South Africa. The colony has become one of the city’s most popular attractions, but there is something wonderfully unpolished about seeing these little characters going about their day.

You’ll find them nesting among the rocks, swimming in the shallows and making their way along the boardwalks as though you weren’t there at all.

And they’re surprisingly entertaining.

Give yourself some time to simply watch. There’s no need to rush from one viewing point to another. Sometimes the best moments are the unexpected ones — a penguin appearing from behind a boulder, another taking an impressively fast swim, or a small group gathering on the rocks to argue about something.

Just remember that they are wild animals. Keep your distance, stay on the designated paths and let them carry on with their day. They will come closer to you than you expect, and that isn’t an invitation.

Leave the picnic in the car, too. Food changes the way they behave.

There are two beaches, and most people only find one

This is the thing nobody tells you before you arrive, and it makes a real difference to the day.

Foxy Beach is where the penguins are. A wooden boardwalk runs out over the dunes and the nesting area, so you walk above the colony and look down on hundreds of birds. This is where all the photographs come from.

Boulders Beach itself is the smaller cove next door, sheltered by the granite boulders the place is named after. This is the one you can swim at. The water is calm and shallow and warm by Cape standards, and there are usually a few penguins in it with you, which is a strange and lovely thing the first time it happens.

The two entrances are a short walk apart and one ticket covers both. Plenty of visitors do the boardwalk, take their photographs and drive off without ever knowing the swimming beach is there.

So bring a towel.

When to go

Early is better than late, and both are better than the middle of the day. The tour buses arrive mid-morning and the boardwalk gets busy; the gates open around eight, so a proper early start from Kalk Bay puts you there ahead of them. Late afternoon works too, once the buses have gone and the birds are coming back in from the sea.

Winter is quieter than you’d expect and the penguins are just as active. Fewer people, softer light, and long stretches of boardwalk to yourself.

December is the moult. Once a year the penguins shed every feather at once, and for about twenty-one days they aren’t waterproof, so they can’t swim or feed. They fatten up beforehand to get through it, then stand about on land looking scruffy and thoroughly fed up. SANParks puts the peak in December, after which the birds head out to sea to feed and come back in January to pair up, nesting from about February. It’s fascinating to see and a poor time for photographs, so it’s worth knowing before you plan a trip around it.

Before you go: the gate

Boulders is part of Table Mountain National Park, so there’s a daily conservation fee to get in. SANParks publishes the rates, and as at August 2026, for the period running to 31 October 2026, they are:

Visitor	Adults (12+)	Children (2–11)
South African citizens and residents	R55	R26
SADC nationals	R110	R55
International visitors	R245	R120

A couple of things catch people out.

The gate is cash-free. Cards only, debit or credit.

And the international rate is charged by default, so South Africans need to ask for the local one. Say so when you arrive and show an ID, a driver’s licence, or a passport with an SA ID number in it — a photo on your phone is fine. Do it before you go through, because there are no refunds afterwards. For a family of four that’s the difference between about R160 and about R730, so it’s worth the ten seconds.

If you have a SANParks Wild Card it covers your entry, but bring the membership letter, printed or on your phone. The old plastic cards aren’t accepted at the gates any more.

Don’t make the penguins your only stop

While Boulders Beach is the star attraction, Simon’s Town is worth spending some time exploring too.

The historic seaside town has a completely different feeling to Kalk Bay, with its naval history, Victorian buildings, harbour and waterfront.

Start at Jubilee Square, where you’ll find the statue of Just Nuisance, the Great Dane who was formally enlisted in the Royal Navy during the war and is buried on the hill above the town. Then take a wander through the town, browse the small shops, stop for lunch or find somewhere overlooking the water.

And if you still have time — keep going.

One of the joys of exploring the Cape Peninsula from Kalk Bay is that you are never particularly far from another beautiful beach, viewpoint or little place worth stopping at.

Make a day of the Cape Peninsula

If you’re staying at Dalebrook Place for a few days, a trip to Boulders Beach can easily become part of a bigger Cape Peninsula day trip.

You could start in Kalk Bay, visit the penguins in Simon’s Town, carry on towards Cape Point — another forty minutes or so beyond the colony — and make your way back along the peninsula later in the afternoon.

You don’t have to go into the reserve to get the best of it, either. The drive out along Plateau Road is most of the reward on its own, and The Scone Shack is out that way on Lalaphanzi Farm — scones from a wood-fired oven, eaten outside among the chickens. Check their days before you commit to the drive, though. They aren’t open all week and they close for a stretch in winter.

Or keep things slower.

Spend the morning with the penguins, have lunch in Simon’s Town, find a quiet stretch of coastline in the afternoon and make your way home when you’re ready.

There is something to be said for not trying to see everything.

And then, back to Kalk Bay

After a day exploring, there’s something rather lovely about returning to Dalebrook Place.

Perhaps you’ll head straight for the shower and put your feet up.

Perhaps you’ll walk across to Dalebrook Tidal Pool for a swim to wash the morning off.

Or maybe you’ll wander into the village for dinner and find yourself lingering over a table as the afternoon turns into evening.

That’s part of what makes staying in Kalk Bay so special.

You have the adventure of the Cape Peninsula on one side, and the everyday pleasures of village life on the other. And you don’t have to choose between them on the same day.

Coffee shops. Independent stores. The harbour. Restaurants. Coastal walks. The tidal pool.

And the ocean, always somewhere nearby.

Staying near Boulders Beach

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay near Boulders Beach, Kalk Bay makes a beautiful base — and a better one than Simon’s Town itself. You’re ten minutes from the penguins and in the middle of a village, with the harbour, the bookshops, the restaurants and the tidal pool on your doorstep.

Dalebrook Place is five self-catering, ocean-facing apartments at 20 Main Road, directly across from Dalebrook Tidal Pool. Spend the morning with the penguins and you’ll still be back in time for an afternoon swim.

So yes, come for the penguins.

But stay for everything else.

See the apartments or book directly with us.

Staying in Kalk Bay? Dalebrook Place has five self-catering apartments in Kalk Bay directly opposite the tidal pool, booked direct with the owner.