4.7 out of 5 stars · 211 reviews on GetYourGuide · from €77.14 · as of 9 Oct
Crisscross Adventures headquarters in Addo village; pick-up in Addo village as an option.
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Where to stay · Rest camp with shop, restaurant and reception
Addo Main Camp
All SANParks game drives start here; the camp has a waterhole that is floodlit at night.
Reception, shop, restaurant and a waterhole floodlit at night.
Accommodation
guest houses to campsite
Waterhole
floodlit, with a hide
Game drives
start here
Main gate
07:00–19:00
Visiting Addo Elephant National Park: elephants from your own car
Day visit without booking
According to SANParks, a day visit needs no booking, only organised activities do. You drive your own car and can use the picnic sites, shop and restaurant.
International visitors pay R492 per adult aged 12 and over and R246 per child aged 2 to 11, SADC nationals R225 and R112, South Africans R110 and R54 – per day in each case.
Recommended: N2 towards Makhanda (Grahamstown), then N10 towards Cradock and at Paterson left onto the R342, 24 kilometres (15 mi) to the gate. Around 120 kilometres (75 mi), one hour and 15 minutes.
Safari: self-drive, with a guide or on a game drive
Hop-on guide in your own car
Trained guides from the neighbouring communities join you in your own car for two hours: since 1 March 2026 R400 for a sedan, R430 for a six-seater, R520 for a minibus.
Safari: self-drive, with a guide or on a game drive
SANParks game drives
About two hours, from Main Camp: sunrise at 5:30 in summer and 6:30 in winter, then 9:00, 12:00 and 15:00, sunset at 17:30 or 17:00, night drive at 19:30 or 19:00. Book in advance, no children under 6.
The rest camp is the hub of the park, with guest houses, chalets, cottages, safari tents and campsites, a shop and restaurant, a waterhole floodlit at night and an underground hide.
This gate’s times depend on the season; ask at reception.
Gate times and best time to visit
The game area has its own gates
The gates to the game area open and close according to the season; reception at Addo or Matyholweni gives the current times. The entrance gates only give access to the camps.
Water · Waterhole in the south-west of the game area
Hapoor Dam
Named after the elephant bull Hapoor; SANParks recommends it for elephant herds.
Gate times and best time to visit
Elephants on hot days
According to SANParks, elephants are best seen at the waterholes on hot days. Lions and spotted hyenas are more often seen in the early morning and in the evening.
According to SANParks, Addo offers some of the best elephant viewing in the world. In 1954 park manager Graham Armstrong built an elephant-proof fence from tram rails and lift cables; at the time 22 elephants lived in the park.
Tents near a waterhole; guests cannot join sunrise, sunset or night drives because the gates are closed at those times.
Where to stay in Addo: seven camps
Spekboom and Nyathi
Spekboom tented camp lies in the middle of the main game area by a waterhole. Nyathi (“buffalo”) at the foot of the Zuurberg mountains, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from Main Camp, is the newest camp according to SANParks.
The quickest way in from Gqeberha, three kilometres from the N2.
Getting there from Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)
Via Matyholweni through the park
Shorter: N2 to the Matyholweni turn-off after the Sundays River bridge, around 40 kilometres (25 mi), then 36 kilometres (22 mi) on the southern access road through the park to Main Camp, about one and a half hours at 40 km/h; the table on the same page gives 45 and 39 kilometres. Not for caravans, trailers or buses.
Shops, restaurants, ATMs and a filling station in nearby Colchester.
Where to stay in Addo: seven camps
Matyholweni
The name means “in the bush” in isiXhosa. The camp lies near Colchester at the mouth of the Sundays River, three kilometres from the N2, and is the quickest way in from Gqeberha.
Safari: self-drive, with a guide or on a game drive
Hiking in the Zuurberg
The Cycad Trail is 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long (about one hour), the Doringnek Trail 8 kilometres (5 mi), about five hours (start by 12:00 at the latest). The gate closes at 17:30.
Besides the game area, SANParks recommends the Zuurberg Mountains and the dunes of Woody Cape. Both are part of the park and can be visited as a day trip.
