From the rim the crater reads like a map: 260 square kilometers, 610 meters down.
The track tips downhill while the clouds pour over the edge.
At the bottom an elephant stands in the road – and nobody gets out.
Scroll –
down into the crater
The crater is open – as of 23 September 2026 neither the park authority NCAA nor national travel advice lists a closure or a warning for the conservation area. But nobody simply drives in: you reach the floor only in a closed four-wheel-drive vehicle with a licensed guide, the descent closes at 4 pm, and payment is cashless – in practice settled in advance by your operator.
The Seneto road on the west side has been descent-only since 14 July 2022, with entry between 6 am and 4 pm. You come back up on the Lerai road in the south – and every vehicle has to be out of the crater by 6 pm.
Loduare (14 km from Karatu), Naabi, Endoro and Nasera Rock open daily 6 am to 6 pm. The permit covers one entry within 24 hours – go down on two days and you pay the crater fee twice.
You may leave the vehicle only at the marked picnic and toilet sites, such as the Ngoitokitok Spring. Walking happens outside the crater only – Empakaai, Olmoti, the rim – and only with an armed NCAA ranger.
Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0
The caldera of a volcano that died out two million years ago, 19 to 20 km (12 miles) across, ringed by walls 610 m (2,000 ft) high. Volcanically nothing happens here any more. What happens is down on the floor.
At six in the morning the vehicle waits at the Seneto gate, the rim sits in fog and it is 8 °C (46 °F). Then the track tips down, and every meter gets warmer. Five hundred meters lower the floor is a plain without a horizon: grass, the white rim of Lake Magadi, and behind it the wall the clouds run over.
What sets the crater apart from any other safari is the density. The animals barely leave the caldera: wildebeest, zebras, buffalo, hyenas, lions and the few black rhinos live all year on the same 260 square kilometers. You do not have to search, you only have to look. Giraffes are missing – the steep walls and the lack of acacias keep them out.
By midday the sun stands overhead, it is above 25 °C (77 °F) in the vehicle, and at the Ngoitokitok Spring black kites take sandwiches out of your hand. By 6 pm the vehicle has to be back on top via the Lerai road – and most people leave much earlier, because the predators hunt in the morning.
Affiliate links to GetYourGuide: if you book, we earn a commission and the price stays the same. Prices and ratings as of 22 September 2026. The choice here is thin: only the first tour has more than 50 reviews. Before booking, check whether the park entry and the crater fee are included in the price.
Photo: William Warby from London, England · CC BY 2.0
Ngorongoro is not a national park but a multiple land use conservation area with its own authority and its own tariff. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority sets who may enter, in what, and when – and it takes no cash.
Entry, vehicle permit and crater service permit are issued in advance in the NCAA system – in practice by the safari operator. Self-drivers should settle beforehand who issues the permit: the NCAA names only the means of payment, not the procedure, and a self-drive portal states that no permits are sold at the gate.
Only closed four-wheel-drive vehicles up to 3,500 kg unladen weight may enter the crater, accompanied by a licensed guide or an NCAA guide. Self-drivers take an NCAA ranger along, who rides with you but does not drive (a self-drive portal quotes $40 in cash).
Visa, MasterCard or Tanzanian mobile money (M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa, Airtel Money), in shillings or US dollars. The gates take no cash; the alternative is paying in advance by bank deposit.
Get out only at the marked sites, drive off-road only with permission, and keep to 50 km/h in the conservation area and 25 km/h in the crater. Pets and plastic bags are banned, and photographs of Maasai are allowed only in the paid cultural villages. Violations bring fines – the NCAA does not say how much.
| NCA entry, foreign visitors aged 16 and over, per person and 24 hours | $70.80 |
| Entry for children 5–15 (the NCAA only says 'reduced'; amount per operators) · under 5 free | $23.60 |
| Crater service fee per vehicle and descent into the crater, one entry | $295 |
| Vehicle permit, foreign plates, up to 2,000 kg · 2,001–3,000 kg $177 | $47.20 |
| Public campsite (Simba A on the rim) per person and night · special campsite $70.80, booked ahead | $35.40 |
| Walking safari with an armed ranger, 1–4 hours, per adult · over 4 hours $29.50 | $23.60 |
| Olduvai Gorge and Shifting Sands (16+) · Laetoli footprints $23.60 · Maasai cultural boma $20 per vehicle | $35.40 |
Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0
| Game drive: Seneto descent (west) → crater floor → Lerai ascent (south) · 5–6 hours | From the rim at about 2,300 m (7,550 ft) it takes roughly 30 minutes down to about 1,800 m (5,900 ft). Loops run around Lake Magadi, through the Lerai forest and to the Ngoitokitok Spring; 5 to 6 hours is usual, because the crater permit allows one entry. Entry 6 am to 4 pm, exit by 6 pm. Muddy in the long rains (March to May), but passable. |
| Empakaai Crater walk · about 45 km northeast · 2–3 hours | Down to the soda lake that covers more than 75% of the crater floor, with flamingos; operators say 2 to 3 hours down and back. Only with an armed NCAA ranger; walking safari fee $23.60 (1–4 hours) plus NCA entry. |
| Olmoti Crater and Munge Waterfall walk · 1–2 hours | From Nainokanoka village on the northern rim up to the rim of Olmoti, with a view of Lolmalasin, the third-highest mountain in Tanzania; operators say 1 to 2 hours. Same fee as Empakaai, ranger required. |
| Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli · on the way to the Serengeti | Where the hominid fossils were found, with a museum, 6 km off the main road; entry $35.40 for visitors aged 16 and over. The Laetoli footprints, 3.6 million years old, on the southern edge of the Serengeti plains cost $23.60. |
Photo: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen · CC BY-SA 3.0
Without a car: There is no public transport into the conservation area. Buses and daladalas run Arusha–Karatu; from Karatu you need a safari vehicle with an operator, because permits are not issued at the gate to pedestrians or taxis. Nearest airstrip: Ngorongoro Airstrip on the rim (charter and bush flights from Arusha), plus Manyara Airport (74 km / 46 miles) and Ndutu Airstrip.
By car: From Arusha on the paved A104/B144 via Makuyuni and Mto wa Mbu to Karatu (about 140 km / 87 miles, 3 hours), then 14 km to the Loduare Gate. Self-drivers: only 4x4 vehicles up to 3,500 kg unladen weight may enter the crater, off-road driving is banned, the speed limit is 50 km/h in the NCA and 25 km/h in the crater, and an NCAA ranger is mandatory (a self-drive portal quotes $40 in cash). Park only at the designated places (rim viewpoints, picnic sites).
Worth it all year, because the animals barely leave the crater. Dry season June to October: the clearest views and best roads, but the most vehicles and the highest lodge prices. January and February: a green crater, calving season, fewer people. March to May (long rains): mud and fog on the rim, but empty roads and low-season prices. Whatever the month, go in as early as you can: the Seneto gate opens at 6 am, when the floor is still empty and the predators are active; after 4 pm no one may descend.
Photo: James Wagner · CC BY-SA 4.0
If you are already at Kilimanjaro you can book the crater as a day trip from Moshi – a long day with 4 to 5 hours of driving each way. From Karatu, 14 km short of the Loduare Gate, it is far more relaxed.
Affiliate links to GetYourGuide: if you book, we earn a commission and the price stays the same. Prices and ratings as of 22 September 2026. At around €100 a head, check carefully whether entry and the crater fee are really included – the NCAA fees alone are $70.80 per person plus $295 per vehicle.
Photo: George Lamson · CC BY-SA 2.0
Yes – the collapsed caldera of a volcano that died out about two million years ago and is thought to have stood 4,500 to 5,800 m high. Volcanically nothing happens here any more; the nearest active volcano is Ol Doinyo Lengai, about 60 km (37 miles) to the northeast.
Day trips from Arusha start at about €320 per person on GetYourGuide, three-day safaris with the Serengeti at about €785 (as of 22 September 2026). That includes the NCAA fees: $70.80 entry per person plus $295 crater fee per vehicle – which is why the cost per head drops the fuller the car is.
Yes, but it makes for a long day: 180 km (112 miles) of paved road to the Loduare Gate, 3 to 4 hours each way, plus 5 to 6 hours in the crater. To be at the Seneto gate at 6 am, stay in Karatu or on the rim.
Yes: the animals stay, the crater is green, the roads are empty and the lodges cheaper. March to May is muddy and foggy on the rim, but the crater roads usually stay passable.
The crater sits on the way: from Seronera in the Serengeti it is about 140 km (87 miles) of track via the Naabi Gate and Olduvai, roughly 3 hours without wildlife stops. Most 3-day safaris from Arusha do the Serengeti and Ngorongoro back to back.
Yes. As of 22 September 2026 neither the NCAA website nor national travel advice lists a closure or warning for the NCA. The gates open daily 6 am to 6 pm, the crater descent 6 am to 4 pm.
$70.80 per person for 24 hours in the NCA (children 5–15: $23.60, under 5 free) plus a $295 crater service fee per vehicle and descent plus the vehicle fee (from $47.20). The NCAA tariff amounts already include 18% VAT (as of September 2026).
No. The NCAA requires a licensed guide or an NCAA guide for every crater visit, and nobody may walk down. Self-drivers need a 4x4 of up to 3,500 kg, a permit issued in advance and an NCAA ranger in the car.
Officially: entry at the Seneto gate only between 6 am and 4 pm, exit by 6 pm. The six-hour limit you often read about is an operator practice; the crater permit covers a single entry.
Only at the designated picnic sites with toilets, such as the Ngoitokitok Spring. Everywhere else you stay in the car; walking is possible only with an armed ranger outside the crater (Empakaai, Olmoti, the rim).
No, the caldera formed about two million years ago when an extinct volcano collapsed. The only real risk is the wildlife, which is why you stay in the vehicle. The nearest active volcano is Ol Doinyo Lengai, about 60 km (37 miles) to the northeast.
From Arusha it is 180 km (112 miles) of paved road via Karatu to the Loduare Gate, 3 to 4 hours; from Kilimanjaro International Airport about 227 km (141 miles). There is an airstrip on the rim for bush flights from Arusha. Without a safari vehicle and an operator you will not get in.
Cashless only: the NCAA accepts Visa, MasterCard and Tanzanian mobile money, in shillings or US dollars. The gates take no cash; normally the operator books and pays the permits in advance.
You see animals year-round. June to October is dry and busy, January and February green with young animals and quieter, March to May wet and empty. Whatever the month: be at the Seneto gate at 6 am.
Yes, because there is no walking and children under 5 pay nothing. Plan for the long drives and 5 to 6 hours in the vehicle, though; picnic breaks are possible only at the designated sites.
The rim sits at about 2,300 m (7,550 ft), the floor 610 m lower at about 1,800 m (5,900 ft). Mornings on the rim at 5–10 °C (41–50 °F) with fog are normal, midday in the crater above 25 °C (77 °F) – dress in layers.
The $295 crater service fee is a vehicle fee per descent, regardless of how many people are inside; Tanzanians pay TZS 11,800. Go down on two days and you pay it twice.
Sources · accessed on 22 September 2026
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