Camping
Camping in iSimangaliso Wetland Park
iSimangaliso has more state campsites than any other park on the KwaZulu-Natal coast: 92 powered sites at Sugarloaf in St Lucia town, about 45 at Cape Vidal and 413 at Sodwana Bay. Here is what each one cost on the last readable tariff, who takes bookings since the March 2026 handover, and which animals walk through camp.
If you only want the answer
A Cape Vidal campsite cost R340 a night for two (about $21) and Sugarloaf in St Lucia R420 for three on the Ezemvelo 2023/24 tariff, the latest that can be read; treat both as a floor. Add the gate fee (R130 per international adult at Cape Vidal, 2024/25) and a R12 accommodation levy per person per night. Since 1 March 2026 the camps belong to iSimangaliso, but Ezemvelo still handled bookings at the handover until a new operator is named.
Where you can camp in iSimangaliso
The state campsites sit in six sections, from St Lucia town in the south to Kosi Bay at the Mozambique border, and they are a long way apart: Sodwana is 2h49 by road from St Lucia and Kosi Bay 3h44. Choose one or two bases rather than a tour of all of them. The prices below are the Ezemvelo 2023/24 tariff, valid to 31 October 2024, because no later camp tariff has been published by Ezemvelo or by iSimangaliso.
| Campsite | Section | Price per site per night (2023/24) | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sugarloaf | St Lucia town, on the estuary | R420, minimum 3, R140 per extra person; high season R510 | 92 powered sites for up to 6, pool, ablutions; check in at the office on Albacore Street |
| Eden Park | St Lucia town | As Sugarloaf | 20 powered sites, overflow for Sugarloaf, shares its facilities |
| Cape Vidal | Eastern Shores | R340, minimum 2; high season R1,000 for a minimum of 4 | About 45 sites behind the beach, shop, fuel and boat launching; fenced against elephants only |
| Sodwana Bay | Sodwana | Gwalagwala R260, minimum 2 | 413 sites in all, the busiest dive camp in the country |
| False Bay (Lister's Point) | False Bay | R220 powered, R180 unpowered, minimum 2 | 14 powered and 24 unpowered sites on the western arm of the lake |
| eMshopi | uMkhuze | R330, minimum 3; high season R390 | 35 sites near the eMshopi Gate |
| Kosi Bay camp | Kosi Bay, Lake Nhlange | R340 lakeshore, R290 other sites | 5 lakeshore and 10 other sites; get the Kosi Mouth permit at reception a day ahead |
| Mabibi Beach Camp | Coastal Forest | R230 per person (camp's own site) | Community-run, 8 sites for up to 6; book on 035 474 1504 |
State-camp prices: Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife tariff 2023/24. A later undated listing quotes Sugarloaf at R450 for two in standard season and R1,200 for four in high season. Maphelane's campsite has been closed since late 2018 although iSimangaliso still lists it. The iPhiva campsite on the Eastern Shores edge and Charter's Creek's 12 sites have no published rate.
What a night of camping really costs
For two international adults with a car, one night at Cape Vidal on the last readable figures comes to R340 for the site, R260 in gate fees, R14 in conservation levy, R24 in accommodation levy and R74 for the car: R712, about $44. If the gate fee is charged only once for a multi-night stay, the second and third nights cost about R364 each; no official document says which applies.
Sugarloaf is inside St Lucia town, so there is no gate fee to reach it, only the levy on the nights you sleep there. You pay the R130 gate fee on the days you drive into the Eastern or Western Shores. That makes Sugarloaf the cheapest base for a stay built around the estuary cruise and day trips to Cape Vidal.
Who takes bookings since March 2026?
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife ran the camps under a 2009 agreement that ended in 2025, and it says it left all iSimangaliso resorts on 1 March 2026. At the handover the iSimangaliso CEO said bookings would proceed as before, through Ezemvelo, until the public is told about a new service provider, with bookings open from 16 March 2026. The Authority's own website contradicts itself: the accommodation page says state camps are booked through Ezemvelo, the contact page says the Authority does not take bookings.
Phone before you travel and ask who holds your booking. Cape Vidal, Charter's Creek, Kosi Bay, Mantuma, Manzengwenya and Sodwana are all in line for private leases, so the operator and the price may change during 2026/27. The old False Bay number was 035 562 0425; iSimangaliso's communications office is on 035 590 1633.
Hyenas, hippos and crocodiles at the campsites
Cape Vidal's camp is fenced against elephants only. After a camper was hurt in a suspected hyena encounter, Ezemvelo and iSimangaliso said there had been three hyena attacks at Cape Vidal in 15 years. Zip your tent shut, put all food away, never feed an animal and keep children close after dark.
At Sugarloaf and Eden Park the estuary is a few metres away, and hippos graze through St Lucia town at night. A woman was badly injured by a hippo next to a lodge in town on 19 October 2022. Do not walk after dark, and never get between a hippo and the water. Do not swim in the estuary, False Bay, Lake Sibaya or the Kosi lakes: all hold Nile crocodiles.
Before you pitch
- Book months ahead for South African school holidays, Easter and December; Sugarloaf's 2026/27 high season includes 26 September to 10 October 2026 and 11 December 2026 to 11 January 2027.
- Gates at Bhangazi (Cape Vidal) close at 18:00 from April to October and 19:00 from November to March, and the times are enforced.
- Fill up with fuel and food in St Lucia, Mbazwana or Manguzi; the northern camps are on sand roads.
- Parts of the park are a malaria area: ask a travel clinic, especially for November to April.
Something this page does not answer?
No camp tariff has been published since iSimangaliso took over the campsites on 1 March 2026. If you are planning around one, ask us and we will tell you what we know.
Ask us. We answer questions about the park itself, and we can usually tell you which camps work on one route and who to write to. If what you want is a trip someone else arranges, we will say so and hand you to an operator we know, and we earn a commission if that becomes a booking.
Nothing on this site sits behind the form. Every figure we have is already on the page.
Sources
- Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife tariff 2023/24, mirror copy (read 24 Sep 2026)
- iSimangaliso Approved Gate Fees 2024-2025, archived (read 24 Sep 2026)
- iSimangaliso: address by the CEO at the eco-tourism handover (read 24 Sep 2026)
- iSimangaliso and Ezemvelo: a guide to safe encounters with wildlife (read 24 Sep 2026)
- stluciasa.com: Sugarloaf campsite (read 24 Sep 2026)
- Mabibi Beach Camp (read 24 Sep 2026)