We Are On Tour So WhatsApp ONLY: +61.402.222217 | Gday@AustralianCricketTours.com

South Africa 2026 Tour Information


Australian Cricket Tour To South Africa 2026 | Tour Schedule

Welcome to South Africa 2026

Many thanks for choosing to join our Australian Cricket Tour to South. Like all tours to South Africa, it will be awesome as it is the best nation to follow the game.

No matter how little or long you spend with us, this is infortmation is created for you, frmo our recent experience. It is to orient you for when you arrive, leave, getting about, costs, day trips, things to do, and a host of other things.

To prepare for your tour, Darren (Gluv!) will be in South Africa from Sept 17, whereas I will be there from Sept 21 after one week enjoying Australian cricket in Zimbabwe!

We are still waiting on information 'out of Africa', and will update this page as we learn more, so please continue to check back in.

#StayTuned

LAST UPDATED: July 24, 2026.

On This Page:

If there is anything else you need to know that we haven't covered, please ask.

Communication

First and foremost, INSTALL WHATSAPP ON YOUR PHONE!!

We communicate and share tour information, transfer times, function details, and where we go each night after play, among other things, by WHATSAPP ONLY.

If you don't have it, then we can't tell you things, provided you are connected to the internet.

As many Aussies are still bizarrely unfamiliar with Whatsapp, if after weeks in South Africa you loathe the convenience of voice and video calling, messaging, and sharing your adventures with everyone, uninstall it when you are home. Until then, please live with it so you can stay in touch with us.

  • DO NOT CALL OR TEXT MESSAGE our Australian number. The SIM card WILL NOT be in the phone so it will not ring, and text messages will not be received

There is public wifi everywhere, but on arrival in South Africa you may wish to get a local sim card. You can install an e-SIM before arrival however verification may take longer than if you popped into the airport office and tossed your phone at the specialist.

We have used MTN since 2001.

Otherwise, subscribe to your preferred eSIM global operator which includes, but not limited to, and certainly not with any personal recommendation:

Our Whatsapp Number:

  • +61.402.222217

Please send us a message (letting us know who you are!), as we may not yet have your number in our phone. We'll confirm any date or time changes via Whatsapp.

Immigration

Australian passport holders can enter South Africa for 90 days without so much as a "How do you do?"

There have been recent reports of South Africa Revenue Service launching a 'pre-arrival' form, which by accounts is voluntary and questionable as to why the tax office wants to know your travel plans! I will let you know HERE of any change to the usual free arrival.

Your passport, its validity and any visa requirement, is YOUR responsibility. We will not be held responsible for you not having the correct passport/validity, or being refused entry.

It is up to you to know if your passport is valid for the duration of your time and if you require a visa. If you have questions about entry to South Africa, take it up with South Africa.

On arrival you may be asked to present:

  • Passport valid for duration of your trip
  • Onward or return ticket to country of residence
  • Intended address
  • Evidence of personal financial support
  • Letter of authorization from parent/guardian if under 18 years of age or if you are travelling as a single parent/guardian with a person under 18 years of age

  • Back To Top

Before You Leave Home

  • Email a copy of your passport to yourself and a trusted soul
  • Update your device with an ICE (In Case of Emergency) number. You are welcome to share that number with us
  • Tell you bank & card issuer that you are headed to the islands
  • Ensure you have adequate travel insurance

  • Back To Top

What To Bring

Jumper/Fleece: Though touring in spring, the Africa coast especially Cape Town is cold at night, and the warming sun at the cricket may not have intensity to keep you toasty

Travel Plug | Cables: South Africa holes in the wall are weird and indeed varied. We will provide a photo of the Type M plug (three fat pins) you need for most walls, which may also include EU and UK sockets.

Cape Town & Port Elizabeth hotels have USB charge ports in the room, whereas Protea Umhlanga does not, at the time of writing!

Power Board: There may only be one convenient plug in your room so pack a power board so you can use your hairdryer & curling wand whilst charging your phone

Sunscreen | Swimmers | Goggles

Insect Repellent: Bring your favourite repellent. Mozzies are known to love Africa and though we are not visiting any regions with malaria, and we don't want your time disrupted by pesky bites

Wet Wipes: Do not underestimate the value in wipes to keep you refreshed on a warm spring day at the cricket

Personal Medication: Paracetamol, ibuprofen and off-the-shelf medicines are cheap across the land, but pack what you feel you may need. Prescription medication may not be available so bring what you need to cover your time

Toiletries: Are very cheap to replace in SA but depending the time you are away, bring your preferred hair-gel or toenail fungal cream, with hotels providing the usual bathroom lotions and potions and pastes.

Golf Balls: If you're going to tee-up, bring a few loseable dimples though, along with everything else in South Africa, golf balls are cheap to replace 

Currency

When you travel, you lose when using local currency. Your Aussie dollars are converted at a rate that benefits the enterprise selling you the currency, not you. No matter how you spend, you lose, so accept it and do what is most convenient for you, as the difference between methods is maybe 1%.

South Africa currency is Rand and you will need NONE of it.

We had one month in South Africa last November and the only cash used was to get rid of leftover notes from 2018.

Tap and go is across the land and all cricket venues are CASHLESS. We go nowhere nor doing anything that requires you to pay cash. You can still use it, just don't get millions of it.

Safety and security is high on most people's South Africa radars and we do not guarantee that misfortune won't find you. We suggest you bring a few hundred Aussie dollars to keep in your hotel safe as a back-up. Don't carry it with you!

ATM

If you are 'old school', don't have Whatsapp and still prefer cash, the social paradox of ATM's are plentiful. Connected to the PLUS network, your withdrawal may still come off your credit card after selecting Current or Savings, so get online and have a check.

If you are going to use an ATM, take someone with you at all times, always use an ATM inside a shopping mall or bank, and heavens above DO NOT LET ANYONE 'ASSIST' YOU. You are not being assisted, you are being robbed!

ATM safety protocols apply, specifically, put your card in and before pressing any number, cancel the transaction. If your card comes out, the machine hasn't been tampered with.

How Much To Spend

Spend as much as you like but in South Africa, if you have a budget, you will go home with a lot more than expected. for an idea of what to pay (they open to a new page):

 

Airport Pick-Ups

As part of your tour, we will meet you at the airport and transfer you to the hotel, but please understand, these are group transfers, not individual. Once you leave the airport and enter the tropics, unless arriving BEFORE our designated pick-up dates, look for the ACT cricket field:

Australian Cricket Tours ACT Cricket Field Logo

 

There is likely others on your flight or flight/s arriving at the same time, who we are also meeting, so please be patient as not everyone will exit at the same time. If you do not wish to wait you are welcome grab a taxi at your expense and we'll see you at the hotel.

We know your flight details into the islands, but should these change, or you miss your flight, you need to let us know. We don't need to sit around if we don't know that you weren't on the plane.

To reconfirm, our transfer dates are:

St Maarten: Arrival June 16, 17 | Departure June 21

Barbados: Arrival June 21, 22, 23 | Departure June 30

Grenada: Arrival June 30 & July 1 | Departure July 8, 9

Jamaica: Arrival July 9, 10 | Departure July 17

Antigua: Arrival July 17 | Departure July 22

St Kitts: Arrival July 22 | Departure July 29

Unless otherwise stated directly with you, if you are arriving or leaving outside of these dates, please make your own way from/to the airport with local transport services.

Hotels in West Indies

As a reminder we are staying at these hotels. When completing your online immigration forms, you need the addresses of where you are staying. The addresses for each hotel are on the immigraiton links above, or by clicking the hotel links below.

A room/bed has been booked in your name at the hotels on the islands you are enjoying with us. There is no need to produce confirmation. Check-in as you would any other hotel by handing over your passport. We will be at the hotels to assist on all days, based on our 'airport pick-up' dates.

Pre- & Post Test Functions

Barbados:

  • Pre-Test | June 24 | Accra Beach Hotel | 6pm - 10pm
  • Post-Test | June 29 | Accra Beach Hotel | 6pm - 10pm

Grenada:

  • Pre-Test | July 2 | Radisson Grenada | 6pm - 10pm
  • Post-Test | July 6 | TBC | 6pm - 10pm

Jamaica:

  • Pre-Test | July 11 | ROK Hilton Kingston | 6pm - 10pm
  • Post-Test | July 16 | TBC

Antigua:

  • No Function| All-Inclusive Resort

St Kitts:

  • Pre-Series | July 24 | Royal St Kitts Hotel | 6pm - 9pm
  • Post-Test | June 27 | Shipwreck Beach Bar | 6pm - 9pm

Unknown post-Test Functions will be confirmed during each match.

If you cannot make it to the pre-test function to collect your tickets, please let us know, but DO NOT CALL OUR AUSTRALIAN MOBILE. WhatsApp +61402222217 ONLY.

Match Tickets

We aim to deliver you physical match tickets, to break from the current norm of electronic. We are waiting on confirmation from Cricket West Indies.

Physical tickets will be given when you check-in to the hotel/s, or at the pre-test match function if you have booked our match tickets package.

In the advent that we can only distribute electronically, these will be done via Whatsapp. If you do not have a mobile phone, we will email the tickets.

If you cannot make our pre-test function to collect your tickets, please let us know well-before we ask, "where are you?" at 11pm the night before the test.

If you haven't already received your cool apparel you will receive them at the pre-test function.

Match Days

    • Test Matches start 1000am
    • T20's start 1900pm

Transfers to/from the venue are included.

    • Day 1 - 0800am
      • Toss 0930am | 1st Ball 1000am
    • Day 2, 3, 4, 5 - 0900am
      • 1st Ball 1000am
    • Return To Hotel Straight After PLay

0800am on Day 1 is not leaving early, it is ensuring we are not late. It is ensuring we get through morning traffic, have time to walk to the ground from where we get off the bus, and have time to go through 'over-zealous' Day 1 security. We have not waited 10 years to be late. Get in early, get settled, and leaving time to wander about and look forward to a ripping day's play.

We won't wait until 0801am and you won't be the first person we've left behind, if you think 'it's only 1 minute, they'll wait'. You do not have to take the bus, this is an included service. You are welcome to make your way at your time and your own expense. 

Getting About

St Maarten

Rent-a-Car.

Renting a car is great way to see the furthest reaches of St Maarten, but, to be blunt, you will only drive to see another beach, that isn't accessed by bongo bus. There is not a lot in St Maarten that isn't reachable by bongo. If you want a beach that isn't Maho, walk a sor distance to the Mullet Bay Beach on the other side of the hotel, or take a Bongo bus to Simpson Bay on other side of the airport, or Great Bay on your trip to Phillipsburg.

Buses

Health & Safety

Please ensure you have adequate travel insurance to cover your time in the islands and all the time you are away!!

"If you can't afford travel insurance, you can't afford to travel!"

To get health issues out of the way, please be safe with your nocturnal activities as unfortunate illnesses are rife across the region. For ALL medical related questions, speak to your Quack!!

That said, there are not too many places in the world where a Government doesn't offer some kind of 'be safe' advisory so you can relax knowing this is the Australian Government understanding of life in the islands:

"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade does not produce travel advisories for Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, (St Vincent & The Grenadines), and Suriname, or any of the non-independent Caribbean territories at this time."

Suffice; when it comes to watching cricket, be careful in Jamaica, Guyana, and Trinidad!

Over years of touring and preparing to tour West Indies we've not experienced anything that would cause us to reconsider, nor have received any reason to wish we weren't there, except Jamaica where we always remain 'fully alert'.

My experience in Kingston in May 2024 however was a 'deep breath of relaxed air'. Not one pang of anxiety. No intimidation. No threat of violation. Highlighted by our staying 'downtown' at the fresh from the showroom, ROK Hilton Hotel, in the art district!

Downtown Kingston was a place you only went with at least 3 mates, a local to keep 'local elements' at bay, and US$20 in your sock; enough to keep villains happy without stabbing you as punishment for not having more.

Times have finally changed.

Meeting Marlene at ROK Hilton, I said Kingston no longer felt the badland it used to be and that Hilton would not establish a property 'downtown' if there was inherrent risk to their guests.

"Luke, I am so pleased to hear you say that, because you are right, we wouldn't!"

As comfortable as I am staying at ROK, this does not mean you swan about Kingston after dark on your own. Please don't. The Test Match is day/night, so we are back to the hotel straight after play.

We have been contacted by the Australia High Commission to register our touring numbers, and they will contact me to share impending risk or danger.

All will be good, but visit Smartraveller and register to receive updates:

Itinerary

AUSTRALIAN CRICKET TOURS: