Sundarban Watch Towers

Sajnekhali Watch Tower

This watchtower gives out a beautiful panoramic view of the Sundarban. At the same time, you can also watch out for tigers, deer as well as other wild animals. It is a popular tourist destination and the forest office situated here will issue permission for visiting other places in the Sundarban. There is a hall that has the selected display of various photographs of birds and animals alike shot by the forest officials.

Most of the tigers are sighted from this tower. Some other wildlife like axis deer, wild boars, and crocodiles may also be seen from this watchtower.

This watchtower can host 25 persons at a time. There is a sweet water pond near the tower where animals come to drink water. Behind the pond are stretches of land bereft of any vegetation where one can sight hovering animals from a distance.

There is also a Mangrove Interpretation Centre, a BonBibi Temple as well as a Crocodile Park in the Sajnekhali watchtower complex. This watchtower provides one with the opportunity to view wildlife from close quarters. The most sought after sights by a bird watcher are seven colorful species of the Kingfisher, White Bellied Sea Eagle, Plovers, Lap-Wings, Curfews, Whimbrel, Sandpipers, and the occasional Pelican. The West Bengal Tourism Department Corporation’s Tourist lodge is also situated at Sajnekhali.

Sudhanyakhali Watch Tower

Sudhanyakhali Watch Tower is situated in the Sundarban National Park. This watchtower has the power to host 25 people at a single time.

Besides the watchtower, there is a sweet little pond where animals come to quench their thirst. Behind the pond, there are stretches of land where from a safe distance, you can watch many wild animals. The Sudhanyakhali Watch Tower offers an exclusive view point to get a glimpse of the exquisite Royal Bengal tigers. The watchtower, which can fit 25 people at a time lets you spot various wild species of the Sundarban forest area such as axis deer, wild boars, and crocodiles.

The watchtower has a unique strategic location because of the freshwater pond located just next to the tower as it is the place where all animals come to drink water. The tower and its position have made it highly functional as a wildlife watchpoint.

Sudhanyakhali Watch Tower is positioned at a distance of 43 kilometers from Canning Junction and can be easily reached via a boat ride through slender creeks and channels of the rivers Pirkhali, Sarakhkhali and Sudhanokhali and the forest Island of Gajikhali. This tower is ideal for spotting tigers and also, visitors can witness a range of other wild animals from the same place.

Dobanki Watch Tower

This is the third point on the tour of Sundarban National Park. The grand Canopy Walk is what this Watch Tower is well-known for. Your trip to the Sundarban forest would be incomplete without this Canopy Walk. This Canopy Walk completes your trip to the wildness of Mangrove Sundarban sanctuary. It is a more than half kilometer long walkway, at a height of 20 feet from the ground which is entirely protected in grill and strong net in the form of a canopy to protect visitors from the wildlife attack and is frequently well maintained. This Canopy Walk takes you half a kilometer distance into the core area of the forest where you could be walking along with deers, tigers, etc. at your side. It is a thrilling experience which tourists had liked. This Watch Tower moves around a sweet water pond where spotted Deers, Tigers, and Brahmini Kites visit. This watchtower presents one with a unique experience of watching wildlife from its Canopy Walk. This canopy walk is about half a kilometer long and at a height of about 20 ft from the ground. The sweet water pond attracts Chital deers as well as Brahmini Kites: if Lady Luck smiles, you will get to see Royal Bengal Tigers.

Netidhopani Watch Tower

There is another watchtower in the list of several watchtowers, which is associated with the legend of Behula and Lakhindar. Legend says that Behula while accompanying her dead husband on his last journey on the boat, was passing the bank of what is now called Netidhopani, saw an interesting thing. A woman was washing clothes and a child was continually disturbing her.

Annoyed, she sprinkled some water on the boy. The boy became lifeless. The woman finished her laundry and then again sprinkled some water on the boy, chanting some mantras, to bring him back to life.

Behula decided in a flash that this was the person who could bring her husband back to life. She rowed the boat to the bank and asked the lady (Netidhopani) to teach her the verses. This lady was instrumental in bringing back the life of Lakhindar. Behula reached heaven from this Ghat. Today this watchtower offers one a view of the ruins of a 400-year-old Shiva Temple. It is also believed that there is a road on the extreme right of the forest which was built by King Pratapaditya to guard the coastal area. It is now covered with soils and debris. There is also a sweet water pond. This watchtower can host 20 persons at a time.

Bonnie Camp

Bonnie Camp, is one of the most beautiful watchtowers in the Sundarban. This watchtower, 50 feet high, is the highest in the Sundarban. It is quite close to the Bay of Bengal and generally takes around 06 hours to reach from Sajnekhali by a six-cylinder boat. Like all other watchtowers of Sundarban, there is a sweet-water pond nearby where the wildlife of Sundarban come and go frequently throughout the day.

The ambiance of the watchtower is fabulous. Wildlife enthusiasts will get the feeling of being engrossed on a desolate island surrounded by a picturesque wildlife view if especially if spends one night at Bonnie camp. The lurking fear of the Royal Bengal Tiger and the barking of the deer at night will add an eerie feeling to this destination. In fact, on a moonlit night, the view of the jungle from the watchtower crisscrossed with rivulets and creeks all around is a palatable treat for the eyes. There is a tourist rest house at Bonnie camp for overnight stay. However, there is no electricity (only solar lights) or AC in the rooms. Prior booking is needed to stay overnight there.

Burirdabri Camp

This watch Tower in the Burirdabri camp is famous for its scope of view, a mud walk, and mangrove cage trail leading to a point known as Raimongal View Point. The ground fauna consisting of snails, varieties of crabs, and mollusk will attract your focus during the mud walk.

The layout of this watchtower is beautiful with one walking over wooden bridges and then through the mud cage and finally culminating in a wooden watchtower overlooking Bangladesh with the river Raimongal forming the international boundary between India and Bangladesh. One can see the Bangladesh Sundarban area from this watchtower. This watchtower can host 10 persons at a time.

This is again a watchtower, which is overlooked by tour operators as well as tourists because of its distance from the Sajnekhali/Pakhiralaya/Jamesport area. It is a must-see watchtower at Sundarban.

Jhingekhali Watch Tower

This watchtower is among the ones to be located on the Eastern nook of the Indian part of Sundarban. It falls in the Bashirhat Range of the Jhingekhali Beat of Sundarban. The watchtower can accommodate 20 persons at a time.

This watchtower is often overlooked by tour operators and tourists because of its distance from the Sajnekhali/Dayapur area. Since the movement of tourists is less in this area, the scenic beauty of this place is well preserved and the chances of viewing tigers, as per our opinion, are relatively higher than the other watchtowers.

This watchtower, like some other watchtowers, has observation lines and a sweet water pond for observing the wildlife. There is a BanoBibi temple within the compound of the Watchtower as well. Apart from other birds that can be sighted, the chance of sighting of Brahmini Kites is quite obvious from this watchtower.