Bhitarkanika National Park Cruises & Tour Packages

Bhitarkanika, in Orissa, is India’s second-largest mangrove region, and most of the 260-square-mile delta forms the magnificent wildlife sanctuary that is the Bhitarkanika National Park, a major biodiversity hotspot of immense importance for its unique flora and fauna. The main reason to come on a Bhitarkanika tour is to spot crocodiles and birds, and the only way to get around most of the sanctuary is by boat. The three rivers that flow out into the Bay of Bengal form a tidal web of muddy rivers, creeks, streams, accumulated salt-enriched land, backwaters and mangroves.

You’ll see crocs galore on your Bhitarkanika tour package: long-snouted gharials, broad-snouted muggers and huge salties. The sanctuary is also home to monitor lizards, venomous cobras and Indian pythons, spotted and sambar deer, wild boar, jungle cats, otters, rhesus monkeys, fishing cats, and over 215 species of birds including eight varieties of dazzling kingfishers. There’s a birding tower inside the sanctuary.