ActivitySimon's Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Meeting the Penguins of Boulders Beach
An African penguin colony in a Cape Town suburb
Easy
A colony of endangered African penguins lives among the granite boulders of Simon's Town. How to visit respectfully, and why their numbers are falling.
A colony on the doorstep
In 1982 two breeding pairs of African penguins settled on the beach at Boulders, in Simon's Town on the False Bay side of the Cape Peninsula. The colony grew to a few thousand birds and is now part of Table Mountain National Park, with boardwalks that let you watch them nest, squabble and waddle into the surf from a metre or two away.
The African penguin is the only penguin that breeds in Africa, and it is in trouble. The global population has fallen by more than 90 percent in a century, mostly because of overfishing of sardines and anchovies, oil spills and disturbance. In 2024 it was listed as critically endangered.
Visit early, before the tour buses arrive at ten, and stay on the boardwalks. The Foxy Beach viewpoint has the most birds; the main Boulders Beach lets you swim in sheltered water with penguins nearby, but never touch or feed them.
Mind the beak
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Thabo NkosiAuthor
Wildside ExpeditionsPublisher
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