Snorkeling Tour Cape Town

Snorkeling Cape Town is not the warm lagoon version of the sport. The three guided trips I found take you into the kelp forest on False Bay, or out on a boat from Langebaan in search of an ocean sunfish called a mola mola. Two of the three Cape Town snorkeling trips are shore snorkels with no boat at all. If you are comparing every way of getting on the water, my page on boat tours in Cape Town covers all 12 trips.

My pick for snorkeling in Cape Town is the Cape RADD guided snorkel at $73. It lasts 2 hours, is limited to 8 people, is led by a marine biologist and scores 4.9 from 141 reviews, the best rating of any trip I compared. Prices are in US dollars from the listings, checked in October 2026, and booking links are affiliate links, as I explain on my about page.

Cape RADD

Great African Sea Forest Guided Snorkel

• ★ 4.9 (141 reviews)
• 2 hours
• Free cancellation

My pick: My pick: a marine biologist guide, max 8 people, 2 hours, $73, 4.9 from 141 reviews.

from

$73

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Seal Snorkeling Cape Town

People who search for seal snorkeling in Cape Town are usually after swimming with Cape fur seals. I have to be honest: none of the three listings sells that. The wildlife the listings name is different: octopus, sea urchins and friendly sharks at Cape RADD, colourful fish, curious shysharks, sea stars, anemones, crabs and octopus in Simon’s Town, and sea lions, dolphins and seabirds seen from the boat on the Mola Mola trip.

If seals are the point, ask the operator before booking whether they are in the water at your location on your date. If the kelp forest and its smaller animals appeal, the next section covers the best trip for that.

Kelp Snorkeling Cape Town

Kelp snorkeling in Cape Town means swimming between the tall kelp stalks of the Great African Sea Forest, which is why the two shore trips exist. Cape RADD is the more specialised: you join a team of marine biologists, learn how octopi hunt and why sea urchins wear hats, and take part in shark research by finding and photographing a friendly endemic shark species. The listing adds a FinSpotter app for your sightings and an Ocean Ambassador honour for helping.

You meet inside the Cape RADD Dive Center, on the shore of False Bay, and the listing does not mention a boat. A wetsuit, mask, snorkel, fins, photos and a briefing are included. Not suitable are children under 10, pregnant women, people with mobility impairments and people over 95. You need to be able to swim or be comfortable in the water, but not fit.

African Ocean Adventures

Simon’s Town: Guided Snorkeling Adventure with Equipment

• 2 hours
• Free cancellation

My pick: The beginner version from a sheltered beach in Simon's Town: $71, 2 hours, max 10, hot shower after.

from

$71

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The African Ocean Adventures trip is newer and has no reviews yet. The listing describes a beginner-friendly snorkel for up to 10, entering from a sheltered beach in Simon’s Town, so there is no boat. It includes a wetsuit, mask, snorkel, fins, a safety briefing and hot showers at the dive centre. The description starts at the dive centre while the meeting point text says Jubilee Square next to the Just Nuisance statue, so confirm which one on the booking page. People with respiratory issues are listed as not suitable.

Diving Cape Town

Diving in Cape Town is a different activity, and I found no diving product in my data. All three trips are snorkels. Cape RADD is run from a dive centre, so the operator can probably tell you about diving, but its listing here is for snorkeling, and I won’t guess at certifications or dive sites.

The nearest thing to a deeper dive in this comparison is the Mola Mola trip, where you snorkel in open water for up to 2 hours with a fish that lives in deep water, wearing at least 5 mm of neoprene. That is still snorkeling in Cape Town, and it asks for confident swimmers.

Where You Get In and What to Bring

Both kelp forest trips are based on the False Bay side of the peninsula, in or near Simon’s Town, which is about 32 km from the V&A Waterfront in a straight line. That is a separate trip from the sunset boats, and the listings do not include transport from the city, so plan how you will get there. Boulders Beach, with its penguin colony, is about 1.5 km from the False Bay Yacht Club in Simon’s Town, which makes a snorkeling morning in Cape Town easy to combine with a walk, and it is the easiest way to pair Cape Town snorkeling with sightseeing.

For what to bring, the Cape RADD listing says swimwear and a towel, and that the activity runs rain or shine. African Ocean Adventures lists hot showers at the dive centre, so a change of clothes is sensible. Neither lists food or drinks or transport. For the Mola Mola trip the listing adds sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses, light shoes or sandals, and a snorkeling suit of at least 5 mm neoprene.

Snorkeling Cape Town Prices

Here is the price of snorkeling in Cape Town, trip by trip, in one table, built from the listings.

Trip	Operator	Price	Duration	Boat?	Group size	Rating
Great African Sea Forest guided snorkel	Cape RADD	$73	2 hours	No boat mentioned, meets on the shore	Max 8	4.9 (141 reviews)
Simon’s Town guided snorkeling adventure	African Ocean Adventures	$71	2 hours	No, sheltered beach entry	Max 10	No reviews yet
Mola Mola snorkeling from Langebaan	Expert-Tours	$325	3.5 hours	Yes, RIB boat	2 to 8	No reviews yet

All three allow free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start. The $2 difference between the two shore snorkels is small, so the choice is the guide: a marine biologist with research tasks at Cape RADD, or a beginner-focused briefing at African Ocean Adventures. The $325 Mola Mola trip costs more than four times as much because it includes the boat and a small group.

Cape Town Snorkel With Mola Mola

The Mola Mola trip is the only one of the three that uses a boat, and it is far from the city. It meets at Mykonos Marina in Langebaan, about 97 km from the V&A Waterfront in a straight line, and the listing says transport to Langebaan is not included. After a welcome and a boat safety briefing you head out on a Stingray RIB called Whale of a Time, passing sea lions, dolphins and seabirds, in search of mola mola.

Expert-Tours

Mola Mola Snorkeling – Deep Sea Giant, Cape Town-Langebaan

• 3.5 hours
• Free cancellation

My pick: The unusual boat trip: RIB from Langebaan, up to 8 people, November to May, $325.

from

$325

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The listing says the group is 2 to 8, the fish are found from November to May, visibility is between 2 and 20 m and the whole trip lasts 4 to 5 hours, though the duration field says 3.5. Snacks and fruit are served on board. You must be 16 or older and under 95 kg, and bring sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses and a 5 mm snorkeling suit; gear can be rented. It is a good fit for confident swimmers who want something unusual from snorkeling in Cape Town.

How I’d Choose

• Best rated, with science: Cape RADD at $73 (4.9 from 141 reviews).
• First snorkel, no boat: African Ocean Adventures in Simon’s Town at $71.
• Something unusual, November to May: the Mola Mola boat trip at $325.
• On a boat for wildlife in winter: see whale watching in Cape Town, which runs June to November.

For an evening on the water without getting wet, my page on the sunset cruise in Cape Town compares three boats, and the yacht charter in Cape Town page covers private boats that anchor for a swim. Every trip here supplies or asks for a wetsuit, so I’d plan around that, and for the full list of trips, see every Cape Town boat trip I compared.