TRAVEL GUIDE

The nearest airport to the Sunderbans is Calcutta, 131 km, from where you can hire a car, take a suburban train or a bus to Canning (64 km, 1 ½ hours). You can also take buses from Calcutta to Raidighi (76 km), Najat (92 km), Sonakhali (100 km), or Namkhana (105 km), and then take a motor launch service to the Sunderbans.

Cruising around

From Namkhana you can sail to Bhagabatpur Crocodile Project (2 ½ hours), Sagar Island (2 ½ hours) and Jambudwip (3 ½ hours). From Sajnekhali it is 40 minutes to Sudhayakhali, 3 hours to Holiday Island, 3 ½ hours to Netidhopari and 5 hours to Buridabri Tiger Project Area. You can get to Gosaba from Sonakhali in 1 hour and from Rajdighi to Kalas in 5 hours.

Best time to go

The best time to come here is from October to April, when the rains have petered out and the weather is as cool as it is going to get. Winter temperatures range from 30° C to 9° C. The summers are very hot and humid, with temperatures between 42° C and 30° C. Remember to carry mosquito repellent, a torch and a first aid kit.

Room with a view

Accommodation options are limited to a tourist lodge and a forest rest house at Sajnekhali. And of course, if you are on a cruise, you will be staying on board.

Born free

Its time to get in touch with nature…cruising through the largest delta in the world…the Sunderbans, an estuarine mangrove forest, home to the Royal Bengal Tiger and a host of other animals that are fast disappearing from the face of the earth. The delicate ecosystem of the Sunderbans is sustained by the mangrove forests - the tangled roots that trees extend like tentacles to grab onto the dissolving cyclone-lashed coastline. 

The Sunderbans shelter the barking deer and spotted deer, monkeys, civet cats, monitor lizards and otters. Olive Ridley turtles, estuarine crocodiles, river terrapins, Gangetic dolphins, black finless porpoises, catfish, mudskippers, crabs, shrimps and lobsters swim the rivers. Look out for the golden backed woodpecker, osprey, white-bellied sea eagle, orange-breasted pigeon, brahminy kite, lapwing, kingfisher, pelican, white crane and egret. 

The Sunderbans cover 10,000 square km of land and water; half of it is in West Bengal, India and the rest in the Bangladesh Gangetic delta. The waterlogged jungle comes afloat at high tide and then the water recedes to reveal its amazing aqua-terrestrial treasures. The best way to look out for the animals is to take a river cruise, boarding at Sajnekhali, Canning, Gosaba or Basanti. Cruises last from a day to 3-4 days. 

Visit the Sajnekhali Bird Sanctuary, Bhagabatpur Crocodile Park, Jambudwip, Sagar, Lothian, Kailash and Holiday Island. If you are lucky you may spot one of the 250 tigers that prowl the forests and swim across the rivers.

Sailing down the river swamps, a tree canopy above you and the wild, wild unknown lurking in the shadows...this is one cruise you are going to remember for a long time.