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Ankarana National Park has a total area of 18,225ha and an altitude of 206m. The predominant climate is dry tropical with an annual rainfall below 2,000mm. Most of the rain falls in January. The dry season lasts from April to November. March is the hottest month with a maximum temperature of 36.2°C and June is the coldest with a minimum temperature of 13.5°C.
The topography of Ankarana is characterised by limestone emerging from a basaltic plains plain 50m above sea level, forming the ''[[Tsingy]]'' (sharp limestone karst pinnacles). Numerous underground caves and canyons traverse the massif. Four major rivers flow through the reserve: Besaboba eastward, Ankarana from the north, Antenan'Ankarana and Mananjeba from the south. The first three are underground rivers whose specific courses currently remain unknown.
For visitors of the reserve there is much to discover in the forest, rivers and caves. In 2010 a biological inventory identified:
* 50 shellfish species and a large number of Tsingy snails
* 14 bat species, half the species of bats in Madagascar
* 60 species of reptiles and amphibians
