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Morning mist over the rainforest canopy of Sinharaja near Deniyaya

Rainforest

Sinharaja

The island's last large lowland rainforest, a UNESCO site full of endemic birds, frogs and lizards, explored on guided walks from the village of Kudawa.

Plan a trip with Sinharaja
Time to spend
1 to 2 nights
Best months
January to April and August to September. It rains on many days at any time of year.
Getting around
Your lodge will arrange a guide and a jeep to the gate.
Good to know
A local guide is required inside the reserve. Wear leech socks, carry a rain jacket and keep cameras in a dry bag.

Sinharaja Forest Reserve protects the largest remaining patch of tropical lowland rainforest in Sri Lanka. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and most of its trees and many of its animals are found nowhere else.

It is best known for its mixed-species bird flocks, which can include the Sri Lanka blue magpie and other endemics, and for its frogs, lizards and butterflies. Guided walks follow forest trails from the Kudawa entrance in the north-west.

Stays are in simple lodges and guesthouses on the forest edge. The Deniyaya side to the south-east has separate entrances, but the drive round is long, so pick one side.

What to see and do

  • Guided rainforest walk from Kudawa Must see

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    A guided walk of three to five hours along the main trails, through tall forest and across streams, looking for birds, giant squirrels, lizards and frogs.

    4 hr · Morning · 06:30 to 16:30LKR 1,240to confirm

    Forest Department entry reported at about LKR 1,240 for foreign adults; the compulsory guide is paid separately.

  • Early-morning birding walk

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    A dawn walk with a specialist bird guide to find the mixed feeding flocks and endemics such as the blue magpie, the red-faced malkoha and the green-billed coucal.

    3 hr · SunriseLKR 5,000 to LKR 12,000estimate

    Specialist bird guides charge more than standard guides; entry is extra.

Also consider

Worth the trip if you have time. The planner leaves these out unless you add them.

  • Night walk on the forest edge

    A guided walk after dark along the edge of the forest to look for frogs, geckos, owls and other night life.

    1 hr 30 minAdd to a tripMaps

Nearby places to stay

Photos

A rocky stream running through the Sinharaja rainforest
A rocky stream running through the Sinharaja rainforest
A Sri Lanka blue magpie, an endemic bird, in the Sinharaja forest
A Sri Lanka blue magpie, an endemic bird, in the Sinharaja forest
A lizard on a tree trunk in the Sinharaja Forest Reserve
A lizard on a tree trunk in the Sinharaja Forest Reserve
Forested hills seen across the Sinharaja rainforest
Forested hills seen across the Sinharaja rainforest
The rainforest canopy of Sinharaja seen from a hillside
The rainforest canopy of Sinharaja seen from a hillside
A pair of chestnut-backed owlets in the forest at Kudawa, Sinharaja
A pair of chestnut-backed owlets in the forest at Kudawa, Sinharaja