The Original Shoreline

Cape Town has literally redrawn its own shoreline. On this walking tour, you'll trace the path of the original coastline through the city centre to the V&A Waterfront, discovering how Dutch engineers, enslaved people, freedom fighters, and climate change have all reshaped the boundary between
land and sea. Over the centuries, geographical shifts, human events and land development have obscured the historical shoreline. This has influenced the city’s history and reconfigured the shape of the land that meets the water. And yet, it is a line rich with history containing layers of stories that have long been suppressed, overlooked, or left to lie in dusty drawers and family folklore.

The tour starts at the Castle of Good Hope, where the moat once marked the water's edge. You'll walk through streets that used to be beaches—including Strand Street, whose Afrikaans name literally means beach — and pass the Grand Parade, South Africa's oldest public square, which was
once a sandy shoreline. Along the way, you'll encounter stories of Krotoa, an Indigenous woman caught between two worlds; the 1820 Settlers arriving by ship; and Nelson Mandela's triumphant speech on the steps of City Hall after 27 years in prison.

You'll explore how the Duncan Docks construction in 1945 pushed back the sea by 200 soccer fields' worth of land, creating the Foreshore. You'll visit underground remnants of Wagenaer's Reservoir and the Chavonne’s Battery, where cannons once pointed out to sea but now face the city.

The tour ends at the Water's Edge, where grey flagstones trace the path of the original shoreline—a powerful reminder of how citizens reclaimed public access to the coast. Along the way, you'll encounter unexpected urban wildlife, from otters and seagulls to Cape Fur Seals, and learn how
rising sea levels threaten to rewrite the shoreline all over again.

On this 2-hour tour, you'll have a chance to:

• Discover Wagenaer's Reservoir, built in 1663, to capture and supply water for the ships sailing around the Cape towards the Spice Islands. Remnants of the reservoir can be seen in a glass cage inside the Golden Acre Shopping Mall.
• Learn how the convicts of Breakwater Prison built Cape Town's docks through grueling labour that shaped the modern waterfront
• Explore the Chavonne’s Battery, built between 1714 and 1725 – it’s the only place you can still touch sand from the Original Shoreline
• Visit the Union-Castle Building, home to the Maritime Centre, and see remnants of the mail-ship era that connected Cape Town to Southampton
• Spot the historical Grain Silo built on the original shoreline in 1923. In 2017, it was transformed into a contemporary art museum now known as Zeitz Mocaa
• Encounter the Dolosse – the wave-dissipating concrete blocks invented by South African draughtsman, Aubrey Kruger. The project was overseen by Port Engineer Eric Mowbray Merrifield in 1963.

This tour invites you to consider what Cape Town has gained and lost as its shoreline has
transformed, and what we must do to protect it from future change. Discover how a city remade its
relationship with the sea.