Udawalawe National Park · Elephant Transit Home
Udawalawe safari & the Elephant Transit Home
A half-day 4×4 jeep safari in Udawalawe National Park — Sri Lanka’s surest place for wild elephants — paired with the Elephant Transit Home at feeding time, where orphaned calves are raised and released back into the same park. From $18 per person, with free hotel pickup from Udawalawe, Ella, the south coast, Bentota or Colombo.
Five ways to join
Prices by pickup area
The safari is the same wherever you start — what changes is how far we drive to collect you. Rates are per person based on two sharing; solo travellers pay the two-person rate.
From Udawalawe
4 hoursUdawalawe area hotels, or meet us at the park entrance
Staying at the park? This is the short, cheap version — straight into the park and back, with the Transit Home on the way out.
06:30 – 07:30 · 11:00 · 14:00 – 14:30
From Ella
7 hoursElla area hotels
Down out of the hills before dawn, elephants by mid-morning, back in Ella for the evening. No hotel change.
04:00 · 12:00
From the south coast
7 hoursHikkaduwa, Galle, Mirissa, Hiriketiya and Tangalle
The closest big-elephant park to the beach towns. Pre-dawn pickup from your hotel, back on the sand by afternoon.
04:00 · 04:30 · 12:00
From Bentota
Full dayBentota, Beruwala, Ahungalla and Kosgoda
A long day from the west coast resorts, and the only way to see wild elephants without moving hotels.
03:30 · 10:30
From Colombo
Full dayColombo and Negombo
Door to door from the city or the airport strip — useful on a first or last day when you don't want to unpack twice.
03:30 · 10:30
Park entrance ≈ $34 per adult and the Transit Home ≈ $6 per person are set by the Department of Wildlife and paid separately. Compare against every tour we run on the full safari price list.
Already staying nearby?
If you’re based in Ella, Tangalle, Mirissa, Hiriketiya or Hikkaduwa, we collect from your hotel door. Chasing leopards as well? Yala National Park has the highest leopard density on earth, and the Yala & Udawalawe one-day safari puts both parks in a single day.
Why this one is different
An orphanage that gives them back
The Elephant Transit Home raises calves that have lost their herd — and then releases them into Udawalawe. That is the whole purpose of the place, and it is what separates it from the elephant attractions you will have been warned about.
There is no riding, no bathing and no touching. You watch from a platform while the calves are fed, they have no contact with visitors, and they stay wild enough to go back. Many of the adults you meet on the game drive that morning came through it.
What you’re likely to see
- Wild elephants — Herds, calves and lone tuskers — the reason people come
- Water buffalo — Wallowing along the reservoir edge
- Spotted & barking deer — Grazing the open plains at first light
- Crocodiles — Mugger crocs basking on the banks
- Jackal & mongoose — Best odds on the early drive
- Birds — Eagles, bee-eaters, painted storks and hundreds more
No surprises
What's in the price
Included
- 4×4 open jeep safari in Udawalawe National Park
- Licensed tracker-guide who knows the herds
- Free hotel pickup and drop-off in your area
- Stop at the Elephant Transit Home for feeding
- Transport throughout — up to 7 guests per jeep
Not included
- Udawalawe National Park entrance (≈ $34 per adult)
- Elephant Transit Home entrance (≈ $6 per person)
- Food and drinks
The day, in order
What it actually looks like
Verified reviews
4.9★ from 571 travellers
Every review below is from a verified booking on this exact tour.
4.8 Guide
4.9 Transportation
4.8 Value for money
Awesome, great drivers all around, our guide at the park was so good, saw elephants multiple times and extremely up close, also saw crocodiles, monkey, buffalo and more
This was an amazing experience and we saw heaps of beautiful animals in their natural habitat. The jeep was comfortable.
We had an excellent half-day safari experience combined with a visit to the Elephant Transit Home during feeding time. Our tour guide, Pathum, was fantastic — extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and respectful of the animals. We saw lots of elephants, deer, water buffalo, birds, crocodiles, peacocks, mongoose and monitor lizards. Seeing the elephants at feeding time was truly special and the highlight of the day.
Well worth going on the safari to see mostly elephants in the wild. Our guide was great as he kept away from the crowds and did his own thing. Early start is recommended and well worth it in our opinion. Leaves plenty of day left to make onward travel.
We were able to see elephants from very close range, which was an incredible and emotional experience. He made a great effort to show us the elephants in a respectful way without disturbing them, and shared many interesting facts about the animals and the national park.
Koshala drove to the spots that were not so crowded, and it was a really good experience. We saw two baby elephants and a lot of younger elephants.
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.
Koshala was an excellent guide, extremely informative and took the time to get the best possible pictures. I also appreciated that he took a different route to most guides so we were often the only car on the road.
The pickup from the hotel and the transfer to the safari went smoothly. We saw a lot of animals right from the very beginning; the entire trip was very interesting. I recommend it to everyone.
Koshala pointed out different animals along the way and explained how to read the body language of the elephants. He always kept a respectful distance. We also saw monkeys, birds, iguana lizards, mongoose, buffalos and crocodiles.
Before you book
Udawalawe & Elephant Transit Home questions
It's a Department of Wildlife facility beside Udawalawe National Park that raises orphaned elephant calves and releases them back into the wild — which is what makes it different from a captive elephant attraction. Visitors watch from a viewing platform at feeding time; there is no riding, bathing or touching, and the calves have no contact with people beyond their keepers. That's the point: they're being prepared to go back to the park.
The price depends on where we collect you, because the driving is the expensive part. Starting in Udawalawe itself is the cheapest; Ella and the south coast cost more, and Bentota, Colombo or Negombo more again because of the distance. Every rate on this page is per person based on two sharing — pick your pickup area above for the exact figure. Park and Transit Home tickets are separate.
No. Udawalawe National Park entrance is about $34 per adult and the Elephant Transit Home is about $6 per person, both set by the Department of Wildlife rather than by us. You can add them at checkout or pay at the gate. Everything else — jeep, driver-guide, all road transport and hotel pickup — is in the price you see.
The calves are fed several times through the day, roughly every three hours from the morning onwards. We time your visit to land on a feeding — that's what the schedule is built around — and your driver will confirm the exact slot the evening before, since the times occasionally shift.
Udawalawe is the surest place in Sri Lanka for wild elephants — there are several hundred resident in the park and they're visible year-round rather than seasonally. No wildlife sighting can be promised outright, but if elephants are what you've come for, this is the park with the best odds in the country.
It depends on your hotel. From Udawalawe itself the first departures are around 06:30. From Ella and the south coast it's 04:00, and from Bentota or Colombo 03:30 — the early start is what gets you into the park while the animals are still active and the heat hasn't built. Afternoon departures are available on every route if a pre-dawn start isn't for you.
Yes, and the Transit Home in particular tends to be the part children remember. The jeep is open-sided with bench seating, so toddlers need a lap for the rougher tracks. Children aged 3–11 travel at reduced rates and infants under 3 are free.
Up to 7 guests, so most groups and families travel together in a single vehicle. Rates on this page are per person and assume two of you sharing; if you're travelling alone you pay the two-person rate, because the jeep and the driver-guide cost the same either way.