Cape Town cruise ships dock at E-Berth in Duncan Dock, at the terminal beside the V&A Waterfront, about 2 km from the city centre. The Silo District is a five-minute walk, the rest of the Waterfront a bit more, and a taxi reaches town in ten. Table Mountain and Robben Island are what the day is for.
Where Cape Town cruise ships dock: E-Berth, Duncan Dock
Cape Town has one cruise terminal and every cruise ship uses it: E-Berth in Duncan Dock, with the terminal building right alongside the ship. The big ships berth at Duncan Dock, while the Victoria and Alfred basins take the smaller ones.
The address is Berth E, Duncan Road, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town 8002. Put Cape Town Cruise Terminal or E-Berth Duncan Dock into your map rather than Port of Cape Town, because the working port is big and arriving at the wrong gate costs you time you’d rather spend on the mountain.
If you’re driving in, enter the V&A Waterfront and keep the Caltex filling station on your right, turn right at the traffic circle, then carry on to the security boom opposite the SAPS Harbour Police. E-Berth is directly behind the SAPS building on your left.
| Terminal detail | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Address | Berth E, Duncan Road, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town 8002 |
| Berth | E-Berth, Duncan Dock, run by the V&A Waterfront under an agreement with Transnet National Ports Authority |
| Distance to the city centre | About 2 km: ten minutes by car, around thirty minutes on foot |
| Nearest shops and food | Silo District, a five-minute walk; Zeitz MOCAA is 360 m from the building |
| Taxis and buses | Metered taxis and e-hailing at the terminal; MyCiTi station 150 m away |
| Parking | 150 drop-and-go bays at the terminal; long stays in the V&A parkades |
| Inside the building | Customs and immigration, baggage handling, foreign exchange, free wi-fi, coffee stand, tourist desk with free maps, food court, bar and restaurant |
| Terminal enquiries | +27 21 408 7832 or +27 21 408 7649 |
Cape Town cruise port map
Ships dock at Cape Town Cruise Terminal. From the terminal, Zeitz MOCAA is about a 6-minute walk, Robben Island Museum about 9 minutes and Nelson Mandela Gateway about 10 minutes. Tap a pin for directions.
- Cape Town Cruise TerminalWhere ships dock
- Zeitz MOCAAAbout 6 min walk from the terminal
- Robben Island MuseumAbout 9 min walk from the terminal
- Nelson Mandela GatewayAbout 10 min walk from the terminal
- Two Oceans AquariumAbout 14 min walk from the terminal
- Victoria WharfAbout 16 min walk from the terminal
- Cape Town stationAbout 23 min walk from the terminal
- Greenmarket SquareAbout 25 min walk from the terminal
- Table Mountain Aerial CablewayAbout 6 km from the terminal
- Iziko Bo-Kaap MuseumAbout 3 km from the terminal
Port of Cape Town: the cruise terminal, the cargo docks and the V&A Waterfront
The Port of Cape Town is the commercial harbour, and the cruise terminal sits inside it at Duncan Dock, but everything you actually want is on the Waterfront side, five minutes from the gangway. You don’t walk across the cargo area to get into town.
| Part of the port | What it is | What you do there |
|---|---|---|
| Cape Town Cruise Terminal, E-Berth, Duncan Dock | The passenger terminal, with customs, baggage handling, a tourist desk and a food court | Check in, drop bags, pick up a free map |
| Duncan Dock and the working port | Cargo berths, security booms and the SAPS Harbour Police post | The route in and out by taxi or car |
| Victoria and Alfred basins | Waterfront basins used by smaller vessels | Nothing you need on a port day unless your own ship is one of them |
| V&A Waterfront and Silo District | Hotels, restaurants, shops, Zeitz MOCAA, the Two Oceans Aquarium and the Nelson Mandela Gateway | Food, museums, the Robben Island ferry and the hop-on hop-off bus, all on foot |
Getting from the terminal into Cape Town without a shuttle
There’s no complimentary shuttle from the Cape Town Cruise Terminal, so the Waterfront is a walk, and anything beyond it means a taxi, an e-hailing car or the MyCiTi bus.
- Silo District: five minutes on foot, and the closest shopping and restaurant area to the ship.
- MyCiTi bus: the nearest station is 150 m from the terminal.
- Taxis and e-hailing: metered taxis and Uber or Bolt pick up at the terminal building.
- City Sightseeing hop-on hop-off: the Silo District stop is about five minutes’ walk, and the bus also calls at the terminal itself.
- Line-arranged shuttles: shipping agents sometimes run their own transfer to the Waterfront, so ask at the desk rather than assume one is waiting.
Do the walk between the ship and the Waterfront in daylight. After dark, take a taxi rather than strolling anywhere.
Getting to Cape Town cruise terminal from the airport and the station
Cape Town International Airport is about 22 km from the terminal, which is 22 to 24 minutes in a car, and a metered taxi or an e-hailing car is the easy way in with luggage.
MyCiTi’s A01 airport service runs to Civic Centre, where you change for the Waterfront. Don’t build a cruise transfer around it with suitcases in tow; take a metered taxi or e-hailing car instead.
By rail, the nearest mainline station is Cape Town station, about eight minutes’ drive from the Waterfront, and no rail line runs to the terminal itself. Coaches drop off and park at Victoria Wharf Shopping Centre, five to ten minutes’ drive from the terminal.
Parking at Cape Town cruise port
Parking at Cape Town cruise port means a V&A Waterfront car park rather than a cruise car park. Holland America lists no public parking at the pier, while the V&A Waterfront lists 150 open-area bays at the terminal for drop-and-go, with longer stays in the Silo and Clock Tower precincts about five minutes’ walk away.
Treat those 150 bays as set-down and collection rather than a week’s storage. Nobody sells pre-bookable long-stay cruise parking here, not the port and not the V&A, so plan on a Waterfront parkade and a five-minute walk with your cases.
V&A car parks are monitored and patrolled around the clock. Ring the V&A information desk on +27 21 408 7600 before you travel to confirm height clearance and whether an accessible bay can be held for the length of your cruise.
Weekday parking is charged by the hour and rises for a longer stay, and the Clocktower, Silo and Battery parkades are free all day on Saturdays and Sundays. Check the current rate before you travel, and keep your ticket safe, since losing it costs extra.
If someone is driving you, cars and up to 10 coaches drop off at the terminal, and there’s further coach drop-off and parking at Victoria Wharf Shopping Centre, five to ten minutes’ drive away.
Where to stay near Cape Town cruise port
Stay at the V&A Waterfront or in the Silo District the night before. Both are walkable to the terminal and the easiest part of the city to land in on a first night. They work after the cruise too, when you want your bags somewhere safe and a short ride to the airport.
- Radisson RED V&A Waterfront, Silo 6, South Arm Road: about a ten-minute walk to the terminal, buffet breakfast, rooftop pool, and 20 minutes by car to the airport.
- The Silo Hotel, Silo Square: a 14-minute walk, breakfast from 06:30, 24-hour front desk, luggage storage, airport transfers and around 22 minutes’ drive to the airport.
- AC Hotel by Marriott Cape Town Waterfront, Dockrail Road: roughly 200 metres from the terminal, with breakfast from 06:30.
- The Table Bay Hotel, Quay 6: about 900 metres from the terminal, with cooked-to-order breakfast included.
Normal city caution applies after dark, so take a taxi back from dinner if you’re unsure of the route.
Luggage storage at Cape Town cruise port
There are no public luggage lockers inside the Cape Town Cruise Terminal and nowhere at the pier to leave a bag, which is a nasty surprise if you’re off the ship in the morning with an evening flight. Your nearest option is a short walk into the Waterfront, or a collection service that meets you at the terminal and runs your bags to the airport.
Bag Drop runs smart lockers at V&A Waterfront Entrance 9, open 08:00 to 22:00 daily and booked in person at the locker, about a 15-minute walk from the terminal. The same operator collects curbside at the terminal within a 10-minute service window and delivers to Cape Town International Airport, Departure Hall Entrance 2, or to a hotel. Valuables, documents, medication and fragile items are not accepted.
At Cape Town International, have your bags delivered to Departure Hall Entrance 2 rather than hunting for a walk-up locker in the terminal building.
If you’d rather have a locker sorted before you arrive, you can book luggage storage near the terminal and walk to it from the gangway.
Table Mountain Aerial Cableway from the ship
The Lower Cable Station is about 15 minutes by taxi from the terminal, and the rotating 65-passenger car gets you to the 1,086 m summit in under five minutes. Give it a couple of hours all in, and keep half an eye on the time you have to be back on board.
Book online for a timed slot in peak season. Walk-up queues run one to two hours between December and February, and on high-demand days the mountain can go ticket-holders only, with on-site sales suspended.
The cableway closes in strong wind, low cloud, mist or lightning, often at short notice, so check the operating status on the day. Online tickets carry rolling validity, seven days from the booked date on the standard product and 14 days on the hop-on hop-off combo, so a closed mountain doesn’t lose you the money.
The annual maintenance shutdown runs roughly two weeks in the winter off-season, late July to early August, while the hiking trails stay open. Take the first car of the morning for the quietest summit. Operations line: +27 21 424 8181.
Parking on Tafelberg Road is limited, and a free shuttle runs every 20 minutes from the Lower Tafelberg Road parking area to the Lower Station.
Robben Island Museum: the ferry, the passport rule and the timing
Robben Island ferries leave from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront, at the eastern edge of the Waterfront and about ten minutes’ walk from the Silo District. The whole visit takes about 3.5 hours, with 30 minutes of ferry each way.
Book through the Robben Island Museum before you sail, because tickets sell out in peak season from November to March. Carry a physical passport or ID to board: names and passport numbers are taken at booking and checked before you get on.
Crossings get cancelled in poor sea conditions, so book for your first day in Cape Town if you have more than one, leaving room to reschedule. There’s no restaurant on the island, only a small shop selling snacks and drinks, and no alcohol is allowed. Drones and tripods are banned and commercial photography is prohibited.
The prison tour is led by former political prisoners, and the bus circuit takes in the lime quarry and Robert Sobukwe’s house. Enquiries: info@robben-island.org.za.
Zeitz MOCAA, the Two Oceans Aquarium and the Waterfront on foot
Zeitz MOCAA, the largest contemporary art museum in Africa, fills the converted grain silo in the Silo District, 360 m from the terminal building, which makes it the best stop if you’ve only got an hour or two. The Two Oceans Aquarium is about 1 km away, in the same precinct as the Robben Island ferry and the Cape Wheel.
On the city side, the Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum and the Greenmarket Square craft market are what’s left once the mountain has had your morning. The Waterfront is busiest with shore-excursion groups between 08:00 and 16:00 on cruise days, and calmer after lunch.
Where to eat near Cape Town cruise port
The nearest food is the Silo District, five minutes from the gangway, where Time Out Market sits beside Zeitz MOCAA. Victoria Wharf on the Waterfront adds restaurants and cafés facing Table Bay, and the terminal building has its own food court, bar and restaurant that serves evening meals.
- Bobotie: the Cape dish to order first, in the Silo District or along Victoria Wharf.
- Cape Malay curry: the other classic of the city’s cooking, on the same menus.
- Biltong: the snack to buy by weight before you go back on board.
- A Gatsby: the Cape Town sandwich worth sharing, and a cheap lunch on a port day.
The winelands route runs to Groot Constantia, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, a half-day trip by car that most passengers take.
What to wear in Cape Town: outfit ideas for a port day
What you wear in Cape Town depends on where you’re heading. The mountain and the city need different kit.
- Table Mountain: layers, because the summit runs 10 to 15°C cooler than the city and catches the wind, plus a jacket even when the morning feels warm.
- Robben Island: comfortable walking shoes, a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen, since the circuit is an open bus plus a walk through the prison.
- Anywhere ashore: a light jacket or extra layer, because Cape Town’s weather changes quickly, and something you can walk a mile in.
For more inspiration, see these casual cruise outfit ideas for women and cruise outfit ideas for men.
Best photo spots in Cape Town
The best photographs in Cape Town come from four places within a port day’s reach: the Robben Island ferry, the Silo District, Bo-Kaap and the peninsula.
- From the Robben Island ferry: Table Mountain across the water with the city skyline behind it.
- The Silo District: the geometric staircases and the Zeitz MOCAA atrium, shootable from outside without a museum ticket.
- Bo-Kaap: the coloured houses and the Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum, on the city side of the Waterfront.
- The peninsula: Chapman’s Peak Drive and the Boulders Beach penguins, on a full day with a car.
Early morning and late afternoon golden hour give the best light, and the Waterfront is quietest after lunch on a cruise day.
How to spend a port day in Cape Town
A port day in Cape Town works best if you pick one: Table Mountain and Robben Island for a full day, or the walkable Waterfront for a short one.
Before you sail
- Book Robben Island ferry tickets online, as peak season sells out.
- Book a timed Table Mountain cableway slot for peak season.
- Check the cableway's operating status, as wind can close it.
Short port day: under 6 hours
- On dockingWalk to the Silo DistrictNo shuttleThere's no complimentary shuttle, but the Silo District is a 5 minute walk from the terminal.
- +15 minZeitz MOCAAAfrica's largest contemporary art museum fills a converted grain silo, 360 m from the terminal.
- +1 hrLunch at Time Out MarketTry bobotieOrder bobotie or Cape Malay curry at the market inside the Silo District.
- +2 hrsTwo Oceans AquariumA 15 minute walk along the Waterfront to the aquarium, near the Robben Island ferry dock.
- +3 hrs 30 minBrowse Victoria WharfShops and cafes facing Table Bay; the Waterfront is calmer after lunch.
- All-aboard minus 1 hrBack at the terminalA 5 to 15 minute walk back, depending on where you ended up.
The time on the map is the whole walk, every stop added together.
Open this walking route in Google Maps
If plans change: If Zeitz MOCAA is closed or busy, admire the Silo District's staircases and atrium from outside instead.
Long port day: 8 hours or more
- On dockingWalk to Nelson Mandela GatewayBook aheadA 10 minute walk east along the Waterfront. Book Robben Island ferry tickets online before you sail, since peak season sells out.
- +20 minFerry to Robben IslandBring passportA 30 minute crossing. Carry a physical passport or ID, checked against the booking before boarding.
- +1 hrRobben Island tourFormer political prisoners lead the prison walk; the bus circuit passes the lime quarry and Robert Sobukwe's house.
- +3 hrs 50 minFerry back and lunchTry Cape Malay curryFerry back to the Waterfront, then lunch at Time Out Market in the Silo District.
- +4 hrs 45 minTaxi to Table MountainAbout 15 minutes by taxi to the Lower Cable Station. Book a timed cableway slot online for peak season.
- +5 hrs 30 minTable Mountain summitThe rotating car reaches the 1,086 m summit in under five minutes; allow an hour at the top.
- All-aboard minus 90 minTaxi back to the terminalAllow 45 minutes from the Lower Station plus queue time, more if the wind is picking up.
This map shows the taxi ride from the ship. The time is the drive only, not your time ashore.
Open the taxi route in Google Maps
If plans change: If the ferry is cancelled for sea conditions, spend the extra time at Table Mountain or the Waterfront instead.
Cape Town cruise port FAQs
Do cruises leave from Cape Town?
Yes. Cape Town is a turnaround port as well as a call, and the South African season runs from October to April. MSC’s Cape Town round-trips on MSC Opera fall in March and April, with five-night Walvis Bay sailings; the rest of its season is based at Durban‘s Nelson Mandela Cruise Terminal.
Which cruise ships dock in Cape Town?
All of them use E-Berth, since there’s no second cruise terminal. MSC is the most regular caller, and other lines that call at Cape Town include Celebrity, Silversea, Seabourn, Cunard, Holland America, Azamara, Norwegian, Crystal and Princess.
Can I find out which ships are in Cape Town harbour today?
No live feed of which ships are in Cape Town harbour today comes from the port or the V&A Waterfront. Ring the terminal on +27 21 408 7832 or +27 21 408 7649, or look out over the harbour from the Waterfront.
Is the Cape Town Cruise Terminal wheelchair accessible?
Yes. The Cape Town Cruise Terminal is wheelchair and pram friendly, with wheelchair-accessible bathrooms, braille on the toilet signage, baby-changing, guide dogs allowed and TV screens used for visual communication.
How long before all-aboard should I leave Table Mountain?
Give yourself 45 minutes from the Lower Cable Station to the terminal by taxi, plus whatever queue the car is running, and leave the summit earlier if the wind is picking up.
Last Updated: 2 November 2026