Sterkfontein Caves (Caves North West)

About Us

Sit­u­at­ed an hour’s dri­ve from Johan­nes­burg and Pre­to­ria, the Sterk­fontein Caves are world-famous for their fos­sil finds and are a pop­u­lar vis­i­tor destination.

After an exten­sive facelift in 2005, the Sterk­fontein Caves site is now home to a top restau­rant and con­fer­enc­ing facil­i­ties, offer­ing easy access to the caves with mod­ern walk­ways and a board­walk past the exca­va­tion site where glob­al­ly acclaimed fos­sils have been discovered.

The Sterk­fontein Caves are owned by the Uni­ver­si­ty of the Wit­wa­ter­srand, whose sci­en­tists have been respon­si­ble for the main exca­va­tions at this World Her­itage Site.

They are cred­it­ed with many of the most notable dis­cov­er­ies in the caves, includ­ing the world-famous fos­sils of Mrs Ples and Lit­tle Foot, the lat­ter being an almost com­plete Aus­tralo­p­ithe­cus skele­ton dat­ing back more than three mil­lion years.

The tours at the Sterk­fontein Caves, which start above ground and then take vis­i­tors deep into the caves, run sev­en days a week.

Pro tip for vis­i­tors: Our cave tours are very pop­u­lar, par­tic­u­lar­ly dur­ing the hol­i­days. So give us a call on 014 577 9000, on the day of your vis­it, to find out what tour avail­abil­i­ty is like.

And, if you arrive and find the next cave-tour slot ful­ly booked, then don’t fret – grab a bite at the Sterk­fontein restau­rant and enjoy the views while you wait for the next avail­able slot. You can find out about the times from our tick­et office or one of our help­ful guides.

Conferencing:

The Sterk­fontein Deco Lounge

In addi­tion to the state-of-the-art con­fer­ence facil­i­ties for up to 480 del­e­gates at Maropeng, con­fer­ence groups also have the option of using the con­fer­ence venue at the Sterk­fontein Caves. This new venue, called the Sterk­fontein Deco Lounge, is locat­ed with­in the recent­ly upgrad­ed facil­i­ties at the Sterk­fontein Caves, the most sig­nif­i­cant hominid fos­sil site in the Cra­dle of Humankind.

This venue at the Sterk­fontein Caves is suit­able for:

— Executive/​small group conferences

— Pri­vate func­tions, par­ties, lunch­es or dinners

— Small cor­po­rate events