Cape Town (Table Bay) - General Info
Where is Cape Town?
Tucked into the southwestern corner of the southern tip of South Africa, Cape Town is an obvious port of call for many yachts rounding the Cape of Good Hope.
Centred around Table Mountain, Cape Town is known for beautiful beaches, amazing biodiversity and award-winning food and wine.
Entrance Notes and Cautions for Cape Town:
- Cape of Good Hope/Hout Bay: Slangkop Light not lit (4 May 2024)
- Cape of Good Hope: Cape Point Lighthouse is unlit until further notice (4 May 2024)
Cape Town Port Control controls all the shipping and yacht movements in and out of the Port of Cape Town. All yachts approaching Table Bay must monitor VHF Channel 14.
Approaching the harbor, yachts should stay east of the buoys, entering close to the east mole and remain that side of the harbor. This applies also when entering the Duncan Dock. The yacht basin and yacht club are located at the SE end of Duncan Dock.
Small craft are reminded not to impede commercial vessels entering or leaving this busy port. The port signals displayed on the Port Control Building indicate the basin operating and the action taking place.
Craft should call “Port Control” as above if intending to cross or enter a channel. Lights are shown from the port control tower and operate at all times as follows:- Ben Schoeman Dock (Red), Duncan Dock (Green), Victoria Basin (Amber Flashing light), Vessel entering (Fixed light), Vessel leaving (no entry).
On approaching the main breakwater, all yachts must call “Port Control” on VHF Channel 14 for permission to enter the port and to proceed to either Royal Cape Yacht Club Marina (via the Duncan Dock) or to the V & A Marina (via the Victoria and Alfred Basins).
To access the V & A Marina (via the Swing and Bascule Bridges) additional permission must be requested on VHF Channel 71 (Call “Swing Bridge”). The operating hours for this service are limited outside daylight hours.
Contact yachtoffice@waterfront.co.za to arrange a berth at the V & A Marina.
Contact the Royal Cape Yacht Club via email at marina@rcyc.co.za
The harbor is not very clean and the winds often blow at 40 to 50kn.
For notes on approaching Hout Bay, see the HBYC website.
Cape Town Position:
33° 53’52″S, 18° 26′ 31″E (Entry to the Port of Cape Town)
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If you are heading to Cape Town or are already there, don’t miss the OCC 70th Anniversary lunch and wine tasting, organised by OSASA on December 12th, 2024. All ocean cruisers welcome! Contact Robert Ravensberg, OSASA Cape Town representative and OCC Port Officer for Cape Town at robertravensberg@gmail.com for details and to register your interest.
We had a very pleasant stay at the Waterfront Marina. Harbourmaster Joshio is very helpful and the facilities are very good. Clearing out was fairly easy: pay Joshio, go over to RCYC to pick up a letter (a long walk or short uber ride), and then to immigration (fairly close). Finally, e-mail customs.
There is a new email address to contact Port Health, portctn@health.gov.za. The old gmail address just has a bounce back message.
Thanks so much for this update – we’ve updated the contact e-mail!
We’ve just left Capetown after nearly three months in SA. Haven’t had time to write any proper reports but I’d like to mention this shoe repairers I discovered in Cape Town. They completely re-built my Dubarry sea boot soles and did a very impressive job for a third of the price Dubarry was asking. Probably the best shoe repairers in the world, I’d say.
Rocksole
65 Wale St, Bo-Kaap, Capetown 8001
Tel: 021 424 3858
info@rocksole.co.za
Agree with Tom’s comments above. A couple of other ‘pluses’ are a very large and secure car park, should you rent a car (difficult over the Christmas period but easy after January 6th). Also, in our opinion, the RCYC has the best showers of any marina so far in the world.
Posted on behalf of Tom Schaefer who posted this comment elsewhere on the site:
We have been at RCYC for over a month and have found it very welcoming, pleasant and convenient. It is safe to walk into the city or to the V&A waterfront. It is a 15-minute walk to the city and 25 minutes to V&A or you can take the myCITI bus with a stop a five-minute walk from the club.
Children seem to be very welcome with many member’s children and guests children around the club. Yes, it is in the port but the facilities are very pleasant. The main warning is to be wary of entering in the late afternoon when the breeze can really pick up and make docking a real challenge!