Yala National Park: The 15 Best Safaris

Yala National Park Safari Tours: Morning/Evening/Full Day - Early pickup and the road to Yala’s gate

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 818 reviews · 5 - 12 hours · from $25Our pick

Compare Yala morning, evening, and full-day safaris with meals, hotel pickup, expert drivers, wildlife tips, costs, and honest drawbacks.

“This was such an amazing experience, and our guide, Darshana, was simply the best. He has an incredible amount of knowledge about the national park and its wildlife, and even after working there for 15 years, you could clearly see how much he loves his job and still gets genuinely excited when spotting certain animals. We saw lots of different animals and were also lucky enough to see one of the leopards. Breakfast and lunch were both delicious. Overall, we had a wonderful day on this tour and can definitely recommend it!”

Check availability →Read our full review

Full-Day, National Parks, Safari, Tour Reviews, Yala National Park Tours

Full day Safari – Yala National Park – 04.30 am to 06.00 pm with – Janaka safari

2.Full day Safari – Yala National Park – 04.30 am to 06.00 pm with – Janaka safari

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 603 reviews · from $57Top rated

Review of Janaka Safari’s 12-hour Yala safari, with leopards, elephants, local meals, expert guides, costs, and practical tips.

“Darshana was a great driver! He was very passionate and knowledgeable. Although luck was not on our side with the leopards, we managed to see 3 bears! Well organised with good breakfast and lunch. Highly recommend :)”

Check availability →Read our full review

Ella Tours, Tour Reviews, Tours, Yala National Park Tours

Ella: Drop to Tangalle/Hiriketiya/Mirissa/Galle & Yala Tour

3.Drop to Tangalle/Hiriketiya/Mirissa/Galle & Yala Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 518 reviews · 3 - 9 hours · from $10Best value

Combine an Ella-to-south-coast transfer with a Yala safari, spotting leopards, elephants, crocodiles, and birds for just $10.

“Dilan, our guide was really nice, he talked about a lot of intresting facts about animals we saw on the tour. It was a nice experience, I can totally recommand him and this tour as wel!”

Check availability →Read our full review

Full-Day, National Parks, Safari, Tour Reviews, Yala National Park Tours

Yala National Park: Half, 7-Hour, or Full-Day Safari & Meals

4.Yala National Park: Half, 7-Hour, or Full-Day Safari & Meals

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 489 reviews · 4 - 12 hours · from $14

Review of Yala safari options with leopard sightings, elephants, guide tips, costs, meals, park fees, timing, comfort, and booking advice.

“Early pick up and driver made sure we were at park entrance before it opened. Safari 6.20-12 plus 2-5.30pm which was a good amount of time to search for the wildlife especially leopards. Vishva, our driver, was brilliant. He communicated well with us, knew where to go and made it a fantastic experience for us. Highly recommend a whole day in block 1. Compare this to my review for half day in block 5. Latter is not worth it.”

Check availability →Read our full review

National Parks, Safari, Tour Reviews, Wildlife, Yala National Park Tours

Yala National Park Wildlife Safari/ Game Drive – by Ajith Safari

5.Yala National Park Wildlife Safari/ Game Drive – by Ajith Safari

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 351 reviews · from $18

Review of Ajith Safari in Yala National Park, covering leopard sightings, timing, guides, costs, vehicles, lunch, and practical booking advice.

“We had a great safari. Naja is a very good guide and thanks to his driving (getting us away from all the other jeeps) and patience we saw the Big Three and lots of other animals! We had a perfect day. We were less happy with he communication with the office. They did not reach out to us with any information and when we did they gave us the wrong info. They said we would be picked up at 5.15 but it turned out that Naja was already there at 4.45. Plus they said we had to pay the entrance fee at the park but gave us the wrong amount…”

Check availability →Read our full review

Ella Tours, Tour Reviews, Tours, Yala National Park Tours

ELLA: Drop to Tangalle/Hiriketiya/Mirissa/Galle & Yala Tour

6.Drop to Tangalle/Hiriketiya/Mirissa/Galle & Yala Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.1 · 336 reviews · from $35

Review of Ella to Yala safari transfer, including wildlife, timing, extra fees, guides, comfort, destinations, and practical booking advice.

“Naja was an amazing guide! He helped us see elephants and an elusive leopard. Truly help make the experience. It felt like once in a life time. Just a note, it is a lot of driving to get there, during the safari, and after. I would recommend doing something active before or after. Highly highly recommend”

Check availability →Read our full review

Ella Tours, Safari, Tour Reviews, Yala National Park Tours

From Ella: Drop to Tangalle/Hiriketiya/Mirissa & Yala Safari

7.Drop to Tangalle/Hiriketiya/Mirissa & Yala Safari

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 296 reviews · 4 - 10 hours · from $11

Combine an Ella to southern-coast transfer with a Yala safari, spotting elephants, birds, crocodiles, and perhaps a leopard.

“The service was excellent - everything was on time as promised. Shehan and his team were very responsive and cleared all our doubts. As travellers, all we wanted was a stress free experience, and that’s exactly what we got! We spotted many animals and birds and thoroughly enjoyed our Yala Safari. Highly recommend this service if you’re travelling too! Cheers!”

Check availability →Read our full review

National Parks, Safari, Tour Reviews, Tours, Yala National Park Tours

Leopard Safari Tour in Yala National Park

8.Leopard Safari Tour in Yala National Park

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 281 reviews · from $20

Review of Yala’s leopard safari, with early entry, hotel pickup, jeep logistics, wildlife sightings, costs, and practical booking advice.

“Buena experiencia! Te vienen a recoger al hotel y todo perfecto. Conductor intrépido y arriesgado que se lo curró mucho buscando los animales. Realmente no está llenísimo de animales pero la experiencia vale la pena. El tour es como ir en moto de adrenalina y lo recomiendo totalmente. Hay que hacerlo!”

Check availability →Read our full review

Galle Tours, Safari, Tour Reviews, Tours, Yala National Park Tours

Hikkaduwa/Galle/Weligama/Mirissa/Tangalle: Yala Safari Tour

9.Hikkaduwa/Galle/Weligama/Mirissa/Tangalle: Yala Safari Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 263 reviews · 9 hours · from $45

Yala safari from Sri Lanka’s south coast with hotel pickup, a three-hour Jeep ride, leopards, elephants, crocodiles, and birdlife.

“We had a fantastic trip with Chathura, who gave it his all to make sure we saw as much wildlife as possible. I highly recommend Yala — even though it’s more touristy than Wilpattu, the wildlife is incredible. We saw a leopard, buffaloes, deer, hawks, flying foxes, and an elephant.”

Check availability →Read our full review

Full-Day, Tour Reviews, Yala National Park Tours

Full day / Half Day WildlifeAdventure in Yala-National-Park

10.Full day / Half Day WildlifeAdventure in Yala-National-Park

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 258 reviews · from $42

Yala safari review covering leopards, elephants, guides, timing, crowds, costs, jeep comfort, and who should book this Sri Lankan wildlife tour.

“The tour was amazing and well worth the drive from Weligama! The guide was super nice and made all effort for us to spot a leopard! It was wonderful. He was extremely courteous as well. Would definitely recommend this to everyone!!!”

Check availability →Read our full review

Galle Tours, Private Drivers, Private Drivers in Galle, Safari, Tour Reviews, Yala National Park Tours

Galle/Mirissa/Tangalle: Transfer to Ella & Yala Safari

11.Galle/Mirissa/Tangalle: Transfer to Ella & Yala Safari

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 235 reviews · 4 - 9 hours · from $11

Combine a coastal transfer to Ella with a Yala safari, spotting elephants, leopards, crocodiles, monkeys, and birds along the way.

“Sasanka was a great guide!! We saw everything and he explained a lot of things. He has a great eye!”

Check availability →Read our full review

Ella Tours, Safari, Tour Reviews, Yala National Park Tours

From Ella: Yala Safari with Tangalle/Mirissa/Galle Drop-off

12.Yala Safari with Tangalle/Mirissa/Galle Drop-off

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 198 reviews · 9 hours · from $10

Review of the Ella to Yala safari transfer, with leopard sightings, 4x4 wildlife viewing, beach drop-offs, costs, timing, and practical tips.

“the transfer war smooth and the safari was amazing! Our guide/driver Isuru explained us everything about Yala park and the animals we were seeing. He was very attentive and despite he was driving he managed to spot a lot of fauna for us! We even see a leopard and a sloth bear (incredibly). The park was crowded at the entrance, but inside is so big that you will barely see other jeeps around. Absolutely worthy, I would definitely book it again”

Check availability →Read our full review

National Parks, Safari, Tour Reviews, Yala National Park Tours

Special leopards safari Yala National park – 04.30 am to 11.30 am

13.Special leopards safari Yala National park – 04.30 am to 11.30 am

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 186 reviews · from $36

Review of Yala’s early leopard safari, with guides, wildlife, costs, timing, breakfast, park fees, and practical booking advice.

“Good Safari and 1/2 day was good enough. The driver Suthu was excellent. He took us around the national park through tough trails, so we had opportunities to see, difficult to see animals.”

Check availability →Read our full review

Full-Day, Hambantota Tours, National Parks, Safari, Tour Reviews, Tours, Yala National Park Tours

Yala National Park Safari Tours : Half Day & Full Day

14.Yala National Park Safari Tours : Half Day & Full Day

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 161 reviews · 6 - 12 hours · from $25

Review of Yala safari tours with leopard tracking, elephants, meals, hotel transfers, practical costs, timing, comfort, and honest tips.

“The whole experience was perfect. The guide comes to pick you at 4:30am with a comfortable jeep, and then we ride under the stars and see the sunrise over the park. It was purely amazing. Our guide, darshana was very nice and funny, and from what I understood is a fervent defender of flora and fauna in Sri Lanka. We were very lucky to see a leopard, and we saw a lot of water buffalos, crocodiles, and amazing birds. The breakfast was also the best one I had in Sri Lanka.”

Check availability →Read our full review