Overview
About this safari
Yala has one of the highest concentrations of leopards anywhere in the world, alongside elephants, sloth bears, crocodiles, and an enormous variety of birdlife. Game drives run at dawn and in the late afternoon, when the animals are most active.
- From our base
- About 1 hour 15 minutes from Ambalantota to the park
- Game drives
- Morning, afternoon or full day
- Best months
- February to July, in the dry season
- Vehicle
- Private safari jeep, up to 6 people
What You Can See in Yala
Yala is Sri Lanka's most visited national park: scrub jungle, open plains, lagoons and rocky outcrops running down to the sea. It is best known for leopards — the park has one of the highest leopard densities in the world — but a good game drive also brings elephants, sloth bears, spotted deer, water buffalo, crocodiles and peacocks.
It is one of the island's best birding areas too, with more than 200 species recorded, from bee-eaters and hornbills to painted storks.
Morning or Afternoon?
Animals are most active in the cool of the early morning and late afternoon, so those are the two classic game drives. The morning drive means a pre-dawn start so you enter as the park opens, and it gives the best chance of a leopard on the move. The afternoon drive is easier on the alarm clock and ends in the evening light over the lagoons.
A full-day safari covers more ground and goes deeper into the park, with a break in the middle of the day.
How Your Yala Safari Works
Private cars cannot drive in the park, so every game drive is in an open safari jeep. We pick you up from your hotel in Tissamaharama, Kirinda, Hambantota or anywhere in the south, and arrange the jeep for your group. Park entry tickets are quoted separately — we give you the exact figure before you book.
Hotel pick-up and drop-off anywhere in the south A private safari jeep for your group Morning, afternoon or full-day game drives Easy to combine with Bundala, Kataragama or a night in Tissa
Good to Know
About an hour to an hour and a quarter by road to the park entrance, and less from Tissamaharama or Kirinda.
Nobody can promise it, but Yala gives you one of the best chances anywhere. Your odds are best on a morning drive in the dry season.
Most of the year. The main section of the park usually closes for a few weeks around September and October, in the driest period — ask us for this year's dates.
A hat, sunscreen, water, binoculars if you have them, and a light layer for the chilly early-morning start.
