Sundarbans National Park

The Sundarbans is the Indian share of the largest mangrove forest on earth, a tidal maze of creeks, mudflats and salt-tolerant trees where the Ganges delta meets the Bay of Bengal. You see it entirely from a boat, drifting along channels that widen and narrow with the tide, past banks of breathing roots and occasional watchtowers built over forest clearings. Tigers live here and swim between islands, but the mangrove is dense and sightings are rare; what you actually get is crocodile on the mud, spotted deer at the water's edge, kingfishers, monitor lizards and the enormous quiet of the delta. Villages of fishers and honey collectors line the inhabited fringe.

What you actually see

• The tidal creeks - narrow channels that change shape with every tide.
• Mangrove forest - dense salt-tolerant trees standing on tangles of breathing roots.
• Estuarine crocodiles and water monitors - basking on the mudbanks at low tide.
• The watchtowers - fixed viewing platforms at Sudhanyakhali and Sajnekhali over clearings and waterholes.

When to go

November to February is the settled, cool, dry season and the only comfortable time to spend whole days on an open boat. March onward gets hot and humid, and the monsoon from June brings rain and rough water. Trips are sold as two or three day packages on a live-aboard or lodge basis, and permits are arranged by the operator rather than by you.

Honest expectations

This is a landscape trip, not a wildlife spectacle. Tiger sightings are very rare, and some visitors leave feeling that hours of identical green banks did not add up to much. Boats are slow, the sun on open water is punishing, and mosquitoes are constant. Package quality varies widely, and cheap trips usually mean cramped boats and rushed routes.

Nearby

Kolkata and its old riverfront quarters are the usual start and end point.