Boulders Beach in Simon’s Town was recently ranked among the top 10 beaches in the world by Tripsdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards Best of the Best beaches, cementing Cape Town’s reputation as a premier coastal destination.

Excellence in travel

The review platform praised the beach for its clean sand for lounging on, chilly pools for swimming in and boardwalks made for strolling on.

The awards celebrate the highest level of excellence in travel.

The award is given to those who receive a high volume of above-and-beyond reviews and opinions from the Tripadvisor community over a 12-month period. Of 8 million listings, less than 1% achieve this milestone.

Protected species

Boulders Beach is widely recognised for its resident colony of endangered African penguins, offering visitors a rare opportunity to view the birds up close from elevated wooden boardwalks.

On a positive note, however, the African penguin colony at Boulders in the Table Mountain National Park have shown encouraging growth, according to the 2026 African penguin census conducted in June.

This year’s survey recorded 790 breeding pairs, an increase of 92 pairs on last year’s figure.

Boulders Beach’s scenic beauty is no stranger to accolades.

Located in Simon’s Town, along the False Bay coast, the beach lies about 40 km from central Cape Town and remains a popular destination for both tourists and locals.

In April this year, Boulders was also ranked number 1 and Cape of Good Hope number 2 by long-haul travel specialist Travelbag, which identifies the world’s most popular, most highly-rated and visually striking beaches.

Boulders secured more than 27 700 Google reviews and an average monthly search volume of around 110 000.

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