Hurulu Eco Park · UNESCO biosphere reserve · Sri Lanka
When the tanks at Hurulu and Kaudulla fill and their herds scatter, Hurulu keeps its elephants. Ten minutes from Habarana, open all year, and scrub forest instead of open grassland — which is why leopard sightings happen here. Free pickup within 5 km of town.
When to come
Minneriya and Kaudulla are tank parks. Their elephants gather when the water drops and scatter when it rises, so from about February the grassland empties and the drives get thin. Hurulu is forest, not tank, and its herds stay put. It is also higher and better drained, so it keeps running through the rains when the tank parks turn to mud. Book Minneriya in August, Kaudulla in November, Hurulu in March.
Tour packages
Every package runs in an open 4×4 safari jeep with a raised roof and an experienced driver-tracker. Take a seat in a shared jeep, or take the whole vehicle. Food and drinks are not included on any of them.
Pickup is free for any hotel within about 5 km of Habarana town. Further out we charge for the transfer based on the distance, and we always confirm that figure with you before you pay anything.
Straight answer
We run all three, so we have no reason to push you at the wrong one. Book by the month you are travelling, not by the name you have heard of.
February – June
June – September
October – January
Not sure? Send us your dates on WhatsApp and we will tell you which park we would book for those weeks — including when the answer is not this one. If the herd moves after you book, we move your drive with it at no extra cost.
The fine print, up front
No surprise charges at the gate. Everything below applies to all four packages unless a line says otherwise.
From our own drives
Every photo here was taken on one of our safaris. Tap any of them to open it full size.
Not only elephants
Hurulu has been a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1977. Scrub and mixed evergreen forest means different species from the tank parks — hornbills and junglefowl along the tracks, mongoose and land monitors underfoot, and the best leopard odds of the three. Bring the zoom lens.
From booking to gate
Choose the package, the date and how many of you are travelling. The price updates as you go — no quote request, no waiting.
Checkout runs on the Sampath Bank payment gateway with 3-D Secure. Visa, Mastercard and Amex, charged in Sri Lankan rupees at the day's rate. Your card details never touch our server.
A booking reference appears on screen straight away, and the same permit lands in your inbox and on WhatsApp within a minute.
Your driver messages you the evening before with his name, plate number and exact pickup time. He waits in your hotel lobby.
Instant booking
Fill this in, pay, and your permit is issued on the spot. Prefer to talk it through first? Send the same details to WhatsApp with one tap.
Questions
Hurulu is open all year and holds elephants all year, which the other two parks do not. Its best window is roughly February to June, when Minneriya and Kaudulla have filled with water and their herds disperse into the surrounding forest. Hurulu also stays drivable through the rains when the tank parks flood. If you are travelling between February and June, this is the park to book.
It comes down to the month. Minneriya is best June to September during The Gathering. Kaudulla takes over October to January. Hurulu is the answer February to June, and it is the only one of the three that is reliable all year. Hurulu is also the closest to Habarana, about ten minutes to the gate, which suits short stays and early starts. Send us your dates and we will say honestly which park to book — including when the answer is not this one.
A seat in a shared jeep starts at €25 per person for a 3-hour drive; a private jeep starts at €60 for the whole vehicle, up to six people. Park entrance tickets are separate and set by the Department of Wildlife Conservation — about €30 per adult and €15 per child, including service charge and VAT. You can add tickets at checkout so there is nothing to pay at the gate. Food and drinks are not included on any safari, and an English-speaking safari guide is an optional LKR 4,000.
In a sharing jeep you buy a seat and travel with up to five other guests, which keeps the cost down. In a private jeep the whole vehicle is yours — you set the pace, stop where you want, and the driver works to your photography rather than to a group. Private is the better call for families, photographers and anyone who wants a specific pickup time.
About ten minutes to the gate — the closest of the three parks, which is why it suits early starts and half-day stops. Pickup is free within about 5 km of Habarana town, covering most Habarana hotels and guesthouses. Sigiriya, Dambulla, Kandalama, Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee carry a transfer charge worked out from the distance. Pick your location in the booking form and we confirm the figure in writing before you pay anything.
Yes. The moment your card payment clears, the system issues a booking reference and sends your permit to your email and your WhatsApp — usually inside a minute. There is no waiting for someone to reply. The evening before your safari, your driver messages you his name, the jeep's plate number and the exact pickup time.
No. Food and drinks are not included on any of our safaris, including the full day and the two-park combo. Bring water and something to eat — a 3-hour drive in the dry zone is thirsty work, and 10 hours certainly is. Tell your driver at pickup and he will stop somewhere you can buy supplies before the gate.
Your driver is an experienced tracker who finds the animals and knows the park's moods. A safari guide is a separate English-speaking naturalist who rides with you and talks you through what you are seeing — species names, behaviour, the history of the tank. It costs LKR 4,000 for the guide, whatever the size of your group. Most guests skip it; birders and photographers usually take one.
Cancel more than 24 hours before pickup and you get a full refund to the original card, usually within five working days. Inside 24 hours we refund half. Date changes are free at any time, subject to availability. If the park closes or the drive is cancelled by weather, you choose between a full refund and a free reschedule.
Hurulu is scrub and mixed evergreen forest rather than open tank grassland, so the feel is different. Expect elephants, spotted deer, sambar, water buffalo, toque macaques, grey langurs, mongoose, land monitors and peafowl, with bee-eaters, rollers, hornbills and the endemic Sri Lanka junglefowl along the tracks. Sloth bear and Sri Lankan leopard live here, and Hurulu gives better leopard odds than the tank parks, but sightings are still rare and nobody should promise you one. If you want the birds named as you go, add a safari guide at checkout.
Yes. The tracks are rough but the drive is slow, and our jeeps have seat belts, a roll bar and a raised roof for shade. Children under six travel free on a parent's lap. Tell us in the booking notes if you need a child seat, step assistance or a wheelchair-accessible vehicle and we will arrange it.
Close enough to fill a frame with a 200 mm lens, and no closer. Our drivers keep a respectful distance, never block a herd's path to water, and switch the engine off rather than chase a sighting. Crowding elephants is how animals get stressed and people get hurt — we don't do it, and we will say so if another jeep does.
Your permit is on its way to your email and WhatsApp.
