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Full-day guided safaris from Port Elizabeth put you inside Addo Elephant National Park for up to eight hours of game driving with professional guides, hotel pickup, and most fees and meals included. Options range from small-group 4x4 trips to cruise shore excursions built around ship schedules.
Free Cancellation 9-hour small-group 4x4 safari in Addo with hotel pickup, lunch, park fees and guide included.
Free Cancellation 9-hour Addo safari with morning game drive, braai lunch with drinks, and afternoon drive until 17h00 exit.
Free Cancellation 10-hour guided game drive in Addo from Port Elizabeth, with 07h30 hotel pickup and park fees included.
Free Cancellation 8-hour small-group shore excursion from Port Elizabeth Harbour into Addo Elephant National Park in a closed air-conditioned vehicle.
Free Cancellation 7-hour guided game drive in Addo with pickup from Port Elizabeth, light lunch and water included.
Free Cancellation Cruise-only full-day Addo safari from Port Elizabeth terminal, with a braai BBQ lunch in the park, 9 hours total.
Free Cancellation Full-day shore excursion from Port Elizabeth harbour to Addo, with quayside pickup and guide.
Free Cancellation 9-hour closed-vehicle Addo safari from Port Elizabeth, entering via Mathyolweni Gate, with lunch at Main Camp.
Free Cancellation 8-hour small-group Addo safari from Port Elizabeth with lunch, park fees, and main-camp stop included.
Free Cancellation Full-day Addo game drive from Port Elizabeth, guided by an 18-year veteran ranger, max 7 guests.
Read what travelers share about their experience visiting Addo Elephant National Park — from practical tips to personal highlights.
A full-day Addo safari from Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) means roughly 8 to 10 hours door to door, with hotel pickup between 07:15 and 09:15 and about an hour's drive to the park's southern Matyholweni Gate. Most of the day — five to eight hours on the longer tours — is spent inside the park tracking elephants, lions, buffalo and rhino with a professional guide. Expect around 600 elephants, dense spekboom bushveld, and a braai lunch somewhere in the middle.
Addo holds one of the densest elephant populations in Africa, and Hapoor Dam is the most reliable spot — self-drivers report dozens drinking and cooling off at once. Your guide knows which loops the breeding herds favour. On a warm afternoon they can surround your vehicle.
Lion, leopard, rhino and buffalo all live here alongside the elephants, though predators show themselves most at first light and dusk. Guides read tracks and calls, not just sightings. The 4.9-rated FD01 tour spends a full 600 minutes inside the park.
Several tours break the drives with a South African barbecue — the 9-hour braai tour includes beer, white wine, juice and a 10:30 tea and coffee stop. Morning drives usually turn up zebra and antelope first; elephants gather at waterholes later. Lunch happens mid-park, so you lose no viewing time.
Addo is one of the last places on earth where Circellium bacchus survives — a beetle that rolls dung balls up to 50 times its body weight. Watch for them trundling across the gravel roads. Guides stop the vehicle so nobody runs one over.
Pickup covers Port Elizabeth hotels, the airport, the cruise terminal, Bluewater Bay, Colchester and even the Matyholweni Gate itself. The 5-star ranger-led tour caps groups at 7 guests. All tours run in air-conditioned vehicles with English-speaking guides.
Shore excursions meet you at the Port Elizabeth Harbour parking lot at 8:50 AM, a short walk from the ship, and time the return around your sailing. Alan Tours collects at the quayside and enters through the south gate 35 minutes later. One version includes a full braai lunch onboard the itinerary.
Every tour on this page covers transport, a guide and the R492-per-adult park entrance fee in the price, so the main decisions are duration, group size and whether lunch is included. Prices cluster tightly between US$169 and US$194 per person.
Nearly all options are guided group tours in closed, air-conditioned vehicles — open-sided 4x4s are rare here. The ranger-led tour caps groups at 7 guests; others run small-group without a stated cap. There are no audio-guide or hop-on-hop-off versions; the hop-on-guide service (about R360 per vehicle for 2 hours) is booked separately inside the park.
Full-day tours sell out over the December and January South African school holidays, when day visitors pack the loops — book those dates weeks ahead. May to September is peak safari season but tours run daily year-round. All pickups are confirmed by phone the day before, so book at least 48 hours out to be safe.
Park admission is included on every tour listed here — check the inclusions, since two tours exclude lunch instead (FD01 and the Into Tours shore excursion). Booking independently costs R492 per international adult (R246 per child 2–11) at the gate. Wild Card holders enter free but still need the card at entry.
The shortest door-to-door option runs 7 hours with about 5 in the park; the longest (FD01) runs 10 hours with 600 minutes inside. Most sit at 8–9 hours. If you want maximum game time, FD01 is the pick; families with small children do better on the 7-hour version.
Six of the ten tours include lunch — usually a braai — while FD01, the Into Tours shore excursion and the Alan Tours quayside tour exclude it. The braai lunch tour throws in beer, white wine, juice, tea and coffee. Bring cash for gratuities, which are excluded everywhere.
The 7-hour Wildlife Wonders tour is fully wheelchair accessible, including the vehicle, and accommodates prams and infant seats. Most other tours offer infant seats but run closed vehicles with steps. Inside the park, the PPC Discovery Trail is built for visually and mobility-impaired visitors.
Every tour on this page offers a full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours before departure. Cruise passengers should still confirm the operator's timing against the ship's schedule — the braai shore excursion books cruise clients only and returns well before sailing.
Your tour covers the main game area only — the marine section (great whites and southern right whales, the other two of the Big 7), Zuurberg Mountains and Darlington Dam need separate trips. Colchester and the Sundays River sit minutes from the southern gate if you want a river cruise after the safari. Amakhala Game Reserve is 45–60 minutes away for a lodge-based alternative.
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| All-Inclusive Full-Day Safari | Braai Lunch Safari | Maximum Game Time Tour (FD01) | Cruise Shore Excursion | Small-Group Ranger Tour | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | 9 hours (about 8 in the park) | 9 hours with two game drives | 10 hours, 600 minutes in the park | 8 hours, timed to your ship | Full day (480 minutes in the park) |
| Best For | First-time visitors wanting everything handled | Food lovers and relaxed groups | Serious wildlife watchers | Cruise passengers docking in Port Elizabeth | Anyone wanting depth over crowd — max 7 guests |
| Includes | 4x4 transport, guide, park fees, lunch, hotel pickup and drop-off | Braai lunch, beer, wine, juice, tea, coffee, park fees | Guide, park fees, bottled water, tea and coffee — lunch excluded | Guide, transport from the harbour, park fees — some include lunch, some don't | 18-year veteran ranger, lunch, all fees, bottled water — alcohol excluded |
| Price From | US$191.10 | US$184.63 | US$178.77 | US$178.77–191.10 | US$172.61 |
| Rating | 4.86 (296 reviews) | 4.93 (235 reviews) | 4.99 (91 reviews) | 4.64–4.93 | 5.0 (9 reviews) |
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Main Camp Reception is open 07:00–19:00 daily; Matyholweni Reception runs 07:00–17:00. The Main Entrance Gate allows entry from 07:00 and exit until 19:00 year-round; the Matyholweni Gate closes to exit at 18:30.
Game-viewing area gates shift with the seasons — published schedules show openings around 05:30–06:00 and closings between 17:30 and 18:30. Confirm current times at reception, because you may not drive in the game area after the posted closing time.
Overnight guests can enter or exit after closing until 22:00 if they've informed Reception; after 22:00 there's no access without prior arrangement.
Addo sits 72 km north-east of Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), about an hour's drive. The nearest airport is PLZ, with multiple car-hire agencies on site — take the N2 and follow the signs.
By rental car, the airport is roughly 43 minutes from the park boundary, with Main Camp a little further on. Roads are good and signposted; fill your tank before entering, since the only fuel station is near the entry gate.
Guided tours pick up from Port Elizabeth hotels, the airport and the cruise port, costing roughly R2,700–R3,132 per person for a full-day Big Five safari with entry fees usually included. GetYourGuide sells a 9-hour small-group version from US$186.
FlySafair and Airlink serve Gqeberha directly from Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban (about 1.5 hours from OR Tambo). Garden Route road-trippers usually enter via the Matyholweni gate near Colchester, roughly 1–1.5 hours beyond the route's eastern end.
May to September is the best window. The dry, mild winter thins the vegetation, concentrates animals at waterholes, and skips the December–January school-holiday crowds.
October to March is hotter — big game besides elephants goes inactive at midday, and thicker bush hides sightings. Afternoon showers are common. The trade-off: this season is best for birding (the park lists over 400 species) and coastal marine life.
Rain at Addo falls modestly across all twelve months rather than in one wet season, so conditions stay workable year-round. Most visitors spend a full 8–9 hours self-driving; allow 2–3 days if you want the Zuurberg Mountains, Darlington Dam or a marine eco-tour as well.
One tour on this page — the 7-hour Wildlife Wonders day — is fully wheelchair accessible, vehicle included. Inside the park, Cottage CO2Z at Main Camp is officially designated for mobility-challenged guests, with two single beds and a shower bathroom.
The PPC Discovery Trail was built for all visitors, including the visually and mobility impaired, winding through spekboom with information boards. Receptions and main camp facilities are at ground level; some hides and older chalets may need assistance, so arrange specifics with SANParks reservations before arrival.
Older travellers manage Addo easily — almost everything is seen from a vehicle on graded gravel and paved roads, no strenuous walking required, and the malaria-free status removes a major health concern. Dress in layers: winter mornings in open vehicles are cold, and summer midday heat is the main discomfort.
The only restaurant is at Main Camp, so on a full-day loop you can end up far from food. The camp shop opens 08:00–18:00 in winter and 08:00–19:00 in summer. Arrive with a full tank and a cooler.
Day visitors get the shaded picnic area overlooking the camp waterhole and Jack's Picnic Site with braai facilities in the botanical reserve. The swimming pool is for overnight guests only.
Main Camp also has the floodlit waterhole — animals come to drink after dark while lion, spotted hyena and jackal call in the distance — plus an underground hide that puts you at eye level with drinkers. The SASOL Red Bishop Bird Hide overlooks a small wetland; bring binoculars, early morning is liveliest.
Overnight options span five SANParks rest camps (Addo Main, Matyholweni, Nyathi, Spekboom Tented Camp, Langebos Huts) plus luxury concessions like Gorah and Riverbend, from about R2,207–R2,641 per night self-catering.
Inside the park the 40 km/h limit is legally enforced, off-road driving is prohibited, and you may not drive in the game area after posted gate-closing times. Keep at least 30 metres from elephants — if one turns toward your vehicle or raises its trunk, reverse slowly and give way. Never rev, honk or block its path.
Stay in your vehicle except at designated sites, switch off your engine at sightings, and never block the road. Drones are banned without SANParks permission, as is feeding any animal. Carry all litter out.
Documents are checked strictly at the gate: driver's licence, ID or passport for every passenger over 18, and a valid vehicle licence disk — 'NO DOCUMENT means NO ENTRY'. Download the gate registration and indemnity form in advance.
The camp perimeter fence is electrified — brief children not to touch it. After dark, use a torch when walking outside, but never shine it into animals' eyes or faces at the floodlit waterhole; light their bodies or legs instead.
Yes — all ten tours on this page include the park admission, which is R492 per international adult if you were paying it yourself. What varies is lunch: the FD01 tour, the Into Tours shore excursion and the Alan Tours quayside tour exclude it, while the braai tours include a full barbecue lunch with drinks. Check the inclusions list before booking if food matters to you.
About an hour each way — 72 km to Main Camp, or roughly 35 minutes to the southern Matyholweni Gate near Colchester, which is where most tours enter. Total tour durations run 7 to 10 hours door to door, with 5 to 8 of those hours actually inside the park depending on the operator.
The FD01 tour — 4.99 stars from 91 reviews — spends a full 600 minutes inside the park on a 10-hour day, the most of any option. The All-Inclusive Full-Day Safari puts in about 8 hours in the park over 9 hours total. Both pick up from Port Elizabeth accommodation; FD01 collects at 07:30.
Yes, there are four shore excursions built around ship schedules. Into Tours meets you at the harbour parking lot at 8:50 AM with a signboard; Alan Tours collects at the quayside; and the 9-hour braai version books cruise passengers only and returns you well before sailing. All are timed to your docking schedule.
Almost certainly — the park holds 600-plus elephants and Hapoor Dam is the most reliable spot, with dozens sometimes gathered at once. Lions, buffalo, rhino and zebra are also regularly seen, though predators show best early morning or toward dusk. The guides drive at the pace the sightings dictate rather than to a schedule.
Yes. Most tours offer specialised infant seats, infants ride free on laps, and every operator lists the tours as suitable for all fitness levels. Since you watch game from a closed, air-conditioned vehicle, no walking is needed. The park itself is malaria-free, which is why it's a classic family safari choice — just note some SANParks night drives have a minimum age of 6.
Binoculars if you have them (the All-Inclusive Safari from US$169 is the one tour that supplies them), sunscreen, a sunhat and warm layers for winter mornings — April to August starts cold in an air-conditioned vehicle. Bring cash for gratuities, which are excluded on every tour, and any lunch not included in your package. Water is provided.
The 7-hour Wildlife Wonders tour is fully wheelchair accessible — the vehicle, all surfaces and all areas, and it handles prams too. It picks up from hotels, the airport or the harbour, includes a light lunch, and needs a minimum of 2 people per booking.
Every tour on this page offers a full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours before departure. Cruise passengers should still double-check the timing against their ship's schedule when booking, since shore excursion operators build the return time around your sailing.
Different experience, and worth it. Addo's elephants are the densest population you'll encounter anywhere — you'll see far more of them, far closer, than in Kruger — and the flightless dung beetle exists in only a handful of reserves. What you trade is variety: predator sightings are harder here, so book the longest tour you can and prioritise early morning.
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Nine hours in the park, door to door, in an airconditioned 4x4 with a professional English-speaking guide and a small group. Roughly eight of those hours are spent inside Addo itself, driving the game-viewing roads at the pace the sightings dictate — with one of the densest elephant populations in Africa, you'll spend much of it watching herds, not searching for them. The price is genuinely all-inclusive: national park fees, lunch, a professional guide, 4x4 transport, and hotel pickup and drop-off are all covered. There's no separate gate payment or lunch stop you have to fund yourself. Pickup works from anywhere in Port Elizabeth, plus Bluewater Bay, Colchester, the Matyholweni (South) Entrance, and the town of Addo. Not available from Valley Bushveld Country Lodge or Harmony Luxury Tents. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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A nine-hour day in the park with two drives sandwiched around a braai. The first few hours usually turn up antelope, zebra and lion; elephants and buffalo tend to appear later in the morning near the waterholes. There's a tea and coffee stop at about 10h30. After the braai lunch — beer, white wine, juice and mineral water included, with a vegetarian option — the drive continues until the group leaves the park at 17h00. Refreshments are served throughout the day. Pickup covers Summerstrand, Humewood, Walmer, Mill Park, Richmond Hill, Newton Park and Bluewater Bay in Port Elizabeth, plus Colchester hotels and guest houses and the Matyholweni Rest Camp at the park's southern gate. The guide speaks English and interprets animal behaviour along the way. Park entrance fees and lunch are included in the price. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
A 10-hour guided game drive through Addo Elephant National Park, with pickup from your Port Elizabeth accommodation at 07h30. You spend roughly the full day (600 minutes) inside the park on game drives with a professional English-speaking guide, looking for elephants, lion, buffalo, leopard, rhino, zebra, warthog, ostrich and kudu, plus the park's flightless dung beetle. It's a malaria-free park. Entrance and conservation fees, bottled water, tea and coffee, and an air-conditioned vehicle are included. Lunch is not — bring money or snacks for a meal stop. Vehicle type can't be guaranteed. The operator tries to assign 4x4 Land Cruisers but seats go first come, first served, and you may end up in another tour vehicle instead. A minimum of two people is required; solo travellers pay a single supplement. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
This one is built around a ship's schedule. Meet your Into Tours guide at the Port Elizabeth Harbour parking lot at 8:50 AM — a short walk from the cruise ship, look for the signboard — with departure shortly after 9:00 AM and a full 8 hours in a small group, riding a closed, air-conditioned vehicle with an English-speaking local guide. The drive out passes the Campanile, the tower on Strand Street at the old railway station and docks that commemorates the 1820 British settlers. Inside the park the route runs through dense bush and open plains to lookout points over the dunes and coastline, with elephants, lions, zebras, antelope, and plenty of birds along the way. Stops include the visitor centre and curio shop, and lunch at a nearby restaurant is on your own account. Park entrance fees are prepaid, so you skip the gate queues. Bottled water is included; lunch and gratuities are not. Cancel at least 24 hours ahead for a full refund. The operator's contact number is +27 60 986 7612.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
Seven hours door to door, with roughly five of those inside the park on game drives. You're collected from your hotel, guest house, the airport or the harbour anywhere in Port Elizabeth or surrounding areas, then driven out to Addo for a full day of wildlife viewing before the return transfer. A registered nature guide drives and spots throughout, and bottled water plus a light lunch are included, so you don't need to sort food on the day. The park's 600-plus elephants are famously relaxed around vehicles, so close sightings are common; buffalo, lions, spotted hyena and black rhino are all possibilities too, alongside zebra, warthog and plenty of birdlife. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
This 9-hour excursion runs exclusively for cruise passengers. Pickup is at the Port Elizabeth Cruise Terminal from 08h00, and the tour returns you to the ship well before departure — the operator only books cruise clients on it, so the timing is built around your sailing. The game drive covers all daylight periods in the park, which improves your odds of seeing most species, since different animals are active at different hours. An English-speaking guide drives and tracks game throughout. Around midday the tour stops for a traditional South African braai: three meats, salads, and rooster brood (bread baked on the open fire), served with white wine, beer, tea, coffee, juice, and water. The drive resumes after lunch and continues until the group leaves the park at 17h00 for the run back to the port. Refreshments are served during the drive as well. Lunch is included. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
Alan Tours meets you at the quayside and drives you the 35 minutes to Addo's south entrance, then travels north through the park to squeeze the most game-viewing out of your day. The full outing runs about 480 minutes, and you're back at the harbour in time for your ship's departure. Pickup and drop-off times depend on your docking schedule. The company aims to run these tours in 4x4 Land Cruisers, but the vehicle can't be guaranteed — if they're fully booked you'll get another air-conditioned tour vehicle, with seats allocated first-come, first-served. Guides speak English. Bottled water, all fees and taxes are included; lunch isn't, so bring something or budget for a stop. Private safari versions are available on request. Cancel at least 24 hours ahead for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
This 9-hour safari runs in a comfortable closed, air-conditioned vehicle with a professional English-speaking guide, and park admission, lunch, snacks, bottled water, and binoculars are all included — you only need money for gratuities. The route enters through the southern Mathyolweni Gate, about 30 minutes from Port Elizabeth, and covers the park's south section first. Then it heads north to Main Camp for lunch, a stop at the visitor centre, and the curio shop. The afternoon is spent back in the park exploring the north section, with stops at lookout points along the way. Pickup is free from anywhere in Port Elizabeth, Bluewater Bay, Colchester, Mathyolweni Gate, the town of Addo, and the park's Main Camp — specify your accommodation when booking. Cruise liner passengers get direct pickup and drop-off at the ship terminal, timed to the ship's schedule. Cancel at least 24 hours ahead for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
This is a full-day, 8-hour small-group safari run by Into Tours, with pickup from Port Elizabeth, Bluewater Bay, or Colchester between 8:45 and 9:15 AM. From Port Elizabeth it's about a 35-minute drive to Matholweni Gate in an air-conditioned vehicle, with an English-speaking guide. En route you'll pass the Campanile on Strand Street and the Alexandria Dune Field. Inside the park, the drive follows winding gravel roads through bush, plains, hills, and forest, stopping at lookout points with views of the dunes and coastline. Elephants, lions, and antelope are the headline sightings, and the birdlife is abundant. Midway, you'll pause at the main camp for a light lunch and a browse through the visitor centre and curio shop before heading back out for a second game-drive session. Park admission, lunch, and bottled water are all prepaid and included, so there's nothing to sort out on the day. Gratuities aren't included. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
A full day — 480 minutes — inside Addo Elephant National Park with a professional game ranger who has 18 years of experience in the bush. He doesn't just spot animals; he interprets tracks, behaviour and calls, which changes what you take away from the drive. Groups are capped at 7 guests, so everyone gets a window and room to shoot photos. Pickup covers all hotels and guesthouses in Port Elizabeth, plus the harbour and the airport, so it works for cruise passengers too. The vehicle is air-conditioned. Tours run in English. Bottled water, lunch, and all park fees and taxes are included. Alcohol isn't. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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