South Africa with teens - Cape Town? Vineyards?

[Anonymous]

OMG what an alarmist. You actually hired private security?! If this was about Johannesburg, then yes, private security can come in handy in some parts of the town. On the contrary, Cape Town is fine! We were there in August and it was great. We traveled everywhere, off the beaten path too; used Ubers, walked around town and it was totally fine. Please go have fun. We are going back for Christmas to finalize an apartment purchase.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or kids were younger when we went (elementary school), they are teens now. The wineries we went to were family-friendly enough, but my now-teens would be bored. I'd take them instead to Table Mountain, Boulders Beach, or Cape Point.

Cape Town is definitely worth it, though!

Very helpful comment. I'm okay with our kids being bored for a few hours (I think its an important life skill to be bored and be okay with that). I love your suggestions for the beach and hiking. Did you hire an armed guard for those outings, or what did you do to ensure safety?

We were in Cape Town in October 2024 when things were getting bad again (idk if they’re getting better or still iffy again). We didn’t use private security cause it was just DH and me and we’re young and superrr low key but our travel agent said lots of families with kids hire security to be extra safe / as an extra deterrent. If you stay at a 5 star hotel like O&O they’ll also have armed guards.

Boulders Beach and Cape Point are perfectly safe. The local sheriff or whatever they call it for the Boulders Beach area is an animal and took a Wild West no excuses approach that’s worked well to get rid of crime.

Would be more worried about exploring Cape Town outside of V&A Waterfront and off the beaten path at Table Mountain in terms of wanting security.

[Anonymous]

I am a Boer and have never felt unsafe. I don't know who is advising you on getting private security. I wonder if they have financial interests in those security firms.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or kids were younger when we went (elementary school), they are teens now. The wineries we went to were family-friendly enough, but my now-teens would be bored. I'd take them instead to Table Mountain, Boulders Beach, or Cape Point.

Cape Town is definitely worth it, though!

Very helpful comment. I'm okay with our kids being bored for a few hours (I think its an important life skill to be bored and be okay with that). I love your suggestions for the beach and hiking. Did you hire an armed guard for those outings, or what did you do to ensure safety?

Omg you don’t need private security. Honestly, the things people think of.

It's fairly common among wealthy tourists in South Africa. We've been advised to consider it.

[Anonymous]

Cape Town is the best place I have ever travelled. Take a day trip to Boulder's beach and see penguins and the Cape of Good Hope.

[Anonymous]

We took the Hop on Hop off bus all over Cape Town and stayed at the Hilton. there is a bus stop for the hop on hop off right down the street from the hotel. We went to a big outdoor mall that had amazing dance and music shows and got some great souvenirs, took the cable car to the top of table mountain and had a great seafood lunch in a little seaside town.
Also we stayed at an awesome Airbnb in stellenbosch and were able to walk downtown and enjoy all the cafes and bars. Highly recommend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OMG what an alarmist. You actually hired private security?! If this was about Johannesburg, then yes, private security can come in handy in some parts of the town. On the contrary, Cape Town is fine! We were there in August and it was great. We traveled everywhere, off the beaten path too; used Ubers, walked around town and it was totally fine. Please go have fun. We are going back for Christmas to finalize an apartment purchase.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or kids were younger when we went (elementary school), they are teens now. The wineries we went to were family-friendly enough, but my now-teens would be bored. I'd take them instead to Table Mountain, Boulders Beach, or Cape Point.

Cape Town is definitely worth it, though!

Very helpful comment. I'm okay with our kids being bored for a few hours (I think its an important life skill to be bored and be okay with that). I love your suggestions for the beach and hiking. Did you hire an armed guard for those outings, or what did you do to ensure safety?

We were in Cape Town in October 2024 when things were getting bad again (idk if they’re getting better or still iffy again). We didn’t use private security cause it was just DH and me and we’re young and superrr low key but our travel agent said lots of families with kids hire security to be extra safe / as an extra deterrent. If you stay at a 5 star hotel like O&O they’ll also have armed guards.

Boulders Beach and Cape Point are perfectly safe. The local sheriff or whatever they call it for the Boulders Beach area is an animal and took a Wild West no excuses approach that’s worked well to get rid of crime.

Would be more worried about exploring Cape Town outside of V&A Waterfront and off the beaten path at Table Mountain in terms of wanting security.

You traveled everywhere in Cape Town, but you didn’t stop and ask yourself why every community that isn’t a township has security fencing (including barbed electrified wire at the top), private security signs/patrols, and security cameras everywhere? Do you think that was for show?

[Anonymous]

That’s not uncommon either even here in the DMV.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OMG what an alarmist. You actually hired private security?! If this was about Johannesburg, then yes, private security can come in handy in some parts of the town. On the contrary, Cape Town is fine! We were there in August and it was great. We traveled everywhere, off the beaten path too; used Ubers, walked around town and it was totally fine. Please go have fun. We are going back for Christmas to finalize an apartment purchase.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or kids were younger when we went (elementary school), they are teens now. The wineries we went to were family-friendly enough, but my now-teens would be bored. I'd take them instead to Table Mountain, Boulders Beach, or Cape Point.

Cape Town is definitely worth it, though!

Very helpful comment. I'm okay with our kids being bored for a few hours (I think its an important life skill to be bored and be okay with that). I love your suggestions for the beach and hiking. Did you hire an armed guard for those outings, or what did you do to ensure safety?

We were in Cape Town in October 2024 when things were getting bad again (idk if they’re getting better or still iffy again). We didn’t use private security cause it was just DH and me and we’re young and superrr low key but our travel agent said lots of families with kids hire security to be extra safe / as an extra deterrent. If you stay at a 5 star hotel like O&O they’ll also have armed guards.

Boulders Beach and Cape Point are perfectly safe. The local sheriff or whatever they call it for the Boulders Beach area is an animal and took a Wild West no excuses approach that’s worked well to get rid of crime.

Would be more worried about exploring Cape Town outside of V&A Waterfront and off the beaten path at Table Mountain in terms of wanting security.

You traveled everywhere in Cape Town, but you didn’t stop and ask yourself why every community that isn’t a township has security fencing (including barbed electrified wire at the top), private security signs/patrols, and security cameras everywhere? Do you think that was for show?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
That’s not uncommon either even here in the DMV.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OMG what an alarmist. You actually hired private security?! If this was about Johannesburg, then yes, private security can come in handy in some parts of the town. On the contrary, Cape Town is fine! We were there in August and it was great. We traveled everywhere, off the beaten path too; used Ubers, walked around town and it was totally fine. Please go have fun. We are going back for Christmas to finalize an apartment purchase.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or kids were younger when we went (elementary school), they are teens now. The wineries we went to were family-friendly enough, but my now-teens would be bored. I'd take them instead to Table Mountain, Boulders Beach, or Cape Point.

Cape Town is definitely worth it, though!

Very helpful comment. I'm okay with our kids being bored for a few hours (I think its an important life skill to be bored and be okay with that). I love your suggestions for the beach and hiking. Did you hire an armed guard for those outings, or what did you do to ensure safety?

We were in Cape Town in October 2024 when things were getting bad again (idk if they’re getting better or still iffy again). We didn’t use private security cause it was just DH and me and we’re young and superrr low key but our travel agent said lots of families with kids hire security to be extra safe / as an extra deterrent. If you stay at a 5 star hotel like O&O they’ll also have armed guards.

Boulders Beach and Cape Point are perfectly safe. The local sheriff or whatever they call it for the Boulders Beach area is an animal and took a Wild West no excuses approach that’s worked well to get rid of crime.

Would be more worried about exploring Cape Town outside of V&A Waterfront and off the beaten path at Table Mountain in terms of wanting security.

You traveled everywhere in Cape Town, but you didn’t stop and ask yourself why every community that isn’t a township has security fencing (including barbed electrified wire at the top), private security signs/patrols, and security cameras everywhere? Do you think that was for show?

Just… No. There’s not a single community in the DC area where every single house for miles has a 10 foot solid wall around the entire perimeter that’s secured by barbed wire that’s electrified and patrolled by private security.

Not even the White House.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or kids were younger when we went (elementary school), they are teens now. The wineries we went to were family-friendly enough, but my now-teens would be bored. I'd take them instead to Table Mountain, Boulders Beach, or Cape Point.

Cape Town is definitely worth it, though!

Very helpful comment. I'm okay with our kids being bored for a few hours (I think its an important life skill to be bored and be okay with that). I love your suggestions for the beach and hiking. Did you hire an armed guard for those outings, or what did you do to ensure safety?

Omg you don’t need private security. Honestly, the things people think of.

It's fairly common among wealthy tourists in South Africa. We've been advised to consider it.

DP

Who is advising you?

If I suspected a conflict of interest I’d understand.

If it was another seasoned traveler, I would consider this a belittling insult.

Two different people who've gone- one friend, one family member. I'm reading conflicting accounts of whether that's overkill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cape Town is the best place I have ever travelled. Take a day trip to Boulder's beach and see penguins and the Cape of Good Hope.

Did you happen to travel to the safari area north of Johannesburg?

[Anonymous]

Just go to cape town plenty to do there. Are your kids going to just stare at you while you drink on a winery tour?

[Anonymous]

Granted we went pre-COVID, but it never ever crossed our minds to hire armed private guards in Cape Town… we took Ubers and the normal precautions you would in any large American city. Your kids will be bored for more than a “few hours.” The vineyards are a proper day trip. I can’t recall seeing a single minor at the places we visited. Stick to the penguins and hiking.

[Anonymous]

Cape Town is definitely worth it, but I frankly don't remember if there were kids at the vineyards. (Gorgeous and very fun for the adults but maybe not so much for teens?) I'd take them to Table Mountain, the beach, the areas where you can see penguins. A trip to Robben Island as well, if you have the time, it's VERY worth it. There are also a lot of fun daytrips outside to see whales and sharks and so on. You could spend a week or more in Cape Town and not see everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or kids were younger when we went (elementary school), they are teens now. The wineries we went to were family-friendly enough, but my now-teens would be bored. I'd take them instead to Table Mountain, Boulders Beach, or Cape Point.

Cape Town is definitely worth it, though!

Very helpful comment. I'm okay with our kids being bored for a few hours (I think its an important life skill to be bored and be okay with that). I love your suggestions for the beach and hiking. Did you hire an armed guard for those outings, or what did you do to ensure safety?

Omg you don’t need private security. Honestly, the things people think of.

It's fairly common among wealthy tourists in South Africa. We've been advised to consider it.

Just don’t walk around dripping in jewelry and counting your money and you will be fine. I walked around Cape Town day and night and it was fine.

You got lucky. My colleague was carjacked in Cape Town in 2024. It is not very safe. Beautiful country, but not worth the risk in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OMG what an alarmist. You actually hired private security?! If this was about Johannesburg, then yes, private security can come in handy in some parts of the town. On the contrary, Cape Town is fine! We were there in August and it was great. We traveled everywhere, off the beaten path too; used Ubers, walked around town and it was totally fine. Please go have fun. We are going back for Christmas to finalize an apartment purchase.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or kids were younger when we went (elementary school), they are teens now. The wineries we went to were family-friendly enough, but my now-teens would be bored. I'd take them instead to Table Mountain, Boulders Beach, or Cape Point.

Cape Town is definitely worth it, though!

Very helpful comment. I'm okay with our kids being bored for a few hours (I think its an important life skill to be bored and be okay with that). I love your suggestions for the beach and hiking. Did you hire an armed guard for those outings, or what did you do to ensure safety?

We were in Cape Town in October 2024 when things were getting bad again (idk if they’re getting better or still iffy again). We didn’t use private security cause it was just DH and me and we’re young and superrr low key but our travel agent said lots of families with kids hire security to be extra safe / as an extra deterrent. If you stay at a 5 star hotel like O&O they’ll also have armed guards.

Boulders Beach and Cape Point are perfectly safe. The local sheriff or whatever they call it for the Boulders Beach area is an animal and took a Wild West no excuses approach that’s worked well to get rid of crime.

Would be more worried about exploring Cape Town outside of V&A Waterfront and off the beaten path at Table Mountain in terms of wanting security.

You traveled everywhere in Cape Town, but you didn’t stop and ask yourself why every community that isn’t a township has security fencing (including barbed electrified wire at the top), private security signs/patrols, and security cameras everywhere? Do you think that was for show?

Exactly this. Like frogs in boiling water accepting the risk as normal. My South African friends say it's safe IF you have a guard dog or IF you have a deadbolt on the bedroom door or IF you have armed guards. They don't hear how the IFs sound.

[Anonymous]

That a debate is even occurring around the topic suggests security concerns are legitimate, even if consensus about the actual risk level is unclear.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/south-africa/safety-and-security

https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/south-africa

Personally, it does not seem an appealing destination when compared to destinations more uniformly agreed to be relatively safe and pleasant.