Yala National Park is a well renowned tropical thorn forest which boasts its exotic wilderness along with its fine coastline, and rich wildlife that is located in the southern dry zone of Sri Lanka.

This National Park has a coastal plain with numerous inselbergs that are dispersed across it, along with numerous caves and kema (pools) which are connected to them.

There are several freshwater lakes and brackish lagoons inside the Yala. The eastern boundary of Yala is formed by the sea and marked by sand dunes of up to 30m high and broad sandy beaches.

Located in the southeast of Sri Lanka, Yala cannot escape the extensive period of drought from

May to September. Therefore, the reported mean annual temperature of Yala is 27॰C. This National Park is one of the most diverse parks, which is predominantly semi-arid thorn scrub, interspersed with pockets of fairly dense forest.

Yala National Park of Sri Lanka is a habitat for a total of 32 species of mammals, including endangered species like sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya), elephant (Elephas maximus ), and water buffalo. The most commonly spotted animals of Yala are  wild boar, spotted deer, sambar and golden jackal.

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Diverse avifauna of 120-130 species, including eagles such as the white-bellied sea eagle, grey-headed fish eagle, Yala is the most visited, second largest National Park in Sri Lanka, which homes a magnificently crested hawk eagle, crested serpent eagle, some of the smaller, faster raptors such as the shikra or the peregrine falcon. Many water birds can not resist the comfort of the lagoons of Yala. During the monsoon, lagoons are visited by thousands of migrating waterfowl, including ducks, terns and gulls.

The diverse range of wildlife of Yala is also a home for notable reptiles, such as mugger, estuarine crocodile, common monitor, cobra and Russell's Viper. A variety of sea turtles, Olive Ridley and Leatherback are also frequent visitors to Yala .The exotic lagoon fauna includes various species of prawns, crabs and fish.

There are 12 camp sites located in block 1, block 2 and block 5.