Moremi or Chobe?
The two parks side by side on what you will see, what you can do, what it costs, how you get there and the health picture, with the facts behind every rating.
Our verdict
Chobe and Moremi are Botswana's only two Category A parks, on the same P270 day fee, but they are two rivers reached from two towns. Pick Chobe for the river and the easy start: Airlink lands daily at Kasane, Sedudu Gate is 7 km away on tar, a Riverfront day visit needs no booking, and boat cruises run among elephant herds, with Botswana's only puku on the floodplain. Pick Moremi if the Okavango is the point: mokoro and boats on the flood, leopard on 77 per cent of trips against 58 at Chobe and wild dog on 65 against 24, at the price of deep sand from Maun and a campsite booked before the gate lets you in. A foreign car pays P115 a day at Chobe, P75 in Moremi. Neither allows walking or night drives inside. They join through Savuti and Khwai, about 106 km of sand.
Best for big game MoremiBest for birding ChobeBest for on the water ChobeBest for self-drive MoremiBest for low budget MoremiBest for families MoremiBest for a first safari MoremiBest for wilderness Moremi
Tap a row label to see the reasoning behind a rating.
| Compare | Moremi3,900–5,000 km² | ChobeAbout 11,700 km² (BTO); 11,000 km² reported to WDPA |
|---|---|---|
| 5Jul to Oct | 4Jun to Oct | |
5bestJul to OctMammal species (Delta): 130; Wild dog (Okavango): ±500, a world stronghold; Red lechwe (Delta): 30,000–90,000 | 4Jun to OctElephants in the park: 15,404 (2018 survey); Northern Botswana: 126,114 (2018 survey); Botswana's part of KAZA: 131,909 (2022 survey) | |
| Elephant | Guaranteed | Guaranteed |
| Lion | Likely | Likely |
| Leopard | Likely | Fair chance |
| Buffalo | Likely | Likely |
| Wild dog | Fair chance | Rare |
| Cheetah | Rare | Rare |
| Hippo | Guaranteed | Likely |
| Giraffe | Likely | Guaranteed |
3400 speciesAbout 400 bird species listed on the wildlife page. | 4best450 speciesAbout 450 bird species listed on the wildlife page. | |
| 4Water | 5Water | |
2Walking safaris are not permitted inside the reserve; walks happen in the surrounding private and community concessions such as Khwai. | 2The national parks regulations ban walking inside Chobe and no designated walking area has been published; guided walks run in the Linyanti concessions and the Chobe Enclave next door. | |
2Night drives are not permitted in the reserve, Chief's Island included; Khwai and the private concessions run them legally. | 2Driving between sunset and sunrise is banned inside the park and no night-drive area has been published for Chobe; the Linyanti concessions run night drives legally. | |
4Motorboat cruises from Xakanaxa to the Gcodikwe heronry, mokoro trips from Mboma when water allows, and boats year-round on the permanent lagoons, best May to Sep. | 5bestThe riverfront boat cruise is the activity Chobe is known for: three-hour trips from Kasane's jetties past Sedudu Island from BWP 498, electric boats from Chobe Game Lodge and houseboats on the Namibian bank; no mokoro or fishing inside the park. | |
4Self-driving is the main activity on the sand tracks, 92 km and about 2 h from Maun to South Gate, but a high-clearance 4x4 is essential and the four public campsites sell out 6 to 8 months ahead for June to October. | 4Any car reaches Sedudu Gate on 7 km of tar from Kasane and a Riverfront day visit needs no booking, but a high-clearance 4x4 is essential beyond the gate and Savuti is 165 km and 4 to 5 h, about 70 km of it deep sand. | |
| $30cheapest bed | $50cheapest bed | |
$20International adult per day ({'name': 'Government of Botswana national parks tariff (Ministry of Finance Savingram, December 2025) and DWNP', 'url': 'https://www.christourszambian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Botswana-Park-Fee-Updates.pdf'}, 2026-10-04). | $20International adult per day ({'name': 'DWNP fee structure for national parks and game reserves, 2022 First Schedule to the National Parks and Game Reserves Regulations, in force since 1 April 2022 (checked 4 Oct 2026)', 'url': 'https://www.bwana.de/images/2022/New_fees_2022_DWNP_2022.pdf'}, 2026-10-04). | |
$30bestLowest listed rate per person per night across 35 places; 7 are budget tier. | $50Lowest listed rate per person per night across 54 places; 9 are budget tier. | |
$718Median of 31 priced places; top end $2,889. | $607bestMedian of 31 priced places; top end $2,250. | |
3Cheapest listed bed $30, 7 of 35 places in the budget tier, park fee $20 a day. | 3Cheapest listed bed $50, 9 of 54 places in the budget tier, park fee $20 a day. | |
| $2,610mid-range | $1,635mid-range | |
$570Budget one: self-drive camping, the classic Maun loop | $495bestBudget one: self-drive camping at Ihaha on the Riverfront | |
$2,610Budget two: mid-range at Sango Safari Camp | $1,635bestBudget two: a Kasane lodge, with boat cruises and game drives bought in town | |
$18,200Budget three: fly-in to Mombo Camp | $4,440bestBudget three: fly-in to Savute Safari Lodge | |
| Maun (MUB)nearest airport | Kasane (BBK)nearest airport | |
Maun (MUB), 92 km and ±2 h to South Gate; 30 to 45 min by light aircraftFrom the getting-there and flights pages. | Kasane (BBK), 5.6 km from town and ±10 min from Sedudu GateFrom the getting-there and flights pages. | |
Essential, no exceptionsFrom the getting-there page. | Any car to Sedudu, 4x4 beyondFrom the getting-there page. | |
| Jul to Octpeak game viewing | Jun to Octpeak game viewing | |
Jul to OctFrom the best-time page. | Jun to OctFrom the best-time page. | |
Open all year; occasional wet-season closures (6 Mar to 13 Apr 2026)From the best-time page. | No published wet-season closure; a storm can close a Savuti track overnightFrom the best-time page. | |
| High Oct to Maymalaria | High Oct–Maymalaria | |
High Oct to May, low Jun to Sep (NaTHNaC)From the health page. | High Oct–May, low Jun–Sep (NaTHNaC)From the health page. | |
Not publishedOnly the history page discusses tsetse, as the shifting fly belts of old Ngamiland; the health page is silent. | Not publishedNo current statement from Botswana's veterinary services or NaTHNaC says whether tsetse are present in or absent from the park; control spraying targeted the Kwando and Linyanti rivers in 2006. | |
October, 36.5°C mean daily maxMean daily maximum of the hottest month, from the health page. | October, 35.8°C mean daily maxMean daily maximum of the hottest month, from the health page. | |
Maun, ±2 h from South GateFrom the health page. | Kasane Primary Hospital, ±7 km from Sedudu GateAir evacuation: Insurance cover essential. | |
| 5First safari | 5First safari | |
4Malaria risk is low Jun to Sep, the best all-round months, and Sandibe, Gomoti Plains, Kiri and Monachira take all ages; campsites are unfenced and the nearest hospitals are in Maun, ±2 h from South Gate. | 4Kasane Primary Hospital is about 7 km from Sedudu Gate and Chobe Game Lodge takes children of all ages in its family suites; malaria risk is high from October to May and every public campsite is unfenced. | |
5Hippo on 100 per cent of reported trips and elephant on 99, lion 91 and leopard 77, with 30 to 45 min light-aircraft hops from Maun's scheduled airport. | 5Elephant and giraffe are guaranteed on 99 per cent of trips and lion and buffalo likely on 91, and Airlink flies daily to Kasane, ten minutes from the park gate. | |
4bestProtected core country with no off-road driving, three vehicles per campsite and Chief's Island reachable only by air; the Khwai strip is the busiest in the area. | 3About 11,700 km² in four areas: the Riverfront sits 7 km from Kasane, while Linyanti is the remotest and Nogatsaa the quiet alternative for pans and no crowd. |
Compare all of Botswana's parks on the comparison page. Chobe has its own guide at visitchobepark.com.
How the ratings work
- Big game is calculated from each park's sightings table on its wildlife page: guaranteed counts 3, likely 2, a fair chance 1, rare 0.5 and absent 0, across elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, wild dog, cheetah, hippo and giraffe, scaled so that 16 points is 5 out of 5.
- Birding follows the species count on the wildlife page. Low-budget safari follows the cheapest listed bed, the share of budget places and the daily park fee.
- Walking, night drives, water, self-drive, families, first safari and wilderness are our ratings, whole numbers from 1 to 5. Press "Why?" on any row to read the facts each one rests on, with the page they come from. Where a rule is not published we say so rather than guess.
- Prices are per person per night in US dollars as listed on the lodges pages, before park fees; the three-night totals come from each park's costs page and use the dated rates there. Fees are the international adult rate per day.