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Experience the best of Yala National Park

Yala is Sri Lanka's most visited wildlife park, a dry-zone reserve of scrub, lagoons and rock on the south-east coast, famous for leopards and elephants.

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Yala National Park covers a large area of the south-east coast of Sri Lanka, a mix of dry scrub forest, grassland, lagoons, rocky outcrops and sand dunes beside the Indian Ocean. It was set aside as a wildlife sanctuary in 1900 and became a national park in 1938, and it is divided into blocks, of which Block 1 is the most visited. Tissamaharama, a town on a large lake, is the usual base.

Yala is known for one of the densest populations of leopards in the world, and for elephants, sloth bears, crocodiles, water buffalo, spotted deer, peacocks and many birds including painted storks and eagles. Jeep safaris go out in the early morning and late afternoon. Inside the park, Sithulpawwa is an old Buddhist monastery on a rock, and the shrine town of Kataragama lies a short drive away.

Food nearby is simple Sri Lankan fare: rice and curry with dhal, fish and vegetables, and buffalo curd with kithul palm treacle, a southern speciality. The park is driest in the middle of the year, when animals gather at the remaining waterholes.

  • Free cancellation on 95% of experiences
  • 4.8 across the top 24

Top experiences in Yala National Park

Day trips from Yala National Park

84

Guided tours in Yala National Park

65

Walking and bike tours in Yala National Park

5

Food and drink experiences in Yala National Park

6

Outdoor and adventure activities in Yala National Park

6

Nature and wildlife tours in Yala National Park

73

Desert and safari experiences in Yala National Park

40

Signature experiences in Yala National Park

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