Uga Chena Huts (Yala)
Yala National Park, Sri Lanka
Location
Edge of Yala National Park
The camp sits on the south-eastern corner of Sri Lanka, on dunes between Yala National Park and a deserted Indian Ocean beach, about five minutes from the park gate. It is off-the-beaten-track — the safari leg of an island tour — most often paired with the closer south coast around Galle.
Transfer
A Yala transfer
Reach the camp by road from Colombo in about 4 to 5 hours, five minutes from the Yala park gate. It pairs naturally with the south coast, which is closer.
Villas
Safari cabins
Eighteen identical 71-square-metre pool cabins set across seven private acres — the only cabin type, in the only all-pool camp in the area, each with a living room, bedroom, freestanding tub and a shaded deck with a private 5-metre plunge pool.
Best For
Who it suits
Couples and families who want a true safari — leopards, elephants and birds — without giving up comfort, and travellers happy to be off-the-beaten-track for the wildlife.
Board Basis
All-inclusive
All-inclusive: all meals, all drinks and two daily game drives with a ranger. Dining moves from the main Basses Restaurant to private tables under the stars and bonfire picnics on the beach.
About the Resort
The Yala wildlife leg
Uga Chena Huts sits at the wild south-eastern edge of Sri Lanka, on a stretch of dune and scrub between Yala National Park and the Indian Ocean. It is a small, all-inclusive safari camp — eighteen cabins across seven acres — and the only all-pool camp in the region, so every cabin has its own plunge pool on a shaded deck. The 'huts' are anything but basic: 71 square metres of climate-controlled space with a living room, a bedroom, a freestanding tub and an outdoor shower, finished in log furniture and safari motifs that sit lightly in the landscape. Yala holds the highest density of leopards on earth, and a stay here is built around finding them: a morning and an evening game drive every day, led by the camp's own rangers, come included along with all meals and drinks. Sightings in the wild are never guaranteed, but few places offer better odds. Beyond the gates, elephants wander down to the beach at dusk and turtles haul up the sand to nest by moonlight — a camp where the wild rarely stays at arm's length, and the safari leg of an island tour, most often paired with the south coast.
Accommodation
Safari cabins
Uga Chena Huts has one kind of accommodation, and it is generous: eighteen detached cabins, each identical in comfort and each set apart for privacy across the seven-acre site. Every cabin can take an extra bed for a younger guest, so the camp works for couples and families alike.
Cabin
Luxury Cabin with Safari
Sleeps two (plus an extra bed on request). Around 71 square metres — a living room, bedroom and freestanding tub opening to a shaded deck with a private 5-metre plunge pool and outdoor shower. The only cabin type, in the only all-pool camp in the area, with daily game drives and all meals and drinks included.
Plunge poolWilderness view
Food & Drink
Dining
All-inclusive here means full board with drinks — and dining that rarely stays in one place, from the main restaurant to private tables under the stars and bonfire picnics on the beach, with a poolside and a sunken nautical bar for sundowners after the afternoon drive.
Main
Basses Restaurant
The main restaurant, serving Sri Lankan and international menus with produce from the region, all included.
Private
In-cabin dining
Private meals served in your own cabin or a pavilion, away from everyone else.
Stars
Under the stars
Private tables set out under the night sky, by lantern and firelight.
Beach
Sundown beach picnics
Sundown picnics and bonfire dinners on the deserted, turtle-nesting beach.
Wellbeing
Spa
A small spa tucked into the camp offers massages and body treatments to ease the early starts and long days in the jeep — a calm counterpoint to the wilderness, alongside a serene 22-metre main pool for the heat of the day and a private plunge pool on every cabin's deck.
Spa
Massages and body treatments in the camp's small spa, timed around the game drives.
Main pool & plunge pools
A serene 22-metre main pool at the heart of the camp, plus a private 5-metre plunge pool on every cabin deck.
Game drives
A morning and an evening game drive every day with the camp's rangers, included.
Activities & Experiences
Signature Experiences
The whole point of Chena Huts is what lies beyond the cabin — Yala, the ocean and the wetlands around them. Two game drives a day in search of leopard, guided bush walks, birding at Bundala, sundowners in the dunes, and a beach where elephants and turtles come ashore.
Daily game drives
A morning and an evening drive every day with the camp's rangers, in search of leopard, elephant, sloth bear and crocodile. Sightings in the wild are never guaranteed, but few places offer better odds.
Bush walks
Guided walks that reveal the flora, birds and smaller wildlife you would miss from a jeep.
Bundala birding
A short drive to Bundala National Park, a UNESCO biosphere and one of Sri Lanka's finest wetland bird sites, with flamingos in season.
Sundown beach picnics
Sundown picnics on the open beach, where elephants come to the surf at dusk and turtles nest by moonlight.
Spa
Massages and body treatments in the camp's small spa, to ease the early starts.
Getting There
Location & transfers
By road
About 4 to 5 hours from Colombo
About 4 to 5 hours by car from Colombo.
By the park
Five minutes from the gate
Five minutes from the Yala park gate, on dunes between the park and the Indian Ocean.
Guest Reviews
What Our Clients Say
★★★★★
“The most extraordinary place I have ever stayed. Nothing prepares you for the depth of the silence, the beauty of the reef, or the sheer generosity of the experience.”
✓ Verified via feefo
★★★★★
“We’ve stayed here three times now. The house reef has no equal. The stargazing was, genuinely, one of the most moving experiences of my adult life.”
✓ Verified via feefo
★★★★★
“I had stayed at Four Seasons, One&Only and Velaa before visiting Uga Chena Huts (Yala). They are all magnificent. But this is different in a way that is hard to articulate.”
✓ Verified via feefo
Good to Know
Good to know
Board basis
- Fully all-inclusive — all meals, all drinks and two daily game drives with a ranger are included.
Setting
- On dunes between Yala National Park and a deserted Indian Ocean beach — off-the-beaten-track, with turtles nesting on the sand and elephants in the surf at dusk.
Seasonal
- Yala's main sector usually closes for several weeks around September and early October each year, and trips are planned around it; every wildlife sighting depends on the day.
Getting there
- About 4 to 5 hours by car from Colombo, five minutes from the Yala park gate.
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