Step Inside a Real Submarine in Simon’s Town at The Assegaai Submarine Museum

Getting kids excited about “history” is usually a hard sell. Mention a museum and you’ll get the collective groan reserved for vegetables and early bedtimes. But say the word “submarine,” and suddenly you have their full, undivided attention. That’s the magic trick the SAS Assegaai Submarine Museum in Simon’s Town has up its sleeve — and it works.

At Cole Point, right next to NSRI Station 10, sits a real, Cold War-era South African Navy submarine that you can climb aboard. Not a model. Not a replica. The actual steel tube that actual submariners lived, worked, and occasionally shivered in for weeks at a time. You walk the main road towards the harbour, take the turn-off just past Jubilee Square, and there she is — hard to miss once you know to look for her.

The tour: tight spaces, big stories

This isn’t a “wander around and read some plaques” kind of museum. It’s a proper one-hour guided tour, and your guide is usually someone who’s spent real time serving underwater — which means the stories aren’t textbook stuff, they’re lived experience. Think four-hour watches in the cold and wet, mechanical depth gauges that demanded skill rather than screens, and the logistics of sharing a cramped compartment with over 30 shipmates for 28 days straight.

Kids get to sit at the actual controls and imagine themselves steering the thing, which is exactly the kind of hands-on moment that turns “I’m bored” into “can we come back.” It’s best suited to children eight and up, mostly because of the tight squeezes and steep ladders inside — this is a real submarine, not a jungle gym, so little ones might find the spaces a bit much.

The practical bits

• Where: Cole Point, King George’s Way, Simon’s Town — next to NSRI Station 10
• Open: Tuesdays to Sundays, 09h30–15h30 (last tour departs 15h00). Closed Mondays, except public holidays and school holidays.
• Museum entry: Free — you can browse the display area, submarine models, torpedoes, and the battery exhibit without paying a cent.
• Guided tour: Adults R80, Seniors R60, Kids 12 and under R40
• Tour length: Around 90 minutes all in, with the guided portion lasting about an hour. Tours run every 20–30 minutes for a maximum of 10 people at a time.
• Booking: Recommended, especially in peak season, and required for groups of 10 or more.

Our tip

Book your tour slot at reception when you arrive, then use the waiting time to explore the free display area first — that way the kids have already worked out which buttons they want to press before the guide even opens the hatch.

Pair it with a stop at Boulders Beach or the Naval Museum for a full Simon’s Town day out, and you’ve got yourself one of the more unusual — and genuinely memorable — family outings Cape Town has to offer.