All Hambantota Tours & Excursions in 2026

My partner and I went on the afternoon safari and it was an unforgettable experience. Our driver Channa took us on quieter paths where it wasn’t so crowded with other vehicles and it allowed us to see a vast range of birds, groups of monkeys and deers swarming the roads and forests. He used his experience to locate a large crocodile which had freshly killed a deer and was basking on the banks. Furthermore, we accidentally stumbled across a very large and grumpy male elephant who made his presence known. Thankfully our driver expertly navigated us to safety as we laughed about our thrill ride! He was extremely talented in the navigating the bumpy roads and always stopped for us so we could admire the animals we had come across and take photos. When it came to the animals, Channa was extremely knowledgeable and was able to provide us with facts about the different species of birds and what differentiates them from each other, as well as all the other animals within the safari. Overall it was an absolutely amazing experience and I would recommend this safari with Channa to everyone.

Driver/Guide picked us up at the port and drove us to and through Yala National Park. It was an hour drive in a covered open air vehicle to reach the park. Amazing number of animals including elephants, monkeys, water buffalos, birds etc. We did not get to see a leopard on our trip. Please note there is a 2 hour window from 12 - 2 where the park is closed and you sit at a crowded area with a limited lunch menu waiting for the park to reopen. This is a park policy to give the animals a break during the heat of the day. Our driver was amazing at spotting things. There were a lot of other vehicles in the park.

Had a great day out on this tour. The jeep ride to the national park is quite an experience on its own as you see lots of local villages along the way. The national park is very impressive and very beautiful. We had an excellent guide and once we were in the park he knew exactly where to stop to see lots of wildlife. We saw many exotic birds, monkeys, water buffalo, deer, crocodile, jackal and of course the wild elephants. It was amazing to see the elephants in the wild and so close by to our jeep. The elephant orphanage was very crowded when we visited but is clearly doing good work returning the young elephants to the national park when they are old enough. A great day out highly recommended

Good communication with the company. Good value excursion. Was waiting to greet us from the ship at the gate as arranged. Coach was clean and air conditioned. Took us to a town where we swapped into a jeep. Thought that the park would be a short distance away but there was still another 30-40 mins to go. As we approached, saw 2 elephants - one of which came right up to the jeep and allowed us to stroke him. Amazing. The guide was really good, kept stopping to point out different bird species as well as the red deer, water buffalo, crocs, monitor lizards. Jeep ride was more like an off road experience but very good all the same. Return journey seemed much quicker than the outward journey. Got back in plenty of time for the ship.

This was an amazing trip!! If you love animals you will love this. Our driver was excellent and our guide was well spoken, knew the park really well and could find the animals instinctively! We had a really authentic lunch and had more than enough time to enjoy it. The area overlooks the beach and had we known that we would have brought a towel to sit on and dry our feet after a walk on the beach experiencing the Indian Ocean. The ride is bumpy, you need to climb a ladder to get into the jeeps, but it was well worth it!!

This tour was our absolute favourite. 2 other couples we were travelling with joined us in this experience. We all climbed up into a tall converted Toyota pickup with 6 very comfortable seats, with plenty of room each and excellent visibility, shaded overhead from the sun. Our driver/ guide, Jacintha, was very considerate over the bumpy tracks in the national park. He stopped and pointed out wildlife and birds and gave us time to watch and photograph before moving on. We understood that spotting a leopard would be a bonus, sadly we didn't get that opportunity. However we saw so many birds, elephants, crocodiles, water buffalo, monkeys. On our return to port Jacintha sent me a lovely set of photos he had been taking on safari, beautiful professional ones, to share with the group. We can't recommend him and this tour highly enough. The tour more than met our expectations. We would all do this excursion again on a further visit to Hambantota.