Guide · Best time

Best time to visit Boulders Beach in Cape Town

The penguins live at Boulders all year, but each season shows you something different. Here is the best time to visit Boulders Beach in Cape Town for chicks, for swimming and for fewer people.

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Editorial team, capetownpenguins.comUpdated October 26, 20266-minute read18 sources

The tour behind this guide Cape Point and penguins day tour 4.9 (4,548 reviews) 8 hoursAbout 1 hr at Boulders2 hrs at Cape Point from$37per person Check availabilityFree cancellation up to 24 hrs before

Quick answer

01For chicks: From about February to August, the nesting months.¹
02For warm days: January and February, with highs of 27.7 and 28.2 °C.²
03For long hours: December and January, when the gate opens 07:00 to 19:30.³
04Time of day: Early, before summer parking fills, and at low tide.⁴ ⁵
05Ragged birds: December is peak moult, when birds stand still on land.¹

A gate that opens every month

There is no closed season at Boulders. SANParks lists gate times for every month of the year, from 07:00 to 19:30 at the height of summer and from 08:00 to 17:00 in the winter months.³ So the question is less whether you can visit than what the penguins will be doing when you arrive.

The SANParks brochure lays out the birds' year. Moulting peaks in December, after which the penguins head out to sea to feed; they return in January to mate and nest from about February to August.¹ The main breeding season starts in February.⁶ Each part of that cycle gives a visit a different flavour.

That makes the best time to see penguins in Cape Town a personal choice. If you want chicks, come in the nesting months. If you want warm sand and a swim, come in high summer. If you want quiet boardwalks, avoid the summer peak, when SANParks warns that parking is limited.⁴

The penguin year

What the colony is doing, month by month

December

Peak moult

Birds stand on land for about 21 days.¹ ⁷
January

Return and mating

The penguins come back from feeding at sea.¹
February

Breeding season starts

Nesting runs to about August.⁶ ¹
About 30 days on

Chicks left in groups

Both parents go to sea to fish.⁸
About 60 days on

Baby blues

Blue-grey juvenile feathers appear.⁹

December: the moult

December is a strange and memorable month at the colony. The SANParks brochure says moulting peaks in December: the birds replace their worn feathers, lose their waterproofing and stay on land for about 21 days.¹ ⁷ Moulting penguins look scruffy, half covered in loose feathers, and stand still for long periods.

They also go hungry. The brochure calls the moult a period of starvation that the birds prepare for by fattening up, and SANCCOB says they are landlocked and must fast while it lasts.⁷ ¹⁰ Give moulting birds extra space: they cannot escape into the water.

December is also high summer in Cape Town, with average highs of 26.8 °C and long daylight.² The day tour leaves about 50 minutes earlier at every stop from 14 December to 5 January, a sign of how the holidays reshape the timetable.

Month by month

Temperatures, rain and daylight in Cape Town

Month	Daylight (h)	Darkness (h)	High / low	Wet days	Penguin year at Boulders
Jan	14.2	9.8	28 / 16 °C	2	Mating
Feb	13.3	10.7	28 / 16 °C	1	Nesting
Mar	12.4	11.6	27 / 14 °C	2	Nesting
Apr	11.3	12.7	25 / 12 °C	5	Nesting
May	10.4	13.6	22 / 10 °C	6	Nesting
Jun	9.9	14.1	19 / 8 °C	7	Nesting
Jul	10.1	13.9	19 / 7 °C	7	Nesting
Aug	10.8	13.2	19 / 8 °C	6	Nesting
Sep	11.8	12.2	20 / 9 °C	3
Oct	12.9	11.1	23 / 11 °C	3
Nov	13.9	10.1	25 / 13 °C	2
Dec	14.4	9.6	27 / 15 °C	2	Peak moult

Temperature and rain-day columns: NOAA, Cape Town International Airport, 29 km from Boulders, 1971 to 2020 and 1991 to 2020, counting a rain day from 2.5 mm; daylight: our own calculation for the city.² Season according to SANParks.¹

Three seasons

Summer sun, winter chicks or spring calm

Warmest

High summer

December to March

High: Up to 28.2 °C
Gate: Long hours
Crowds: Busiest

Plan your day

Chicks

Winter nesting

April to August

High: Down to 18.5 °C
Gate: 08:00 to 17:00
Rain: Up to 7 days

Plan your day

Mild

Spring

September to November

High: 20.2 to 24.6 °C
Rain: 2 to 3 days
Bonus: Whales to October

Plan your day

Decision helper

When should you go?

Choose by what you most want to see.

February to August

The nesting months in the SANParks brochure.¹

January or February

The warmest months on NOAA's record.²

December or January

The gate is open from 07:00 to 19:30.³

August to October

SANParks gives this as whale time.¹¹

Low tide, early

SANParks recommends low tide.⁵

Peak moulting time is during December, after which they head out to sea to feed (since they do not feed during moulting). They return in January to mate and begin nesting from about February to August.

SANParksSource 1

January to March: mating and summer sun

After the moult the birds go to sea to feed, and the brochure says they return in January to mate.¹ Pairs are busy at their nest sites, braying and preening, and the beach below the boardwalks fills with birds coming and going from the water.

These are the warmest months. NOAA's record for Cape Town International Airport, 29 km from Boulders, averages a daily high of 27.7 °C in January, 28.2 °C in February and 26.8 °C in March, with only 1 or 2 days of rain of 2.5 mm or more in each.¹² ² It is the natural time for a swim at Boulders Beach.

Expect company. Summer is the peak season, and SANParks advises arriving early because parking near the colony is limited.⁴ The wind matters too: SANParks says summer southerlies can blow hard for long spells, so a sheltered cove is welcome on a gusty afternoon.¹³

Checklist

Plan the timing

Before the day

Pick your month: chicks, sun or calm
Check the gate times for that month
Look up the tide for your date

On the day

Arrive early in summer
A layer for the wind
A card for the cash-free gate

Price check

Book the day you picked

Choose a tour and the number of guests; gate fees come on top.

Coach day8 hoursfrom $37 Penguin half day5 hoursfrom $37 Penguins and swim6 hoursfrom $39

People 2

Total from$74

from, per person $37

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Totals take the cheapest adult fare a Viator or GetYourGuide listing shows and multiply it by the guests you pick, converted with the ECB reference rate; SANParks fees are paid separately at the gates, and the final sum appears at the seller's checkout.

Video

African penguins on the sand at Boulders

YouTube is contacted only once you press play on the video.

April to August: nests, chicks and fewer visitors

The nesting season runs from about February to August, according to the brochure, and these months reward patience.¹ Look under the bushes and among the boulders for birds lying low on eggs, and later for grey chicks pressed against a parent.

From about 30 days old, chicks are left in groups while both parents fish, and about 60 days after hatching some wear blue-grey juvenile feathers and are called baby blues.⁸ ⁹ Seeing a cluster of fluffy chicks, or a baby blue standing at the water's edge, is a highlight of a winter visit.

The trade-off is the climate. Highs fall to 19.2 °C in June and 18.5 °C in July, and June and July average 7 rain days each of 2.5 mm or more.² The gate runs from 08:00 to 17:00 from April to September, so days at the colony are shorter.³ Pack a rain jacket and enjoy the quieter boardwalks.

September to November: spring and a bonus

Spring brings the light back. September averages a high of 20.2 °C, October 23 °C and November 24.6 °C, with just 2 or 3 rain days a month.² From October the Boulders gate stays open until 18:30.³

The bonus is whales. SANParks says southern right and humpback whales appear in the park's marine protected area from August to October, and names Boyes Drive, above False Bay, among the good vantage points.¹¹ A penguin visit in September or October can easily include a stop to scan the bay.

Spring sits between the winter nesting months and the summer holidays. If you prefer mild air to beach heat, it is a comfortable compromise, and the lengthening evenings give you more choice of when to go.

Wind, rain and what to wear by season

Cape Town's climate is Mediterranean, SANParks says, with warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters, and the peninsula is a windy place in both.¹⁴ In winter, northwesterly winds often reach gale force; in summer, southerlies can blow just as hard for long periods, and mean wind speeds run from 20 to 40 km/hr.¹³

On the boardwalks that means layers in every season. In summer, a thin windproof jacket over a T-shirt, sunglasses against the glare off the white sand and plenty of sun cream. In winter, a warm fleece, a rain shell and shoes that can handle wet boards, because the rain comes in the same months as the chicks.

Daylight changes the plan too. Cape Town gets about 14.4 hours of daylight in the middle of December and only about 9.9 hours in the middle of June.² In winter, build the day around the shorter gate hours and leave the long sunset walks for summer.

The best time of day

Whatever the month, the best time of day to see penguins at Boulders Beach is early. The gate opens at 07:00 in December and January and at 08:00 for the rest of the year, and arriving at opening gives you the boardwalks at their calmest.³ In the summer peak, an early arrival also solves the parking problem.⁴

Check the tide as well. SANParks says beach space depends on the tide and recommends coming at low tide, and its brochure warns that some beaches may be cut off at high tide.⁵ ¹⁵ Low tide gives you more sand for a swim and more room between you and the birds.

Late afternoon has its own charm in summer, when the gate stays open until 19:30 in December and January and the light turns golden over the bay.³ SANParks warns that gate times can change without notice, so check before a late visit.¹⁶

Fitting the colony into a longer trip

If you are on a tour, the season changes the timetable more than the stops. The coach day keeps the same plan all year, about an hour at Boulders and about 2 at Cape Point, but from 14 December to 5 January it leaves about 50 minutes earlier at every stop. Read your confirmation email for the exact pickup time.

If you travel independently, pair the colony with the season's other highlights. In summer, combine a morning with the penguins and an afternoon on the beach. From August to October, add a whale stop on Boyes Drive above False Bay.¹¹ In winter, a sunny day between fronts is the moment to go, so keep the plan flexible.

Whichever month you choose, the essentials stay the same: a bank card for the cash-free gate, patience on the boardwalks and respect for the birds' space.¹⁷ ¹⁸ The penguins set the rhythm; the best visits simply follow it.

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