The creeks and channels at low tide are where the tracks are. Tiger pugmarks on the exposed mud are common; the animals themselves are seen by a small minority of visitors, and anyone promising a sighting is selling something. Treat it as a bonus, not the plan.

The watchtowers at Sudhanyakhali, Sajnekhali and Dobanki in the Indian sector overlook freshwater pools and clearings maintained for wildlife, and are the most likely places for deer, wild boar and, occasionally, a tiger coming to drink.

The mudflats and banks hold estuarine crocodiles, water monitors, and the fiddler crabs and mudskippers that carpet the mud at low tide.

The birdlife is the reliable reward: brown-winged, collared and black-capped kingfishers, lesser adjutants, herons, and the raptors that patrol the channels. Winter adds waders and wildfowl in numbers.

The Irrawaddy dolphins in the larger channels are a genuine possibility, and Ganges river dolphins occur in the fresher upstream reaches.

November to February is the comfortable season with the best birding. Summer is hot and humid; the monsoon brings storms and difficult boating.

Practicalities

On the Indian side, trips run from Godkhali near Kolkata, typically as two- or three-night boat packages with permits arranged by the operator. Bangladesh's side is reached from Khulna and Mongla.

Permits are required, boats must carry a forest department guide, and landing is restricted to designated points — not bureaucracy for its own sake, but a response to a forest where tigers genuinely do attack people who wander into it.