Robben Island

Cape Town's old Prison Island

Take a tour on Cape Town's Prison Island and learn about Cape Town's history. You will start your trip at Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront, next to the red Clock Tower. The standard tour will take 3.5 hours and includes the ferry trip across Table Bay.

Take the ferry across Cape Town's Table Bay and enjoy the glorious views back to the Waterfront on the 30-minute boat trip on board the modern ferry "Sikhululekile".

Arrive at Robben Island and step onto a bus where a guide will tell you about the islands history during the 45-minute bus tour.

Cape Town's "Seal Island" (as in "Robben Eiland" in Afrikaans) is known worldwide for the prison camp on the island during Apartheid times.

You will be able to see the infamous quarry and the isolation cell of Robert Sobukwe who stayed there for 14 years isolated from the other political prisoners. He was not even allowed to talk to the guards!

Brace yourself for the stories your will hear during the tour, they are really disturbing, but so important to share!

You will also see the room where Sobukwe's four children would sleep when they could visited him later on during his 9 years of solitary confinement on RobbenIsland.

South Africa's most famous prisoner, former South African President Nelson Mandela, was also imprisoned on the island for 18 years, from 1968 until 1982.

His cell can still be seen in the prison building as well as the quarry where Mandela and the other inmates had to work.

Robben Island was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1999 and now houses the Robben Island Museum Complex. There is the guided bustour you can book, but you can also do guided self-walk tours around the island.

The tour ends with a guided tour through the maximum security prison by a RobbenIsland ex-prisoner, where you will also see Nelson Mandela's cell.

On the way back to the ferry you also should have a look at the little Museum Shop next to the ferry, where you can find fine picture books on Robben Island, Cape Town's history and South Africa's apartheid struggle.

If you want to get more info on RobbenIsland, make sure you visit the excellent little museum at the Nelson Mandela Gateway with great information displayed on big boards, posters, films and much more.

How to book your Robben Island Tickets?

The ferry departs at 9am, 11am, 1pm and 3pm, weather permitting.

How much? Adults: R200, Children under 18yrs: R100

How to get tickets? When we tried to book our tickets for the ferry and tour directly at the counters at the Nelson Mandela Gateway, we were told the ferries for the next days were already sold out. A phone call to the Gateway's Call Center also did not give us the desired results. So imagine our surprise, when we managed to book even those dates via internet!

Go through www.webtickets.co.za. We simply paid with creditcard and printed the tickets and showed them at the ferry. Easy, no miscommunication and no hassle. It only takes five minutes and you are registered.

So book your tickets online and have an exciting trip to RobbenIsland!

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