eMshopi campsite
Campsite · uMkhuze section, by eMshopi Gate near Mkuze town · iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority (Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife until 28 February 2026)
A drawing, because nobody has sent us a photograph of eMshopi campsite yet. Send five and this page changes the same week.
Budget
Inside the park
Park-run (iSimangaliso Authority)
The uMkhuze campsite beside eMshopi Gate, the entrance near Mkuze town off the N2, with 35 sites. uMkhuze is the park's inland savanna section, 38,500 ha of thornveld and fever-tree forest with hides at kuMasinga, Kubube and Kwamalibala and the Ramsar-listed iNsumo Pan, and iSimangaliso puts the bird list at 420 species. Mantuma camp, further in, sells guided game drives and walks. The camp is state-owned; Ezemvelo ran it until 28 February 2026 and the iSimangaliso Authority runs it now. Choose it if you are on a tight budget and want an early start at the hides; skip it if you need a roof.
Pros and cons
Pros
- About R110 a person on the 2023/24 tariff
- Right at the gate from the N2, no long drive in
- uMkhuze hides for birds and game at waterholes
- Guided drives and walks bookable at Mantuma
Cons
- Tariff dates from 2023/24
- Minimum charge for three people per site
- No facility list published for the campsite
What's here
- Campsite
Arranged from the lodge:
- Game drives
- Guided walks
- Birding
We could not reach a website for eMshopi campsite, so this list is incomplete by definition. Ask them directly.
What the park charges on top
The rate above buys you a bed. iSimangaliso Wetland Park charges its own entry fee for every day you are inside. Here is what that adds up to.
- Park entryGate fee and conservation levy plus the R12 accommodation levy, counted per day because no official document says whether multi-night guests pay the gate fee once.
- $9per person, per day
- VehicleR74 car fee, counted per day for the same reason.
- $5per vehicle, per day
Three nights means three days inside, so two adults sharing one vehicle pay $69 in park fees before anyone pays for a bed.
Sleeping inside the boundary is what keeps that low. Overnight guests add the R12 accommodation levy per night, against $8 a day for anyone driving in from outside.
These are the 2024/25 rates, which expired on 30 November 2025; no newer table has been published. Sodwana, the Coastal Forest and Kosi Bay charge about half (R71 per international adult). Lodges in St Lucia town are outside every gate.
The full fee schedule for iSimangaliso Wetland ParkRates at eMshopi campsite
From R330 per site (2023/24 tariff). Ezemvelo 2023/24 tariff: R330 per site for a minimum of three (R110 each), high season R390. No later official camp tariff exists, so treat this as a floor. The uMkhuze gate fee is extra: R62 per South African adult and R130 per international adult per entry on the 2024/25 table, plus a R7 conservation levy and a R12 accommodation levy per person per night. VAT treatment is not stated.
Self-catering. You cook. Nothing else is included unless the entry says so.
Every figure on this page is in US dollars.
Rates checked against the research dossier of 24 September 2026. State-camp prices come from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife's 2023/24 tariff (1 November 2023 to 31 October 2024), the last official camp tariff that could be read; treat them as a floor, because iSimangaliso has published none since it took the camps over on 1 March 2026. Thonga Beach Lodge, Kosi Forest Lodge, Coral Divers, Mabibi Beach Camp and Umlilo Lodge are priced from their own sites. Every figure marked 'reseller rate' comes from SA-Venues, LekkeSlaap, Siyabona or a booking agent, uses that site's 'from' price, and usually prices a room for two; we halve it to give a per-person figure. Dollar figures use R16.36 to the dollar (24 September 2026) and are rounded. Gate fees are extra everywhere except in St Lucia town: R62 per South African adult and R130 per international adult at the dearest gates on the 2024/25 table, which expired on 30 November 2025 with no successor published.
Questions about eMshopi campsite
What does eMshopi campsite cost?
R330 per site for up to three people on Ezemvelo's 2023/24 tariff, R390 in high season. That is the last official figure; expect it to have risen. Gate fees and levies are extra.
Is uMkhuze a separate game reserve?
No. uMkhuze, often signposted as Mkhuze Game Reserve, is a section of iSimangaliso and is charged on iSimangaliso's gate tariff.
Is eMshopi campsite good for families?
We found no published child policy. Mantuma's game drives and walks are booked at Mantuma camp, so ask there about age limits.