Marloth Park or inside Kruger?

Inside Kruger or Marloth Park: who each suits

A rest camp inside Kruger suits you if:

• this is your first safari and you want to wake up in the park
• you're coming in the December holidays or another school holiday and don't want to rely on a day-visitor booking
• you want the extra hour at dawn from November to January for photography
• you're camping, because a campsite inside costs less than almost any house in Marloth

Marloth Park suits you if:

• you're a family or a group and want a house with a kitchen and a pool
• your children are under 6, because they can't join SANParks guided drives but will love the kudu and zebra in the garden
• you're from overseas and want rest days, because you pay the international fee of R692 a day only on the days you go in
• the rest camps are full for your dates

What 4 nights cost each way

These totals are for 4 nights at 2026/27 rates, covering accommodation and Kruger conservation fees. They leave out fuel, food and the once-off cleaning fees some Marloth houses charge.

The totals rest on these assumptions:

• Marloth prices are the middle and upper-quarter asking prices for Monday 16 to Friday 20 November 2026, as they stood on 26 October 2026.
• People staying in Marloth drive into Kruger on 3 of the 4 days.
• People staying inside pay the daily fee for 5 days if arrival and departure days both count, and 4 days if they don't. The 4-day total is in brackets, so ask SANParks which applies when you book.
• Kruger adds a 1% community fund to accommodation bookings, and that's included in the camp prices.
• Camp prices are SANParks' starting prices for a night from 1 November 2026. Prices can be higher on other dates, and the quote you get when you book is the one that counts.

Who	Where	4 nights	Kruger fees	Total
SA couple	Marloth, middle price (R1,500 a night)	R6,000	2 x R140 x 3 days = R840	R6,840
SA couple	Marloth, upper quarter (R2,100)	R8,400	R840	R9,240
SA couple	Lower Sabie bungalow (R2,089)	R8,440	R1,400 (R1,120)	R9,840 (R9,560)
SA couple	Crocodile Bridge bungalow (R2,171)	R8,771	R1,400 (R1,120)	R10,171 (R9,891)
SA couple	Crocodile Bridge safari tent (R949)	R3,834	R1,400 (R1,120)	R5,234 (R4,954)
SA couple	Crocodile Bridge campsite (R509)	R2,056	R1,400 (R1,120)	R3,456 (R3,176)
SA family of 4	Marloth, sleeps 4-6, middle price (R1,700)	R6,800	(2 x R140 + 2 x R70) x 3 = R1,260	R8,060
SA family of 4	Marloth, sleeps 4-6, upper quarter (R2,400)	R9,600	R1,260	R10,860
SA family of 4	Lower Sabie family cottage (R3,560)	R14,382	R2,100 (R1,680)	R16,482 (R16,062)
SA family of 4	Berg-en-Dal family cottage (R3,984)	R16,095	R2,100 (R1,680)	R18,195 (R17,775)
Overseas couple	Marloth, middle price	R6,000	2 x R692 x 3 = R4,152	R10,152
Overseas couple	Lower Sabie bungalow	R8,440	R6,920 (R5,536)	R15,360 (R13,976)
Overseas family of 4	Marloth, sleeps 4-6, middle price	R6,800	(2 x R692 + 2 x R345) x 3 = R6,222	R13,022
Overseas family of 4	Lower Sabie family cottage	R14,382	R10,370 (R8,296)	R24,752 (R22,678)

The family rows assume two children aged 2 to 11. The Crocodile Bridge campsite price is for 1 November to 8 December 2026.

For a couple, a mid-range Marloth house and a Kruger bungalow end up a few thousand rand apart over 4 nights. The gap grows for families, because Marloth rents out whole houses. It grows for overseas visitors too, because every extra day inside the park costs an international couple R1,384 in fees alone. With a Wild Card, the fee column drops to R0 either way. The current fees are on our Kruger fees for 2026/27 page, and the trip cost page adds fuel, tolls and three full budgets.

Gate hours, distances and queues

From November to January, rest-camp gates open at 04:30 and the entrance gates, Crocodile Bridge included, at 05:30. Someone staying at Lower Sabie can be out on the road an hour before a Marloth guest reaches the gate. In October, February and March both open at the same time, and from April to September both open at 06:00. Everyone has to be back through a gate by closing time, which is 18:30 from November to February. Our Kruger gate times page has every month.

From Marloth it's about 15-20 km to Crocodile Bridge gate, depending on where your house is, and then 34 km from the gate to Lower Sabie. Plan on an average of 30 km/h inside the park, which puts the Lower Sabie area a bit over an hour from the gate.

The queue matters in the school holidays. Crocodile Bridge can fill up early in the morning then, so you need to be there before it opens. Outside the holidays there are seldom big delays. Floods closed Crocodile Bridge to day visitors from 14 to 21 January 2026, and people in Marloth used Malelane gate, 35-39 km away, instead.

The rest camps closest to Marloth

These are the southern camps nearest Marloth. Rates are per unit per night, accommodation only, for 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2027.

Camp and unit	2026/27
Crocodile Bridge bungalowAt the gate. One room, 2-3 single beds, kitchenette on the veranda	R2,171
Crocodile Bridge safari tent2 single beds, shared kitchen and bathrooms	R949
Crocodile Bridge campsite1 Nov-8 Dec 2026; R552 from 9 Dec to 12 Jan	R509
Lower Sabie hutShared kitchen and bathrooms	R570
Lower Sabie bungalow34 km from Crocodile Bridge gate, on the Sabie River	R2,089
Lower Sabie family cottage2 bedrooms with 4 beds, 2 bathrooms	R3,560
Berg-en-Dal bungalow12 km from Malelane gate; R1,850 from 13 Jan to 18 Mar 2027	R2,123
Berg-en-Dal family cottageR3,273 from 13 Jan to 18 Mar 2027	R3,984
Biyamiti Cottage 1Small bushveld camp, 39 km from Malelane gate	R2,363
Skukuza bungalowAbout 77 km from Crocodile Bridge gate	R2,220

Last checked 26 October 2026

Most Crocodile Bridge and Lower Sabie prices here are SANParks' own starting prices for 1 November 2026; the rest are guideline rates. Prices change through the season, so the quote you get when you book online or through the reservations line is the one that counts. Bookings open 11 months ahead and the popular camps fill early: Lower Sabie was fully booked over both April 2026 long weekends.

For meals, Crocodile Bridge camp has a shop but no restaurant. At Lower Sabie, the restaurant is due to reopen as the Sabie River Café, with temporary dining and limited menus while it's refurbished.

What a Marloth house gives you

A Crocodile Bridge bungalow is one room with a kitchenette on the veranda. A Marloth house is a whole house, often with a pool and a braai. Kudu, zebra, giraffe and warthog wander freely between the houses, and the dangerous species are kept separate in the Lionspruit reserve. Marloth stays score 4.6 out of 5, mostly for the animals around the house.

Every Marloth house is set up a little differently. Many of the roads are gravel, Wi-Fi speeds vary, and not every house has backup power or aircon in every room, so ask before you book. Our before you book checklist has the questions. Marloth can feel more like a town in the bush than a wildlife park, so if being out in the wild is what you came for, a camp inside Kruger may suit you better.

Holidays and day-visitor quotas

In busy periods SANParks limits how many day visitors can enter each gate. In the 2025/26 festive season, day visitors had to book a time slot online and pay a non-refundable fee of R59 per adult and R29 per child, on top of the conservation fee. Wild Card holders paid it too. Once a gate's quota was reached, only pre-booked visitors got in. The quota didn't apply to overnight guests.

So over the December holidays, Easter and the July school holidays, staying inside takes away the worry about the gate. Staying in Marloth still works, but pre-book your Kruger days as soon as bookings open. The 2026/27 festive arrangements hadn't been announced by 26 October 2026. We'll add them to our quotas and pre-booking page once they are.

Travelling with children

SANParks guided drives and walks don't take children under 6, so a rest camp's drives are no use to a family with toddlers. In Marloth, small children can watch warthogs and bushbabies from the stoep and swim between Kruger days. On either side of the river, children aged 2 to 11 pay the child fee of R70 a day (South Africans) and under-2s go in free. See things to do with kids for more.

Both sides of the river are in a malaria area. Whichever you choose, read our malaria page before you travel with children.

Who should stay inside Kruger instead

If it's your first safari and you can get a booking, stay inside for at least part of the trip. You'll hear the bush at night, you'll be on the road at first light from November to January, and you won't need a day-visitor slot in the holidays. Campers also do better inside on price: a Crocodile Bridge campsite costs R509 a night from 1 November to 8 December 2026. Book as early as you can, because SANParks opens bookings 11 months ahead and the southern camps fill up.

Splitting the trip

If you can get a booking, spend two nights at Lower Sabie or Biyamiti and then three or four in Marloth. You get the dawn starts and the night sounds first, then a house and a pool for the rest of the stay. Once you're in Marloth, you pay daily fees only on the days you go back in.

Questions people ask

Is Marloth Park inside Kruger?

No. Marloth Park is on the south bank of the Crocodile River, and Kruger is on the north bank. You go into Kruger through a gate, usually Crocodile Bridge.

Do I pay Kruger fees if I stay in Marloth Park?

Only on the days you drive into Kruger. Staying in Marloth costs nothing in park fees. Guests inside Kruger pay for every day they're in the park.

Is it cheaper to stay inside Kruger?

For campers and safari-tent guests, yes. For a couple in a bungalow, it costs more than a middle-priced Marloth house and about the same as one at the upper end. For families and overseas visitors, Marloth usually works out much cheaper. The table above shows the working.