Can you still go underground?

Can you still do an underground tour at the Cullinan Diamond Mine?

No. The mine suspended underground tours from 30 April 2023, and we found no announcement of a restart up to October 2026.

The decision came from the mine itself. In a media statement of 15 May 2023, Petra Diamonds said its Cullinan subsidiary had suspended underground tours after a health and safety review, effective 30 April 2023, because of the high risk involved. Surface tours carried on. The two operators in the village, Premier Diamond Tours and Fundani's Cullinan Diamond Mine Tours, now sell surface tours only.

It was a big loss for the village. A local councillor told Tourism Update the underground tours had run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays for more than 20 years, and that restaurants, shops and guesthouses would feel it.

Why were the underground tours stopped?

Safety. Petra's statement names a health and safety review and the high risk of taking visitors into a working mine.

Cullinan is not a museum mine. Ore is mined by block caving and sub-level caving, and current production comes from the C-Cut section, about 839 m below surface according to a 2016 SAIMM paper. No. 1 Shaft hoists from 934 m. Tourists going down meant sharing cages, tunnels and safety systems with a production crew.

The old tour was demanding even then. A 2021 listing on Showcaves gave it as about 4.5 hours, ages 16 and up, R550. Those are the figures you still see copied around the web.

What does the Cullinan surface tour show instead?

An intro film, a room of replica diamonds, a life-size tunnel model, the working shafts and the Big Hole lookout, then the jewellery shop.

Premier Diamond Tours lists the stops on its tour page:

• An introductory video in English, French, German or Mandarin, covering how the mine works.
• The diamond display room with replicas of famous stones, the Cullinan among them. See the famous diamonds guide for the real ones.
• A life-size model of an underground tunnel.
• The working shafts, which hoist ore from 934 m underground.
• The Big Hole lookout over the old open pit, mined to about 190 m deep before the mine went underground (SAIMM).
• The jewellery shop at the end.

It takes about two hours. On a January 2025 visit written up by a university group, visitors signed waivers, wore hard hats and vests, and were told not to pick up rocks.

Is the surface tour worth it without the underground part?

Yes, if you are curious about how diamonds are mined or about the Cullinan story. It is two hours at a working mine, not a ride into one.

Set your expectations: you will not see diamonds coming out of the rock, and you will not go below ground. What you get is a guide who explains a mine that still produces well over a million carats a year (is the mine still active? has the numbers), the headframes up close, and a view into a pit that tourism officials describe as about three times the size of Kimberley's Big Hole (South African Tourism).

At $12 online, or R200 booked direct, it is cheap enough to treat as one stop in a longer day. Add a walk down Oak Avenue and the village makes a proper day out.

The flagship way in: a guided two-hour walk around the working mine, from the film to the Big Hole lookout.

★ 4.6 · 2 hours · from $12

Explore the surface walking tour → Tour details

Why do some websites still sell Cullinan underground tours?

Because nobody updated them. Several tourism and travel pages were written before April 2023 and still describe the old tour.

The South African Tourism article on Cullinan still mentions underground tours, as do the 2021 Showcaves page and older blog posts. Some booking listings still use photos of guests in overalls under an underground tours sign. The tour itself is surface only.

• Read the listing text, not the photo. If it says underground, ask the operator in writing before paying.
• Prices well above the surface tour do not mean a different mine. On the $300 Johannesburg mine tour, the money pays for the transfer.
• The underground tours update on our blog tracks any change.

Which Cullinan tour should you book?

The $12 walking tour if you can get to Cullinan yourself. If you can't, choose by where you start and how much else you want to see.

Every option below shows the same surface of the same mine. What changes is transport, guiding and the rest of the day:

Our pick without a car is the private Pretoria and Cullinan day: it costs less than the mine-only transfer and adds the capital's sights. More in the day trip guide.

What do you need for the Cullinan surface tour?

A copy of your ID sent ahead, closed flat shoes, a clear head, and nobody under 10 in the group.

• The visitor form: Premier Diamond Tours asks for its online visitors form with a copy of each visitor's ID at least 2 working days before the tour.
• Shoes: closed, flat shoes or sneakers. No open toes and no heels.
• Age: the walking tour listing says it is not suitable for children under 10.
• Alcohol: the walking tour listing states a breathalyser test before entry, and Fundani asks for no alcohol in the 12 hours before.
• Mobility: the same listing says wheelchairs, crutches and walking sticks are not allowed on the mine.

Book the 10:30 slot in summer. Afternoon storms roll in fast on the Highveld (Gauteng weather).

Will Cullinan's underground tours come back?

Nobody has said so. Petra has not announced a restart, and in October 2026 it put the business under a strategic review.

We would not plan a trip around a return. The suspension came from a safety review at a mine that is going deeper, and Petra is now busy with a strategic review that could include a sale. A new owner could revisit tourism, but that is speculation. Until an operator or the mine says otherwise in writing, treat any underground offer with suspicion.

If you want a little more than a walk, the Royal Africa tour runs a small-group surface tour that its listing describes as motorised or walking, with a history room and a heritage house.

A small-group surface tour with a history room and a heritage house, about 2.5 hours in Cullinan.

★ 5.0 · 2.5 hours · from $12

Explore the Royal Africa tour → Tour details

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