Wild Coast Tented Lodge

Wild Coast Tented Lodge sits atthe edge of Yala National Park on a rugged stretch of Sri Lanka's southeastcoast — where the jungle stops and the Indian Ocean starts and there is nothingbetween the two except your tent.

The 28 cocoon-shaped canvas tentswere designed around five waterholes in the layout of a leopard's paw. Thecopper bathtubs catch the morning light. The open-air dining pavilion servesdaily-changing menus of Sri Lankan cuisine while the beach turns amber at dusk.

Leopard sightings here are notguaranteed — nothing worth having is — but Wild Coast's guides move with thepark rather than through it, and most guests see a leopard within 48 hours. Themorning safari at 5:30am, when the park is silent and nothing has beendisturbed yet, is where it usually happens.

Sister property of Cape Weligama and Ceylon TeaTrails. Part of Relais & Châteaux. Owned by the Dilmah tea family.