When you think of Africa, I’m sure visions of lions and elephants and open savannahs pop into your head, right? Of all the wildlife you can see in Africa, did you know that PENGUINS are included in that?? That’s right, tuxedo-wearing, widdle waddling, flightless and cute-as-hell penguins! Hopefully you’ve heard of the infamous Cape Town penguins found at Boulders Beach, but if you haven’t, you’re in luck! I’m illustrating my best dos and don’ts for visiting these cute little guys.
There is only one species of penguins found on the African continent, and you can see them up close and personal in Cape Town! Although mainly found on offshore islands, there is a large colony of the Cape Town Penguins (officially the African Penguins) near Simon’s Town in the Western Cape. Simon’s Town has capitalized on their wildlife population, and you will see a penguin theme everywhere! I’m not mad about it.
Foxy Beach
First let’s talk about the best way to observe these little birdies in their natural habitat! The area in Simon’s Town with the large penguin colony is called Boulder’s Beach. Here you can view the penguins up close and personal! There is also another area where one can view the penguins, called Foxy Beach. This area has a newly-constructed boardwalk where you can easily walk above the sand, water, and boulders to view the birds without disturbing them.
Both Foxy and Boulders Beaches are part of Table Mountain National Park, so the land and penguins are protected. This means that you have to pay in order to gain access. At the time of writing, the admission was R160, or around $11 USD per person. The entrance closest to the main part of town is at Foxy Beach, where the boardwalks are. There is no parking here, I recommend you park at either Boulders Beach or at Seaforth Beach Parking Lot. Due to the weather, when we visited we weren’t able to be there until about 10 AM. Depending on the season, the viewing areas open at either 7 or 8AM. I highly recommend getting there right when they open! It was a madhouse even when we were there at 10.
Boulders Beach
If you exit out from the boardwalks at Foxy Beach, go left and you’ll eventually get to the other paid entrance to Boulders Beach. If you just show your ticket from your first entrance, you’ll be able to bypass the line (and you won’t pay again). This is where you can be on the beach with the penguins. It’s actually just a nice beach as well, it has calm water and the boulders shelter it from the wind, so you might see families there having a nice beach day.
Boulders Beach has, as the name suggests, HUGE BOULDERS. Right when you come through the main entrance, there is a small beach area where you might encounter the aforementioned families. Just past this small beach area, huge boulders line the sand and lot of little penguins like to hide between them. To access parts of the beach further down, there is some scrambling involved. You are pretty much required to climb over some rocks, duck under them, or squeeze between them. When it gets crowded and/or the tide comes in, this requires patience as there is often only one way to go and a lot of people trying to climb over the same rock in both directions.
I will let your shoe choice be at your own discretion here. Sturdy shoes might be handy for climbing over boulders. I wore tennis shoes with socks, which was great for climbing over the rocks AT FIRST. When we finished taking photos and penguin-watching and had to climb back, I realized that the tide came in and a lot of the routes were now either underwater or close to it. You have a high probability of getting your feet wet (this is a beach, after all), so I say either be okay with taking your shoes off at some point, or just wear sandals that you don’t mind getting wet.
Now for the main event: the PENGUINS! They’re super cute and exactly how you would expect penguins to be. Huge boulders surround this area of Boulders Beach, so there often isn’t a lot of space to be walking around on the ground. The penguins are generally okay with you getting decently close to them, and sometimes you really don’t have a choice due to the landscape.
Generally for your own safety and also because I am a wildlife lover and don’t want to bother animals, I would say don’t get any closer than a few feet away if you can avoid it. I observed several people lean down to try to take a selfie with the birds, and not only to you disturb them, they will bite you!! I saw one person get bit. Okay it was on her backpack, but if she didn’t have a backpack on the penguin would have bit her body. And I was secretly okay with that, because she should not have been doing what she was doing. Trust me, you can get close and get a really, really great photo without getting in their space and disturbing them.
Cape Town Penguins on a Budget
I highly recommend a visit to the paid areas of the penguins’ natural habitat, especially since your admission fee helps with the conservation of the National Park and the cuties you’ll see there. But did you know you can see the penguins FOR FREE? I mean, they are wild animals, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that they wander outside the boundaries of the paid area, right? The first night we stayed in Simon’s Town, we arrived late and Boulders Beach had closed at 5PM.
We decided to park at Seaforth Beach Parking Lot and visit Water’s Edge Beach anyway, just to check out the beach. Parking and beach entry are both free. We got there around twilight, and not only was there (almost) no one else there, but there were penguins! There were about a dozen just waddling about, but there was also a larger colony on that beach behind a fence! So even though paying is wonderful for conservation, you don’t actually have to spend the money if you want to see a few penguins just on your own.
Although the Simon’s Town area of Cape Town is a little out of the way from the city center, it’s well worth it to see African penguins in their natural habitat. If you choose to spend a couple of nights here like we did, there is plenty to see in that area of the Western Cape! The beaches are very nice and the main streets of each beach area are super cute. Plus, there is good surfing on that side for you sporty types out there! Definitely check out this area if you ever find yourself on a Cape Town vacation!
Check out my vlog to see videos of our time at Boulders Beach!
If you want to read about my safari in South Africa check out my Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge blog post!
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Highlight of Cape town