Simon's Town Harbour

Simon's Town Harbour is the maritime waterfront of a town that exists because of it. The harbour sits in a sheltered corner of False Bay, tucked under steep mountains on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula, and it has been in continuous naval and maritime use for a very long time. That is what makes it different from Cape Town's other harbours: this is not primarily a fishing harbour or a redeveloped visitor precinct, but a working naval and maritime setting that a visitor experiences from around its edges.

What you actually see from the public waterfront is a busy mix of vessels. Yachts and small craft fill the marina in rows, tenders and service boats move about, and there are usually working boats of one kind or another alongside the quays. Beyond them, grey naval vessels are often visible across the water, which immediately tells you what kind of harbour this is. What is in port varies from day to day, so treat any particular ship as a matter of luck rather than something to plan around.

A little history helps explain the shape of the place. Simon's Town grew up around this anchorage because False Bay offered shelter when Table Bay was dangerous in the winter months, and the harbour was steadily developed as a naval station over the following centuries. It served as a Royal Navy base for much of that period before passing to the South African Navy in the second half of the twentieth century, and the Navy remains here today. That long history is why a small town on a narrow coastal shelf has a harbour of this scale, and why its architecture, street pattern and atmosphere all lean toward the sea.

It is worth being clear about access. The naval presence shapes the character of Simon's Town, but naval facilities are operational and are not visitor attractions. Public areas around the waterfront, the marina side and the town's seafront are where the experience happens, and the boundaries are generally signposted. Do not assume that because something is part of the harbour it is open to walk through, and treat signage and any instruction from personnel as the final word. Photography restrictions can also apply around naval areas, so use discretion with the camera near anything operational.

The setting does a great deal of the work. Mountains rise almost immediately behind the town, so the harbour is pressed into a thin strip between rock and water, and False Bay opens out to the east with the Hottentots Holland mountains visible on the far side on clear days. Walking the public waterfront is pleasant and undemanding, the light across the bay changes markedly through the day, and the combination of masts, grey hulls, mountains and open water is unusually photogenic for a harbour of this size. Seals and seabirds are often around the water, though they come and go as they please.

Practically, there is no general admission fee to visit the public waterfront at Simon's Town Harbour, and there is no single harbour-wide schedule: restaurants, businesses, boat operators and museums around the waterfront all keep their own hours, and access to particular areas can change. The harbour itself is compact and takes well under an hour to see, so most visitors fold it into a longer Simon's Town outing with food, the town's museums and streets, and Boulders Beach a short distance away. Parking along the seafront is limited and fills up quickly on weekends and in high season.