A semiconductor light-emitting element includes: a lower clad layer 12 that is provided on a substrate 10; an active layer 20 that is provided on the lower clad layer 12 and includes a quantum well layer 24 and a plurality of quantum dots 28 sandwiching a second barrier layer 22b together with the quantum well layer 24; and an upper clad layer 14 that is provided on the active layer 20, wherein a distance D between the quantum well layer 24 and the plurality of quantum dots 28 is smaller than an average of distances X between centers of the plurality of quantum dots 28.