A Family Day Out: Your V&A Waterfront & Aquarium Itinerary

Planning family things to do in Cape Town requires a well-mapped route. This guide provides a complete day-long itinerary for family activities.

Start at Two Oceans Aquarium, open daily from 9:30am to 6pm and kid-friendly through every exhibit. It's worth checking their site for specials before you go. Time your visit around feeding sessions if you can: sharks are fed on Saturdays at midday in the Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Exhibit, and the penguins are fed daily at 11:30am and 2:30pm. Don't skip the Jelly Gallery either: a dimly lit room of glowing jellyfish that's a favourite with younger kids. Budget at least two hours here; the Touch Pool alone is hard to pull small hands away from.

Cool fact: the kelp forest tank is filled with seawater pumped directly from the harbour outside, so the kelp swaying past the glass is the same kelp growing in the bay a few metres away.

You'll need to refuel after the aquarium visit. Bagels do double duty here: Pure Good at Workshop17 loads theirs up vegan, with fresh juices on the side, while COOKED does the traditional hand-rolled version a short walk away and their classic breakfast bagel shouldn't be missed.

If you have active younger kids, the Santa Ana Spur is the safest bet for a family lunch. It offers harbour-view seating for adults, a dedicated kids' play area, and a menu packed with delicious flame-grilled burgers, ribs, and grills. Cape Town Fish Market and Ocean Basket cater to the seafood-and-chips crowd, and Time Out Market's offers 13 diverse kitchens, allowing groups to order separately and dine together. All are kid-friendly, open for lunch daily and have specials that change regularly.

Battery Park's family zone has a jungle gym, swings, rocking horses and a scooter path, plus a skate park and basketball court. All facilities are free to use and open daily from 9am to 6pm. Inside The Watershed, be.UP Park Pop-Up gives kids under eight a supervised play space, and Cave Golf runs an 18-hole indoor mini-golf course right beside Scratch Patch, where kids dig for their own semi-precious stones to take home.

Wind the day down at Zeitz MOCAA with free entry for anyone under 18. the museum's striking architecture provides an engaging experience for visitors of all ages.

A stop at Nobel Square is free, takes 10 minutes and honours South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize winners, who stand tall in bronze. The buskers performing nearby are a further glimpse into South African culture and create a festive atmosphere. On the way, look out for Recycled Flip Flop Sculptures at The Watershed, a unique keepsake for kids to remember their visit to the Two Oceans Aquarium.

To close out the day, hop aboard the Jolly Roger Pirate Boat, South Africa's only authentic pirate ship, sailing daily from Quay 5 with morning, lunchtime, afternoon and sunset departures. It’s kid-friendly, with an onboard pirate show and a decent chance of a dolphin sighting along the way. Check current departure times before you head down to the jetty; they shift with the seasons.

Attractions, restaurants and family events are all close enough together at the V&A Waterfront so the hardest part of the day is choosing what to skip, not what to fit in.