Bundala National Park

Located just a short drive west of Yala, Bundala National Park offers a completely different, water-dominated wilderness experience. Recognized as the first site in Sri Lanka to be designated under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Bundala is a sprawling network of coastal lagoons, salt pans, marshes, and sand dunes. This unique watery environment makes it an internationally critical sanctuary for both resident and migratory waterbirds, which travel thousands of miles to escape the harsh northern winter.

Bundala is a paradise for birdwatchers. The park’s shallow lagoons are home to a remarkable variety of bird species, most notably thousands of greater flamingos, which gather in large, shimmering pink flocks along the water's edge during the peak winter migration months from September to March.

As you explore the park in an open jeep, the air is filled with the calls of black-necked storks, Eurasian spoonbills, ibises, and large flocks of pelicans working together to herd fish in the shallows. Bundala is also home to a surprising variety of larger wildlife. The park's coastal scrub supports a healthy population of wild elephants, troops of grey langur monkeys, and massive herds of spotted deer. Bundala’s empty beaches serve as a vital nesting ground for four distinct species of endangered sea turtles, which climb onto the dark sand at night to lay their eggs, making the park a vital haven for coastal conservation.