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Kruger quotas and pre-booking for day visitors

SANParks limits day visitors at the gates in school holidays and over the festive season. Here's what pre-booking has cost and what the limits mean when you're staying in Marloth Park.

Last checked 26 October 2026

Two zebras crossing a tar road

SANParks limits how many day visitors each Kruger gate lets in, and the gates mostly fill up on long weekends and in school holidays. Last festive season, day visitors could pre-book online for a non-refundable fee of R59 per adult and R29 per child. For the 2026/27 festive season: Not announced yet. People staying overnight inside the park aren't affected.

Last checked 26 October 2026

How the day-visitor quota works

Every gate has a daily maximum for day visitors. The quota applies all year, and it's mostly reached on long weekends and in school holidays. Once a gate is full, it only lets in visitors who have pre-booked or booked a night in the park. Everyone else waits in the queue and gets in as other visitors leave.

In busy seasons SANParks asks day visitors to book online at sanparks.org before they come. In the 2024/25 festive season, up to 80% of each gate's day-visitor quota could be pre-booked.

When you pre-book, you choose an arrival slot and need to reach the gate within it:

  • 05:30-08:00
  • 08:00-10:00
  • 10:00 onwards

Arrive after your slot and you lose your priority, and the gate treats you as a visitor without a booking.

What pre-booking has cost

The pre-booking fee is an admin fee, paid online and not refundable. You still pay the daily conservation fee at the gate on top of it, unless you have a Wild Card.

Kruger day-visitor pre-booking fee in past festive seasons
SeasonAdultChild
2025/26 festive seasonAnnounced 17 December 2025R59R29
2024/25 festive seasonAnnounced December 2024R56R28

Last checked 26 October 2026

For a couple staying in Marloth Park and going in on three days of a quota period, last season's fee came to R354 on top of the conservation fees.

What's known for 2026/27

The quota dates and pre-booking fee for the 2026/27 festive season hadn't been announced by 26 October 2026. In the last two seasons they came out in December, on 2 December 2024 and 17 December 2025. The school holidays run 10 December 2026 to 12 January 2027, and that's when the gates are likely to fill. We'll add the dates and fee here once they're out.

Quotas can come at other times of year too. In 2025 SANParks also ran them in the winter school holidays, from 28 June to 21 July. After heavy rain in January 2026, while Crocodile Bridge was closed, it put quotas on Malelane, Numbi and Paul Kruger gates.

Wild Card holders

A Wild Card covers the daily conservation fee. It doesn't cover the pre-booking fee, and in each recent season Wild Card members have had to pay that too.

Overnight guests

The quota doesn't apply to overnight guests. If you've booked a night at Lower Sabie, Crocodile Bridge or any other camp, you'll get in even when the day-visitor quota is full. Staying in Marloth Park makes you a day visitor, so the quota applies every time you go in.

If you're staying in Marloth Park

  • On school-holiday and long-weekend days, pre-book if SANParks has opened bookings, and pick the 05:30-08:00 slot.
  • In school holidays Crocodile Bridge can fill up early in the morning. If you haven't booked, be at the gate before it opens.
  • Malelane gate is the other way in. It has its own quota and gets busy in the holidays as well.
  • Crocodile Bridge and Malelane are cash-free gates, so have a bank card for the conservation fee. From 1 November 2026 that's R140 a day for a South African adult.

If you need to be sure of getting in over Christmas and New Year, book a night or two inside the park. Marloth Park or inside Kruger compares the two.

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