Maasai Mara park fees in 2026, and what the fee table doesn't tell you
Most people budget a park fee for the day they arrive. If you're sleeping outside the gate and not going in until the next morning, you don't owe one. Nobody tells you that. So here's the fee table, and then the bits the table leaves out. I run Mara Hilltop, 2.5 km outside Sekenani Gate on the Narok County side of the reserve, and our vehicles go through that gate most mornings of the year.
The fees, as of September 2026
Per person, per day, on the Narok County side (Sekenani, Talek and Oloolaimutia gates). The Mara Triangle across the river has its own desk, more on that below.
| Who | Low season (1 Jan to 30 Jun) | High season (1 Jul to 31 Dec) |
|---|---|---|
| Non-resident adult | USD 100 per day | USD 200 per day |
| Non-resident child (9 to 17) | USD 50 per day | USD 50 per day |
| Non-resident student (organised trip, with ID) | USD 50 per day | USD 50 per day |
| Child 8 and under, any nationality | Free | Free |
| East African resident adult | KES 2,500 per day | KES 5,000 per day |
| East African resident child (9 to 17) | KES 1,000 per day | KES 2,000 per day |
| Kenyan citizen adult | KES 1,500 per day | KES 3,000 per day |
| Kenyan citizen child (9 to 17) | KES 300 per day | KES 500 per day |
Those come straight from the Narok County Finance Act, 2023, which is where the old flat $80 became $100 and $200, and nothing has moved since. The county can change them in any future finance act, so if you're reading this in 2027, ask before you budget. Your vehicle pays too, KES 1,500 a day for a safari Land Cruiser, but with most lodges, ours included, that's inside the game-drive price and you never see it.
Do I pay on the day I arrive?
Not if you're sleeping outside the reserve and not going in that day. The clock starts at the gate, not when you reach the area. Arrive at three in the afternoon, go in at six the next morning, and arrival day costs nothing. Three nights with two full days inside is two tickets.
Full disclosure: I run a lodge outside the gate, so this argument makes me money. Sleep inside the reserve and you pay every day you're there, driving or not, and a late departure on the last day counts as another day (lodges say the cutoff is 10 or 11 am, ask yours). Two adults and two teenagers in August pay $500 a park day, so three nights inside is $1,500 and three nights outside with two days in the reserve is $1,000. The inside-versus-outside post and the cost breakdown go deeper.
What is the 12-hour rule in the Maasai Mara?
One ticket covers 6 am to 6 pm on the day it's for, whatever time you go in. The Act says "time of entry notwithstanding" and the Mara Conservancy adds that it "will not carry overnight." In at 6, you get twelve hours. In at 2 pm, you get four, for the same money, and an afternoon drive followed by a dawn drive is two tickets.
And no, there's no half-day ticket. One hour or twelve, the gate charges the same, which is why I push the full day over the half. The vehicle is the only thing a half day saves on, and the fee is the expensive part.
Paying at the gate
If you're in a lodge or operator vehicle, ours included, honestly none of this is your problem. Your guide takes the passports and the cash to the KAPS window, pays for everyone, comes back with the receipt, and you sit in the car. Keep that receipt in the vehicle, because rangers inside the park check it. That's the whole procedure.
For the curious, and for anyone arriving in their own car:
- KAPS is the county's ticketing contractor at every gate. The officer checks nationality and age against each passport, so have them all out, children's included.
- Sekenani takes dollars, shillings, card and M-Pesa. Bring enough dollars for the whole car anyway; the signal comes and goes.
- The driver-guide isn't on the ticket. If a quote lists a park fee for the guide, ask what it's for.
- No ticket, no entry. The fine is KES 30,000 for the vehicle and another KES 30,000 for the driver, and KES 100,000 for going in or out anywhere that isn't a gate.
Nobody gets a commission on this fee. "Park fees included" just means the operator added the same $200 a day to the price, so before you compare packages, count how many of the days are actually inside the reserve.
Can you pay Maasai Mara park fees online?
Sort of, and I'd skip it. KAPS has a desk in Upper Hill, Nairobi, that sells tickets in advance (details on an operator's page), and the Triangle sells online with a Visa card. But the details are confusing, some routes are bank transfers meant for tour operators, and there are scam sites in the mix. Pay at the gate on the morning of your safari.
And no, you don't need to reserve a slot. There's no cap on how many people go in on a day. Reach the gate, pay, you're in. Flying in? The fee is collected at the airstrip.
What children, citizens and residents pay
Non-resident kids from 9 to 17 pay $50 a day in any season, and 8 and under are free, with the age read off the passport. Kenyan citizens pay KES 3,000 in high season and East African residents KES 5,000, and you prove it with a Kenyan ID or a passport with a work or residence permit in it. A driver's licence doesn't count; the Mara Conservancy says so outright and Sekenani works the same way. A resident whose permit is in a drawer in Nairobi pays $200 like everyone else.
How I'd plan the days
Sleeping outside doesn't buy you a cheaper ticket, it just cuts how many tickets you buy. What I suggest to most guests: one or two full days in the reserve (turn any half day into a full one, the ticket costs the same), and give the arrival and departure days to the things the reserve doesn't allow and no ticket covers. The nature walk behind the lodge, the Maasai village, milking the cows in the evening, a sundowner on the hill, or my own pick, a motorcycle ride out through the Mara to the remote villages. Those come with small conservancy fees folded into the activity price; the walk is $25 a head, all in. For that family in August, three nights with three reserve days is $1,500; swap one of them for a conservancy day and it's $1,000.
The Mara Triangle
The western third of the reserve, across the Mara River, is managed by the Mara Conservancy rather than the county directly. It has its own desk at Purungat Bridge, and it's cashless. Staying in the Triangle, or self-driving (only allowed there)? Don't pay at Sekenani. Ask for a transit permit, cross on the main track, and pay at the bridge, which is the Conservancy's own instruction; the self-drive post has the steps. Staying on the Narok side and crossing for a day? Fees follow where you stay, per the Conservancy, so ask at the barrier how your Sekenani ticket is treated before anyone takes your money.
The one number nobody can discount
Every other line in a Mara budget can be negotiated: the room, the vehicle, the transfer, the balloon. The park fee is the same $200 for the backpacker in a shared van and the couple in a $1,500-a-night camp. For a non-resident adult, only two things move it: the calendar, and how many days you go in.
The calendar line is 1 July: $100 a day before it, $200 after. Every May I end up telling someone to do their reserve days on 29 and 30 June instead of 1 and 2 July, same lions, half the fee. If your dates straddle it, send them to me on WhatsApp and I'll tell you which days cost what.
