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10 Best Adventures in Cape Town + Tours you CANNOT Miss!

It’s hard to name the best adventures in Cape town, simply because of the sheer number of them. Adventuring is to Cape Town as clubbing is to Vegas, as sunshine is to the Caribbean, and as road tripping is to the US. Adventures are Cape town’s achilles heel, and even an entire lifetime is not enough to discover all that this city has to offer.

Conveniently located right at the base of tall, rocky mountains and along a gorgeous clear coastline, this city is complete with most land and ocean adventures, outdoor activities, and extreme sports you could ever desire, without having to travel far at all. AKA, pretty much the adventurer’s (and my) dream. Did I mention that I would LOVE to live here one day?!

Cape Town's Best adventures: paragliding, shark diving, boating, hiking, wine tasting, abseiling, etc!

As obviously an adventure junkie myself, I set out during my 2ish weeks in the mother city to do as MUCH Cape Town adventuring as I possibly could. AND….. it STILL was not enough time!!

So even if I did not complete all the adventure in Cape Town myself, I still included them all to let you all know that you must do a lot of planning ahead and saving of energy if you want to be able to exhaust this lovely list. I have included the best Cape Town adventure tours with links to the companies I used where applicable. These are all checks on the ever-expanding South Africa bucketlist.

1. Shark Diving in Cape Town with Marine Dynamics

eco conscious shark diving in Cape Town Marine Dynamics

As an adventure junkie in one of the top Great White spots in the world, it would be rude not to go shark diving here. Really. And it would also be rude not to go with a company who respects the environment of and promotes research, education, and conservation of these incredible animals.

Marine Dynamics really blew me away with the amazing difference they are making in marine conservation as they do their diving tours in a non-invasive way. Check out my post here for more info on my trip of you can book below!

2. Helicopter Ride with Cape Town Helicopters

Hands down the best way to see Cape Town is from the sky. And as we here are adventurers, we want to do it in the coolest way possible. AKA, GET TO THE CHOPPAH!!

You will feel very badass walking out to the spinning chopper, putting on your massive headphones, and twisting, turning, and swaying with the wind as you hurl through the air hundreds of meters above Cape Town with Cape Town Helicopters.

Did I mention the views are completely and utterly incredible? I recommend doing this as one of your first adventures in Cape Town so you can get a good feel for the whole Cape Peninsula and how the city and area are geographically laid out. You will be able to see all the other adventure spots (see my Cape Town Travel guide for more) from up here, and be able to organize in your head all the places you want to go.

3. Cape Town Surfing

Sharks? Who cares. The waves are awesome, bru! Really though, because Cape Town is situated on a peninsula, it catches good surf somewhere no matter which direction the waves are coming from.

There are a few surf schools if you want to learn how to surf here (they will provide you with wetsuits because the water is ICY cold) or you can make friends with friendly Capetownians to go out for a surf.

Muizenberg is one of the most popular surf spots, and as I understand it, there are a few breaks that catch massive waves when the stormy conditions are right. You could go watch some amazing surfers even if you aren’t looking for extreme things to do in Cape Town!

4. Boat Ride with Waterfront Charters

cape town boat cruise life clothing co
boat cruise cape town waterfront charters

It may not be on the same level as the sky, but the absolute next best way to see Cape Town is from the water! From out in the harbor you can get the most perfect, picturesque view of the famous Cape Town skyline.

This view is amazing no matter what time of day, but I loved seeing it from a sunset catamaran cruise with Waterfont Charters. It came with two glasses of pink bubbly, lovely people, and catchy tunes, so I reallllly couldn’t ask for much more on my last night in Cape Town!

Not adventurous enough for you? Waterfront Charters has the largest fleet of boats in the V&A waterfront, because they have been doin’ their thing there since the 80’s.

They have a catamaran (the one I went on), a lovely sailing boat, a bigger more ferry-type boat that’s available for private hire, a little tug-like boat that does all types of cruises, and also multiple speed boats that can take you on a bit of a more extreme harbor adventure if that’s what you’re into. And because you’re reading this post, you probably are. I’m doing it next time for sure!

Get a Free Waterfront Charters Ride! As one of the 60 attractions you can get for free with an official Cape Town City Pass, which is quite possibly the best deal in the city.

5. Hiking in Cape Town

Because mountains are integral to Cape Town’s skyline, hiking is integral to its identity. There are dozens of hiking trails up each and every one of Cape Town’s peaks and mountains, and I can guarantee that you’ll have to pick your jaw up off the floor from the top of all of them. There’s too much beauty here to handle!

You can hike Lion’s Head, Devil’s Peak, or Table Mountain any of probably 10 different ways. There are more hikes along the entire peninsula as well. I have gone into a bit more detail on all the hikes in my  100 Things to do in Cape Town Guide here, so pop on over there in a new window to get more in depth on the hiking adventures in Cape Town.

Or, If you want to get straight into booking, there are guided hikes available for almost all the Cape Town Hikes if you aren’t quite ready to tackle it alone.

6. Paragliding in Cape Town

paragliding in cape town adventure activities outdoor extreme sports

While I am speaking of all the mountains overlooking Cape Town, I think I’ll also mention jumping off them with a parachute. Doesn’t that sound so fun? I thought so; I wanted to try paragliding as one of my air adventures in Cape Town for the first time while I was here.

It’s the perfect place to try it, and the views are second to none. But, the weather thought otherwise. My flight got cancelled two times when the wind decided to change direction right when I was on my way up the hill. Next time for sure!

At least I got photos of these lucky lads on their flight from Signal Hill before I had mine booked. Dreamy, isn’t it? This is definitely one of Cape Town’s best adventures!

7. Abseiling & Kloofing in Cape Town

What says ‘adventure’ more than hurling yourself down a sheer cliff on a rope?! Not many things. You can go abseiling, ‘kloofing’ (canyoning), and much more within the rocky wonder of Table Mountain National Park. Adrenaline junkies – get on it!

8. Kite Surfing

cape town surfing muizenberg beach

This one is seasonally dependent, but if you’re a true adventurer in the mother city in the summer, you can’t leave kite surfing off your list of adventures in Cape Town.

There are multiple kite surfing school in different areas, with some very dedicated kite surfers who love to teach their craft. Cape Town is also a perfect place to try out this unique sport, whether you’re experienced or not!

9. Wine Tasting in Stellenbosch

wine tasting in stellenbosch cape town adventure guide kimmie conner travel blogger
wine tasting in stellenbosch cape town adventures

This is an absolute must when in Cape Town, because just under an hour away is one of the most famous wine regions in the world – Stellenbosch. There are a whopping 184 wineries here, you can’t quite get to them all unless you plan to stay here forever (I wouldn’t blame you though!).

My hostel recommended a day tour to me with Wine Flies, where I visited 5 wineries throughout the day and paired wine with biltong, lunch, chocolate, and cheese. It was the perfect way to get a taste of Stellenbosch and over 30 lovely wines right from their winemaker and origin – read my blog post more about this amazing day Wine Tasting in Stellenbosch below, or book the same tour I did below!

Sandboarding in Namibia swakopmund activities

10. Sandboarding in Cape Town

That’s right, just north of Cape Town are some lovely sand dunes perfectly fit for the very rare & elusive sport of sandboarding! A few different tour companies can transport you right from town to take part in one of the most amazing adventures in Cape Town, which you must try at least once in your life.

I actually went sandboarding in Namibia, which was equally amazing – read more about my experience/watch my video here!

Check out my extremely comprehensive Cape Town Travel Guide HERE – with over 30 adventure ideas, 10 sunset spots, top-notch accommodation options, and 13 food ideas!

Want to try some Cape Town adventures but aren’t there yet? Pin this to your Pinterest Boards to save it for later!

Cape Town is truly the adventure capital of the world, and here I have cureated a list of some of the best possible adventures to have there! (Including promo codes for some!)

Thanks to the mentioned companies for hosting me, but as always, all words are completely my own!

Bistra | The Magic of Traveling

Friday 26th of May 2017

I want to try the wine tasting, the paragliding and the canyoning in Cape Town. Thank you for the ideas!

KimmConn

Saturday 27th of May 2017

You definitely should one day! So glad to help!

Tara

Friday 26th of May 2017

You make me want to drop everything and book a flight to Cape Town! So much to discover. I would definitely take advantage of those "light adventures" like hiking and wine tasting. I'll leave paragliding and shark diving to the rest of you...

WhenTwoWander

Friday 26th of May 2017

Oh my! I didn't realise there was so much to do in Cape Town let alone all the adventure possibilities. We went canyoning in Vietnam and LOVED it! That paragliding photo is beautiful.

KimmConn

Friday 26th of May 2017

I was totally blown away by the amount to do, also!! Canyoning in Vietnam is equally amazing for sure :)

Cyril Deeming (atrekinthesun)

Friday 26th of May 2017

Numbers 4 and 6 would be my favourite ones to do if I visited Cape Town

KimmConn

Friday 26th of May 2017

Great choices indeed, Cryil!

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