From R44 to R134: What SANParks’ 2025-26 fees really cost a family of four

If you, like most budget-conscious South Africans, have ever balked at the price of a Kruger Park day visit, you’re not alone.

SANParks’ 2025-26 tariff table shows Kruger National Park carries the highest standard resident adult entry fees in the entire network at R134 a day.

At the opposite end sits a cluster of Cape Town green spaces charging R44, a R90 gap before you’ve paid for a tank of fuel, padkos or a single game drive.

For families, that gap widens fast. A Kruger day out for two adults and two children can cost R402 at a minimum. The same headcount at one of the R44 sites (with the R22 child rate applied) comes to just R132. That’s a R270 spread for what is, on paper, the same basic access.

The comparison comes from data analysts hired by an online gaming experience company, who worked through SANParks’ official South African citizen and resident rates for 2025-26, ranking the highest standard adult fees and calculating family-of-four totals wherever child pricing is published.

The rates apply from 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026. SANParks classifies adults as visitors aged 12 and over, children as two to 11, and under-twos enter free.

The 10 priciest standard entries

1. Kruger National Park – R134 adult, R67 child, R402 for two adults and two children
2. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park – R129 adult, R64 child, R386 for two adults and two children
3. Table Mountain National Park, Cape of Good Hope section – R110 adult, R55 child, R330 for two adults and two children
4. Addo Elephant National Park – R110 adult, R54 child, R328 for two adults and two children
5. Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park – R87 adult, R43 child, R260 for two adults and two children
6. Garden Route National Park, Tsitsikamma Storms River Mouth section – R82 adult, R41 child, R246 for two adults and two children
7. Augrabies Falls National Park – R73 adult, R37 child, R220 for two adults and two children
8. Golden Gate Highlands National Park – R73 adult, R37 child, R220 for two adults and two children
9. Karoo National Park – R73 adult, R37 child, R220 for two adults and two children
10. Mapungubwe National Park – R73 adult, R37 child, R220 for two adults and two children

It’s a top 10 covering wildly different days out. Kruger remains the flagship Big Five experience; Kgalagadi trades elephants for red dunes and black-maned Kalahari lions; Cape of Good Hope is the wild southern tip of the Table Mountain park; Addo is elephant (and Big Five) territory in the Eastern Cape; and Ai-Ais/Richtersveld is a sprawling mountain desert that most South Africans have never set foot in.

Worth noting: four of six parks priced at R73 made this list purely to keep it at 10 entries. Marakele National Park and Mountain Zebra National Park charge the same R73 adult and matching child rate, so if you’re planning around price alone, add both to your shortlist.

The 10 cheapest standard entry fees

1. Table Mountain National Park, Newlands Forest – R44 adult, R22 child, R132 for two adults and two children
2. Table Mountain National Park, Oudekraal – R44 adult, R22 child, R132 for two adults and two children
3. Table Mountain National Park, Silvermine – R44 adult, R22 child, R132 for two adults and two children
4. Table Mountain National Park, Tokai Picnic and Braai Area – R44 adult, R22 child, R132 for two adults and two children
5. Garden Route National Park, Knysna section – R51 adult, R26 child, R154 for two adults and two children
6. Camdeboo National Park – R52 adult, R26 child, R156 for two adults and two children
7. Table Mountain National Park, Boulders – R55 adult, R26 child, R162 for two adults and two children
8. Agulhas National Park – R61 adult, R30 child, R182 for two adults and two children
9. Bontebok National Park – R61 adult, R30 child, R182 for two adults and two children
10. Garden Route National Park, Wilderness section – R61 adult, R30 child, R182 for two adults and two children

Cape Town dominates the cheap end, surprisingly as Table Mountain National Park’s satellite sections (Newlands Forest, Oudekraal, Silvermine and the Tokai picnic area) are all tied at the network’s lowest fee.

The seasonal outlier: West Coast National Park

West Coast National Park doesn’t feature in either ranking because its pricing shifts with the seasons – and flower season pushes it up sharply.

Resident adults pay R121 in August and September, against R82 for the rest of the year.

What this doesn’t cover

This is a conservation-fee comparison, not a cost-of-a-holiday comparison.

None of the totals above include accommodation, travel, meals, activities, parking or separately operated attractions inside the parks – all of which can dwarf the entry fees themselves, particularly at Kruger.

A spokesperson for online gaming experience company Play Casino, who chose not to be named, said the adult rate is “the quickest way to scan the table,” but cautioned that families should check the child band and any seasonal pricing line before budgeting a day trip.

SANParks notes that all rates are quoted in rands and include VAT, and that fees are subject to change without advance notice. Resident pricing also requires visitors to carry qualifying proof of South African status at the gate. It is worth digging out before you leave home and not at crunch time when you’re queuing at the boom gate.

– Information supplied by Play Casino.