SAFARIS · WILDLIFE SAFARIS IN SRI LANKA
The 15 best wildlife safaris in Sri Lanka you can book today, with what each costs per head, how long it runs and who it suits. Number one is top for a reason; start there.
Review of Udawalawe’s private elephant safari, with expert guides, 4x4 transport, wildlife sightings, costs, tips, and booking advice.
“Our guide Gimhana was very kind snd helpful from the very start. We enjoyed the safari very much! Gimhana showed us not only the elephants and beautiful birds but we were also lucky enough to spot four jackals! We recommend our guide 100%!”
Review of the Minneriya elephant safari from Sigiriya, with practical advice on wildlife sightings, guides, timing, costs, and park changes.
“Fantastic Guide, extremly friendly and also funny! Saw a ton of elephants because of him!”
Review of Ajith Safari in Yala National Park, with leopard-spotting tips, prices, timing, guides, jeep details, and honest drawbacks.
“Amazing experience - we saw 3 leopards come all the way to our car and lay on the road in front of us (!!!) our driver Kasun was calculated and patient, waiting until all other cars left before the leopards came. He pushed the limits to how long we could stay, waiting as long as possible to both find and then observe the leopards”
Review of a private Minneriya jeep safari from Sigiriya, with elephant sightings, flexible park choices, costs, timing tips, and practical advice.
“Excellent tour to Hurulu, we saw so many elephants including babies! Our guide Bhashi had an eagle eye and spotted so much wildlife as well as the elephants and water buffalo. He obviously cared a lot about elephants and shared his knowledge with us. Thank you for a great afternoon.”
Review of Yala’s leopard safari, with early starts, shared jeeps, wildlife tips, costs, guide quality, and honest advice before booking.
“The activity description doesn't mention that need to pay 13000 rupees per person. Neither does it say that SAARC countries get a discount. We were asked to show the passports to prove it. We had photos, but guide didn't accept thosRead more”
Review of Udawalawe’s 4-hour jeep safari and Elephant Transit Home visit, with wildlife highlights, guide tips, extra fees, and practical advice.
“Mahesh was a great driver! Really friendly and knowledgable about wildlife even before we’d started the safari! He took us on the less busy routes which was amazing, meaning we weren’t constantly with jeeps all the time”
Bentota River Safari review with mangroves, crocodiles, monkeys, birds, hotel pickup, guide tips, price advice, and practical details.
“Our guide was amazing. He noticed small, hidden between trees and plants Animals like cricodile, cormoran. Safari was exciting we like it very much”
Review of Bentota River Safari by BTM, a private two-hour mangrove cruise with birdwatching, monkeys, crocodiles, pickup, and guides.
“A very well planned and executed excursion! Our boat driver was super experienced and tried really hard to show us as much as possible. Small crocodile, varans, frogs and monkeys (to which we even gave some nuts) were all part of the safari. The driver had fresh pineapple and coconuts for us too, which was very nice of him!”
Review of Yala leopard safari options, costs, wildlife, jeep comfort, timing, hotel pickup, and practical tips for choosing half or full day.
“Very fun morning for the sunrise safari! We saw so many animals including the elusive leopard! Would definitely reccomend”
Review of Dinuka Safari in Yala National Park, with leopard sightings, guide details, pricing, timing, transport, and practical booking advice.
“An incredible safari seeing deer, lizards, birds, water buffalos, crocodiles, monkeys, elephants, and even leopards! The driver Dilanka was very helpful and patient. The provided breakfast and lunch were delicious and the pickup was on time. Couldn't have asked for a better trip!”
Review the Minneriya elephant jeep safari near Anuradhapura, including park options, pricing, wildlife, timing, transport, and booking advice.
“We saw several herds of elephants in the wild . It was a great experience and well conducted trip. Professional guide and driver”
Review of the Hambantota to Udawalawe safari and Elephant Transit Home tour, with wildlife tips, costs, timing, and practical advice.
“Had the best day in Hambantota. Our guide Madu made sure we received the best experience and we got back to the ship in plenty of time. We managed to see lots of elephants in the park and enjoyed the elephants feeding time at the orphanage.”
Review of a Sigiriya Lion Rock hike and Minneriya safari, with practical advice on timing, costs, wildlife, guides, and what to expect.
“Our guide Sudee picked us up from the hotel to drive to Sigiriya Lion rock and took us to the carpark and waited for us to explore the rock and return, after we went to hurulu eco park for an elephants safari , our guides were really good taken us off the main tracks and into the deep parts of the park. We saw lots of elephants and the highlight was finding a herd a sleep along with a baby elephant. Our guides were really good and kept a distance as not to provoke the elephants and we could observe from a close distance, the experience was amazing and one…”
Review of Yala’s 7 to 12 hour leopard safari, with jeep details, wildlife odds, meals, costs, tips, and honest advice before booking.
“Really nice day. The guide was super nice, and we could see a lot of different animals. Even a leopard! If you book all day safari, they offer breakfast and lunch. Recommend this tour. It was amazing.”
Review of the Bentota River Safari, a two-hour mangrove cruise with crocodiles, birds, village life, hotel pickup, and guides for $20.
“We were met by Jaga our guide at the location sent by the company and we set off on the river. Jaga was excellent at spotting wildlife, we saw 3 crocodiles, river monitor lizards, monkeys, chameleons, bats, kingfishers and an eagle. The ride was smooth and Jaga answered all of our questions about the wildlife and told us information about the area. We drove carefully through the mangroves spotting wildlife, trees and points of interest such as the Buddha and Buddhist temple. A great way to see a different landscape in Sri Lanka.”
Open 4x4, battered jeep, quad bike, camel or balloon basket.
