The peninsula runs 52 km south from Cape Town to a cliff at Cape Point. A circular drive down one coast and up the other takes a full day with stops and is the single best excursion in the region. Go clockwise, leaving early to reach Cape Point before the tour buses.
Chapman Peak Drive
The nine-kilometre road between Hout Bay and Noordhoek was blasted into the cliff between 1915 and 1922, following a natural break between granite and sandstone. It has 114 curves and drops directly into the sea. A toll applies and the road closes in heavy rain or after rockfall. There are laybys at intervals; the one just above Hout Bay gives the classic view back over the bay.
Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope
The southern tip is a nature reserve within Table Mountain National Park. The old lighthouse, built too high at 249 m and frequently lost in cloud, is reached by funicular or a fifteen-minute climb; a lower lighthouse was built in 1919 after a Portuguese liner ran aground. A separate signposted point marks the Cape of Good Hope, the south-westernmost point of Africa — the actual southern tip of the continent is Cape Agulhas, 150 km east. Baboons here are habituated and dangerous around food: keep car windows shut and never carry visible snacks.
Boulders Beach
Near Simon Town, a colony of African penguins has bred among granite boulders since 1982. The population is now several thousand at this site, while the species as a whole has collapsed and is classified as endangered. Boardwalks keep visitors at a distance; the adjacent Foxy Beach is where the density is highest. Entry is charged as part of the national park.
Simon Town and Kalk Bay
Simon Town has been a naval base since the eighteenth century and has a compact Victorian main street. Kalk Bay, a little further north, is a working fishing harbour with antique shops, good bookshops and seafood eaten at the quay, where Cape fur seals wait for offcuts.
Cape Agulhas and the two oceans
The popular claim that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet at Cape Point is not accurate — the official boundary is at Cape Agulhas. What is true is that the two sides of the peninsula have markedly different water: the Atlantic side is cold from the Benguela upwelling, the False Bay side warmer from the Agulhas current, which is why the beaches on each side feel like different countries.
Practicalities
Fill the tank before setting out; fuel is limited on the southern peninsula. Entry to the Cape of Good Hope reserve is charged separately from the Boulders section. Allow eight hours for the loop with stops, more if adding a Hout Bay boat trip to the seal colony on Duiker Island.