The V&A Waterfront
Although touristy, this waterfront precinct remains a working harbour, busy with ships and packed with fine Victorian buildings. There are some good restaurants, a cinema, decent shopping, a playground and an amphitheatre where a variety of shows are held.
Also, most of the city’s boating excursions leave from here, including the ferry to Robben Island. The Two Oceans Aquarium in the V&A Waterfront offers children the opportunity to discover the rich diversity of the two great oceans that wash our shores. The aquarium hosts sleepovers, birthday parties and loads of games. It’s also worthwhile to visit the Scratch Patch and Mineral World to take home a bag of precious stones and to test your skills on the mini-golf course.
City Rock
Located in Paarden Eiland, City Rock is an indoor climbing facility that caters for all experience levels. After squeezing into a harness and clipping onto a safety line, you can work your way across walls and the ceiling dotted with hand and footholds. The different routes are graded from easy to (almost) impossible, and there's a dedicated beginners' and kids' wall. Or you can try scrambling up a range of 'boulders', with the comfort of very thick mats at the bottom. You don't have to be an experienced Spiderman to have fun here.
Two-hour beginners' courses are available, or you can hire staff to belay you (keep you secure on the safety rope as you climb), and they'll help you with technique too. This is guaranteed to get the adrenalin pumping, even for kids who feel no fear! And, adults, give it a go - you will definitely love the thrill. City Rock is owned and run by experienced climbers, and there's a strong emphasis on safety. Hire gear or bring your own. This is also a great place for kids' birthday parties, and there are special programmes during school holidays.
City Rock also has a coffee shop and free Wi-Fi if you want to relax and watch your kids scale the walls.
GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World
At GrandWest you can find the only indoor ice-skating rink in the Western Cape. The venue has an Olympic-size ice-skating rink and a separate mini-rink for the very small ones, with tables all around so you can keep an eye on them. Boots for hire start with bob skates, a skate with double blades, strapped to the shoe, at baby size eight and go up to adults' sizes.
Grand West also has a wide variety of restaurants and a food court, cinema to catch the latest films, a bowling alley, laser tag and a gaming arcade.
Cape Town Science Centre
If you've ever wondered what you'd weigh on Mars, the answer's at the Cape Town Science Centre located in Observatory. The awesome, hands-on playground is where you can do some really cool stuff, like experience what it's like to walk (or rather boi’ing) around on the moon, or play a symphony on a laser harp with no strings. You can land a satellite in the space simulator, watch yourself in a zero-gravity mirror, and find out why wheels don't have to be round.
This is fun stuff for all ages and even three-year-olds will enjoy the construction site. The space race spawned a variety of handy gizmos we know today, such as tinfoil, cordless drills for EVA (extravehicular activity) and digital watches. NASA also developed a space pen, so that American astronauts could write upside-down and in zero gravity. The Russians simply used pencils!