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Yala National Park

Leopards, Elephants and Sloth Bears by Jeep

Plan this trip
2 daysIdeal stay₹2,300From / night₹860Food / day₹5,150Entry

Sri Lanka's best-known park, with one of the highest densities of leopards anywhere, plus elephants, sloth bears, crocodiles and water birds in scrub, lagoons and rock outcrops by the sea. Visits are by jeep (half-day at dawn or afternoon, or a full day), booked through your hotel; Block 1 is the busy core, and jeeps crowd round a leopard sighting. Stay in Tissamaharama or Kirinda, or in a tented camp by the park. Block 1 closes every year from about 1 September to mid-October. Kataragama, a shrine sacred to Buddhists, Hindus (as Murugan's) and Muslims, is 20 km away.

Highlights

  • Dawn jeep safari for leopards
  • Elephants and sloth bears
  • Lagoon birds and crocodiles
  • Kataragama evening puja
  • Bundala wetland birding
  • Sithulpawwa rock monastery
  • Tented camp by the park

Things to do

  • Yala jeep safari at dawnMorning · 5h
  • Afternoon jeep safariAfternoon · 4h
  • Kataragama evening pujaEvening · 2h
  • Bundala National Park birdingMorning · 4h

Tours & tickets

Tours & tickets in Yala National Parkvia GetYourGuideTours & tickets in Yala National Parkvia Klook

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When to go

Best time: February – July

Plan around this

Yala Block 1 Closed

⚠️ Yala's main safari zone (Block 1) closes every year in the dry season, from about 1 September to mid-October; the Department of Wildlife Conservation announces the dates. Go to Udawalawe (open all year, elephants guaranteed) or Bundala instead.

Worth knowing

Yala Reopens in Mid-October

Block 1 usually reopens around 15 October (in some years later). Check the reopening date with your safari operator before booking a jeep for early October.

Heads up

Jeep Crowds at Yala

In the holiday months hundreds of jeeps enter Block 1 each session, and they jam round any leopard sighting. A full-day safari, an afternoon slot or Block 5 is calmer.

  • Kataragama Esala festival and the Pada Yatra — Two weeks of nightly processions at Kataragama, the shrine to Murugan (Skanda) by Yala, sacred to Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims, ending on the Esala full moon with fire-walking. Before it, pilgrims walk the Pada Yatra down the east coast from Jaffna through Arugam Bay and across Kumana, which opens a forest path for them. Tissamaharama and Kataragama fill up.

Part of a longer route

Yala National Park is a stop on a curated circuit through Sri Lanka.

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Hill Country & the South Coast

Stop 4 of 6 · 11 days · moderate