Bentota Beach & lagoon

Bentota is a Sri Lankan coastal city, very famous travel destination  located on the southern tip of the Galle District of the Southern Province, about 80 kilometres from Colombo on the Colombo - Galle main road. Its population is estimated to be between 25,000-50,000. The name comes from a mythical story which dates back to kings time saying a demon called Bem ruled this river.
Bentota is a tourist No 1 tourist destination in Sri Lanka, with a local airport (Bentota River Airport) and a handful of world-class hotels. It is a destination for watersports too. It is the hosting land for the famous Sri Lankan Jeweler Aida. Bentota also delivers an ancient art of healing called Ayurveda. Bentota is famous for its toddy production, an alcoholic beverage made out of coconut nectar.

The beach is a superb stretch of golden sand. Although there are a string of resort hotels here, the beach was clean & tidy and good for surfing, the buildings are mainly hidden by palm trees too. If you visited the beach in the evening you can watch the miracle sunset scenery. 

The river and lagoon offer a wide range of water activities such as jet-skiing and wind surfing. It's also possible to go on boat trips up the river and explore the Bentota River's waterways. Here you'll find many different types of birds and reptiles.

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Whale & Dolphin Watching in Srilanka, Mirissa.

Recently Sri Lanka is becoming a major spot for watching Whales and Dolphins. Dondra Point of down south in Sri Lanka is the main port of Whale Watching in Sri Lanka during December to April. Out of these months December, January and April are the peak months of sightings. During these months there is 95% chances of spotting Sperm Whales and great chances of spotting Blue Whales as their migration path is just off Dondra Point. Also there are good chances of spotting Spinner Dolphins also off Dondra. Ample of accommodation options are available as Dondra point can be reach easily from Hikkaduwa, Galle, Unawatuna, Weligama, Mirissa and Tangalle which are popular beach locations in Sri Lanka.

Blue Whales in Sri lanka - You tube Video

  
Mirissa

Mirissa and its breathtaking sandy beach pretty much transforms your dreams and visions of a tropical paradise into an everyday reality. Located close to the Southern tip of the Island of Sri Lanka and only about 200 km from the Equator, this secluded crescent shaped beach is the perfect place to sit back, relax and forget about all the hussle and bussle of your other life that’s a million miles away.

This small sandy tropical beach boasts some of Sri Lanka’s best and most stunning sunsets and sunrises. All the Guest Houses in Mirissa are set back from the actual beach giving you the impression that you are on a deserted palm fringed island. Every now and again the silence is broken by the sound of a coconut falling on the sand or a chilled beer being opened by someone further up the beach. Mirissa beach is also a one of the best place for Surfing lovers.
 

Whale and Dolphin watching is an easy sport that you can take up during the months of December to April. All you need to take is a boat, few kilometers from the shore, which we can help you arrange. Experienced local guides can show you a good time in watching whales and dolphins off the coast of Mirissa.

Pods of Dolphins can be seen accompanying boats frequently during the said months. Blue and Sperm Whales in large numbers frequent the coastline of Sri Lanka during this period and can be viewed near Mirissa beach.

 Sri Lanka Navy

The Sri Lankan Navy is getting into the tourism business in an effort to improve the country’s image after three decades of civil war and to offer tourists a new attraction otherwise unavailable here. It has established a ferry service for whale watching excursions out of the popular tourist port of Galle in the south. Tickets aboard the luxury ferry cost $100 for a five-hour journey and whales can be seen in the area through April. This region was largely unaffected by the long-running civil war.

Visit there official website for more info -  http://whalewatching.navy.lk/

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Hikkaduwa Beach & Hikkaduwa National Park

Hikkaduwa is located 100km south of the country's capital, Colombo. The area is well-known for its coral sanctuary and the proximity of wonderful scuba diving sites to explore. With its unique beach culture, Hikkaduwa has long been the most popular diving and surfing area in Sri Lanka. In the centre of Hikkaduwa, a lagoon also creates a beautiful and safe snorkelling area. Further south, where the currents are stronger, surfing is the dominant water activity. The impressive coral reef runs just offshore and is populated by exotic fish and sea turtles that come ashore on this beach to lay their eggs.

It was affected by the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Villages affected were Telwatta, Paraliya (Queen of the Sea rail disaster), Dodanduwa, Kahawa, Rathgama. The place is on the way from Colombo to Galle on the famous Galle road. It is primarily a tourist destination, and serves as a great beach with options to surf, snorkel and enjoy the sun. The town is arranged around the one main road which runs from Galle to Colombo. This road is extremely heavily trafficked and pedestrians and tourists are advised to exercise caution when crossing.

Swimming

Warning: The sea currents directly in front of the beach house can be very strong and make swimming quite dangerous at times. Parents with young children should be particularly mindful of this. Better to just have a paddle or sit back and enjoy the impressive crashing waves at the beach house instead and, if you want to go swimming in the sea, take a trip to the Coral Sanctuary at Hikkaduwa or go down the coast to Unawatuna instead.

Diving

The diving at Hikkaduwa is diverse and there is an abundance of marine life and dive sites to suit all levels of experience. Big groupers, barracudas, moray eels, dogtooth tunas, manta rays, lobsters & turtles are often to be seen just off the coast at Hikkaduwa. A large number of wrecks have floundered off the coast in this area over the years, adding to the range of dive sites available. The diving season in the south west runs from November to April and there are a number of well-established diving centres from which to choose with Blue Deep being one of the best!

Surfing

Hikkaduwa is a very well known surfing destination on the international circuit and annually attracts surfers from all over the world. There are plenty of good surfing points and although most of them are reef breaks, none of them is risky since they all have a flat deep bottom. The wave size ranges up to 3 metres during the season. The main point, known as the main reef has 'A-frame' shaped waves, which can be surfed in both directions.

 

Hikkaduwa National Park

Hikkaduwa National Park is one of the two marine national parks in Sri Lanka. The national park contains a fringing coral reef of high degree of biodiversity. The area was declared a wildlife sanctuary on May 18, 1979, and then on August 14, 1988, upgraded to a nature reserve with extended land area. The growth of the number of visitors in the next 25 years increased the degradation of the coral reef. To reduce the effects to the ecosystem, the reef was declared a national park on September 19, 2002.

Source - Click Here                                                          2. Pigeon Island Marine National Park, Nilaveli

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Gal Oya National Park

After the end of civil war in 2009 Gal Oya National Park has become a major local and foreign tourist destination in Sri Lanka. Gal Oya National Park is situated 314 km from Colombo and it was established on the 12 February, 1954, in order to protect a portion of the 100,000 hectare catchment area of the massive Senanayake Samudra. It was created by the damming of the river called the Gal Oya with the goal of opening up 162,000 hectares of forest land for agricultural development and was handed over to the Department of Wildlife Conservation in 1965.  Nestled quietly off the beaten track in the Moneragala and Ampara districts, it is not somewhere you can easily get to on the way to anywhere else. 

There are no bungalows at Gal Oya, the closest being on the Ekgal Aru tank 23km to the east.  This is a tall, handsome structure with a large, pleasant garden wonderfully situated overlooking the reservoir.  The best way to actually see the Gal Oya National Park and the wildlife contained within is to organize a boat trip around the tank. The best time to visit is from March to July when the area’s elephants (Elephas maximus) congregate in the shallows to feed on aquatic vegetation. It is also a great spot for bird-watching. In addition to the abundant birdlife, the park also shelters the usual Sri Lankan dry zone diversity of mammals and reptiles.

The vegetative structure of the park is a mix of thick, dry zone forest, savanna and grassland with some remnant chena areas in the west. The highest point in the region is Govindahela, a dominating 573m granite outcrop that sits just outside the southwestern corner of the park.

Due perhaps to its slightly awkward location, Gal Oya National Park has often been bypassed by visitors, local and foreign.  It is this untrammeled character coupled with a truly awe-inspiring natural beauty that makes the journey so very worthwhile.  The park is also unique in the country in that the best way to truly appreciate its moods, shades and shadows is from a boat on the tank itself, on the inside looking out.

 

Getting There

Gal Oya National Park can be reached from Colombo via Ratnapura, Pelmadulla, Udawalawe, Thanamalwila, Wellawaya, Moneragala and then north from Siyambalanduwa to Inginiyagala. The park entrance is 20 km west from Ampara at Inginiyagala. Inginiyagala affords the tourists the opportunity of a boat trip around the great Senanayake Samudra reservoir. Ampara can be reached by domestic flight too.

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Visit Miracle Colombo 2012

Colombo is the largest city and former administrative capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the present administrative capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is a busy and vibrant city with a mixture of modern life and colonial buildings and ruins.

The name "Colombo", first introduced by the Portuguese in 1505, is believed to be derived from the classical Sinhalese name Kolon thota, meaning "port on the river Kelani". It has also been suggested that the name Colombo may be derived from the Sinhalese name Kola-amba-thota which means "Harbour with leafy mango trees".

Due to its large harbour and its strategic position along the East-West sea trade routes, Colombo was known to ancient traders 2,000 years ago. However it was only made the capital of the island when Sri Lanka was ceded to the British Empire in 1815, and its status as capital was retained when the nation became independent in 1948. In 1978, when administrative functions were moved to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo was designated as the commercial capital of Sri Lanka.

This is some of pictures of up growing Colombo city in 2012.

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 Sky Scrapers

 Old Parliment

Clean Streets of the City

Nelum Pokuna Performing Arts Theatre

 

 

 New look of Berei Lake

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Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage

 

Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage is an orphanage and breeding ground for wild elephants which is situated northwest of the town of Kegalle, Sri Lanka. It was established in 1975 by the Department of Wildlife Conservation on a 25-acre (10 ha) coconut plantation on the Maha Oya river. The orphanage was originally founded in order to afford care and protection to the many orphaned elephants found in the jungle. As of 2008, there were 84 elephants.

The aim of the orphanage is to simulate the natural world. However, there are some exceptions: the elephants are taken to the river twice daily for a bath, and all the babies under three years of age are still bottle fed by the mahouts and volunteers. Each animal is also given around 76 kilograms (170 lb) of green manure a day and around 2 kg (4.4 lb) from a food bag containing rice bran and maize. They get access to water twice a day, from the river.

This elephant orphanage is also a breeding place for elephants. More than twenty-three elephants have been born since 1984, and the orphanage has the largest herd of captive elephants in the world. While most of the elephants are healthy, one is blind, and one, named Sama, has lost her front right leg to a land mine.

The orphanage is very popular among local and foreign tourists. The main attraction is the opportunity to observe the bathing elephants from the broad river bank as the herd interacts socially, bathing and playing.

The orphanage is open to the public daily, and all admission fees are used to look after the elephants. Visitors to the park can view many different aspects of the care and daily routine of the elephants, such as bottle feeding of elephant calves, feeding of all other elephants, and bathing. Cost for foreign adults: 2,000 LKR 

Pinnawala is about 3 km from Rambukkana junction on Colombo-Kandy (90km from Colombo) road. Travellers by bus from Colombo or Kandy could take the Rambukkana bus from Kegalle town. 

More info - Click Here

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Golf Clubs in Sri Lanka

 Sri Lanka is relatively unknown in the field of Golf, but surprisingly the country has three of the finest 18 hole courses in Asia. In fact the association with golf is more than a century and the Sri Lanka Amateur Golf Championship, which was instituted in the year 1891 follows the British Amateur as the oldest national championship in the world. The three courses are situated in Colombo, Digana and Nuwara Eliya, Colombo at sea level, Digana at 600 m and Nuwara Eliya at an elevation of 2'070m have distinctly different terrain and climate conditions. This contributes to the enjoyment and challenge as you could be playing golf in three different countries.

Although the golf tour is planned primarily for golfing, a city tour of Colombo and a visit to Kandy and its sights is included in the programme. Kandy in particular is one of Sri Lanka's many highlights and should not be missed.

The Courses 

 

The Royal Colombo Golf Club: This course is 5'770 m long (par 71). A flat course with broad fairways which looks simple to beginners but there are many water hazards and well guarded bunkers which quickly change the opinion. The Royal Colombo Golf Club is easily accessible, being 20 minutes drive from all first-class hotels in the city.

Victoria Golf Club, Digana: This course is 6'190 m long (par 73) a championship golf course designed by Donald Steel and inaugurated early in 1999. The fairways are rather narrow in a hilly country side. Stately trees and avenues of coconuts lend the course an immediate air maturity. Impressive natural outcrops of rocks are a distinctive feature and indeed a hazard of the course. The Victoria Golf Club is situated 25 km east of Kandy and 150 km from Colombo.

The Nuwara Eliya Golf Club: This course which is reputed to be one of Asia's finest is 5'520 m (par 71). The fairways are long and narrow and bordered by fir trees and thick bushes. It demands skilful "position play" and the hilly terrain makes it essential that players can cope with up-hill and down-hill lies. The Golf Club is 10 minutes.

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