Robben Island Museum | Attraction

Western Cape Attractions | Cape Town Attractions | Waterfront Attractions

Robben Island is most famous or infamous, for having been the isolated prison of former South African President Nelson Mandela and many other black political dissidents.

For a whole generation of black South African prisoners. Robben Island was an alternative political university and a shared experience. Today former political prisoners act as your guides.

There are daily ferry trips to Robben Island, weather permitting, leaving from the Clock Tower Precinct at the V&A Waterfront. Allow three and a half hours for your trip, and book in advance.

It will be a moving, sombre, yet uplifting experience. Certainly, gazing across the chilly waters of the bay, something of the despair of past inmates will enter your consciousness, though the final, lasting impression is likely to be one of the triumphs of the human spirit.

The Island is a World Heritage Site and home to African penguins and a rich variety of marine bird life, some species of which are only found here and on one other site on the African coast.

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