Cape Town

Cape Town is the base most people book from, and the one that needs least explanation. You are in the city, the boats are on the Granger Bay side of the V&A, and ten minutes after you board you are looking back at Table Mountain from the one angle that does it justice.

The water

Table Bay is open Atlantic. It is bigger water than False Bay and it behaves differently: colder, more exposed, and more affected by the south-easter that funnels around the mountain through summer.

The standard run goes out of the harbour mouth, across the bay toward the Milnerton lighthouse, with Robben Island sitting off to the north. Coming back, the boats tuck into Granger Bay in the lee of the mountain, which is sheltered from the wind that is usually blowing everywhere else by late afternoon.

What it suits

This is the cruising base. Private charters, family days and corporate charters all run from here, on El Grande, the biggest deck in the fleet, with shade and room to move, and El Zorro, the RIB, for people who want to feel the water.

It is not the fishing base. For that, Simon's Town is the better start.

Getting here and parking

We board at the jetty at the Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront, on the Granger Bay side of the V&A. Look for the El Capitan Marine flag.

Park at the Radisson, with the V&A garages a short walk away if it is full. You are in the Waterfront, so give yourself longer than the map says between January and Easter, and over any long weekend.

Wind, honestly

Cape Town's summer south-easter is the single biggest reason a charter moves. It typically builds through the afternoon, so a morning departure is the safer booking in peak wind season, and an evening charter in a strong south-easterly week is the one most likely to be rescheduled.

We watch it from about a week out and make the call 48 hours ahead. If we cancel, you choose a refund or a new date.