Safari Near Cape Town

The game reserves near Cape Town with the Big Five are about three hours or less from the city by road: Aquila Private Game Reserve about 177 km away, Inverdoorn Game Reserve about 183 km and Sanbona about 243 km to its welcome lounge, each measured from Cape Town Station. For a safari close to Cape Town in a single day, Aquila is the one the day trips go to, and the only one of the three that sells a day visit on its own pages. The sunset safari below, from US$165 per person (checked November 2026), collects you in Cape Town, Sea Point or Camps Bay and has you on a game drive by late afternoon.

Cape Town game reserves, side by side

An African safari near Cape Town, South Africa, means a private reserve in the Karoo, inland from the mountains behind the city. These are the three game reserves within reach:

Distances routed by car in November 2026; drive times and what each sells from the reserves’ own pages, November 2026.

The road distances are close. What separates them is what you can buy: Aquila sells day safaris itself, and the day trips on this site go to Aquila or name no reserve. Inverdoorn and Sanbona read as places to stay.

Aquila Private Game Reserve

Aquila puts itself about 175 km from Cape Town on its FAQ, and about 177 km on its Cape Town safari page, by the N1 towards Touws River. It describes a reserve that started as a 10,000-hectare conservancy for antelope and small game, and calls itself home to all five of the Big Five. Its own day safaris run at set times: the sunset safari from 15h00 to 19h00, the afternoon safari from 12h00 to 16h30. Getting there is up to you or costs extra, which is why most people go with a package that includes the drive. Aquila safari from Cape Town has the options and the tours that go there.

Inverdoorn Game Reserve

Inverdoorn Game Reserve presents itself as a Big 5 private game reserve and a place for cheetah conservation, in the malaria-free Tankwa Karoo, about two and a half hours from Cape Town. People search for an Inverdoorn safari from Cape Town as if it were a day trip, but its own pages describe stays of one, two or three nights and say nothing of day visitors. None of the 33 Cape Town safari listings on GetYourGuide in November 2026 names Inverdoorn Game Reserve.

Sanbona Wildlife Reserve

Sanbona is the biggest and the furthest: 62,000 hectares in the Little Karoo outside Montagu, about 3.5 hours from Cape Town along Route 62 in its own words. It sells stays at three lodges with twice-daily game drives, and its pages do not mention day visits. If you want a game reserve near Cape Town for a night or two rather than a day, Sanbona is the one to look at; overnight safari from Cape Town sets it beside the two-day tours.

Which is the best safari near Cape Town?

It depends on how long you have.

• One day, with transport: Aquila. It is where the day trips go, and a sunset drive fits between an 11:00 AM pickup and an evening return.
• One day, and you drive yourself: Aquila again, booking its own sunset or early morning safari.
• A night or more: Inverdoorn or Sanbona, which sell stays, or Aquila’s overnight packages.

Aquila and Inverdoorn call themselves private game reserves; none of the three is a national park. Aquila keeps its lions in a separate enclosure, by its own FAQ. Is a Cape Town day safari worth it? goes into what that means on the day.

Malaria

All three reserves call themselves malaria-free. South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases puts malaria transmission in the north-east of the country, mainly the low-lying parts of Limpopo, Mpumalanga and northern KwaZulu-Natal (FAQ dated December 2023).

The other way to see animals near Cape Town

Search for game parks in Cape Town and you will also find an ostrich ranch and the “ocean safaris”: boat trips out of the V&A Waterfront or Hout Bay that look for dolphins, Cape fur seals, whales and penguins. They are a different day out, not a game drive.