Robben Island Cape Town: why every visitor should make time for this tour

If you are pressed for time during your visit in Cape Town and want to engage with South African history, Robben Island Cape Town is a must visit. An island in Table Bay that was used as a prison during the Apartheid era, it is home to an extremely heartbreaking but beautiful story of how persistence and hope can be strong pillars in the fight for justice.

Robben Island Cape Town

The complete tour lasts 3 hours with a fee of R600 for adult international visitors and R400 for adult SA identity holders. You can expect to pay less for children. The robben island website provides detailed information on the costs with an option to book online.

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 with a 40 minute boat ride from V&A Waterfront. When you arrive, you will be transported on a bus with a guide that will offer you insights to the various buildings that made up the island and what they were used for. One sight that truly stands out is the section that was used for the solitary confinement of former activist Robert Sobukwe and the inhumane torture he suffered during a sentence that lasted from 1963 to 1969.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 of the tour includes a former Robben Island prisoner guiding you through the prison itself. You will have a chance to see the various cells, both communal and solitary ones; a famous one being late SA president Nelson Mandela’s prison. Words can’t truly describe this part of the tour but it is astonishing how the island’s prisoners woke up everyday to fight for freedom even though they were stripped of their humanity by truly unbelievable laws. One of our pictures shows a board that describes how food given to White/Coloured prisoners was different from Black prisoners as part of the horrendous laws.

No post or article can truly give justice to the experience of visiting the Island, ours doesn’t as well. But we hope that it can inspire you to visit and make time for what we are and will always be an important part of our history. Want to see what you can expect? Watch here:

Bookmark this for your the next time you’re looking for something fun to do! Want more travel recommendations, both in and outside South Africa? Follow us @afor_adventures or subscribe to our food & travel blog – always honest, always helpful.