Robben Island
In Table Bay, 11 km from Cape Town, the island has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. The guided tour takes in the quarries, the bunkers and the Maximum Security Prison, and ends at Nelson Mandela’s cell.
Key facts
Before you go.
- Starting point
- Nelson Mandela Gateway, at Cape Town’s V&A WaterfrontTour Types (Robben Island Museum, site officiel)
- GPS coordinates
- -33.80500, 18.37000Robben Island (Wikipedia)
- Duration
- 3.5 hours, including the return ferryTour Types (Robben Island Museum, site officiel)
- Opening hours
- Departures at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., every day, weather and demand permittingTour Types (Robben Island Museum, site officiel)
- Official price
- 600 rand per non-South African adult · checked on 1 November 2026Tour Types (Robben Island Museum, site officiel)
Good to know
Three things to remember.
Departures depend on the weather: leave some slack in your Cape Town stay.
Tour Types (Robben Island Museum, site officiel)A 5 km walking tour of about 5 hours is also offered besides the bus tour.
Tour Types (Robben Island Museum, site officiel)On the island, the Kramat honours a prince of Madura, banished in 1682 and who died there in 1754.
Tour Types (Robben Island Museum, site officiel)
Plan the trip
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Keep exploring
South Africa
Table Mountain
A flat-topped mountain overlooking Cape Town, Table Mountain rises to 1,086 m at Maclear’s Beacon.
The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point
The Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias rounded it in 1487 and first called it the Cape of Storms.
The penguins of Boulders Beach
In Simon’s Town, on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula, a colony of critically endangered African penguins settled in 1982.
Sources · 2 pages consulted, with the exact sentence used
- Robben Island (Wikipedia)
Robben Island […] is an island in Table Bay […] Located at the entrance to Table Bay, 11 km from Cape Town […] In 1999 it was recognized as a World Heritage Site. (coordinates -33.805, 18.37)
- Tour Types (Robben Island Museum, site officiel)
General tours to Robben Island depart at the following times Monday to Sunday: (Weather and demand Permitting) […] 09:00 […] 11:00 […] 13:00 […] 15:00 […] Non South Africans ZAR600 per adult […] The ferries depart from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V & A Waterfront. The tour takes 3.5 hours including the ferry trip […] The tour route includes the graveyard of people who died from leprosy, the Lime Quarry, Robert Sobukwe's house, the Bluestone quarry, the army and navy bunkers and the Maximum Security Prison […] The tour culminates with a viewing of Nelson Mandela's cell. […] This 5-kilometre guided route, lasting approximately 5 hours […] The Kramat is a shrine built in memory of Pangerau Chakra Deningrat, the Asian Prince of Madura, who died on the Island in 1754. […] was banished to Robben Island in 1682.
Opening hours, prices and access conditions change: check them with the official source before you go. Viafro publishes no price without a source and a date.