Unawatuna Beach - Unawatuna, Galle.

Unawatuna beach,  a crescent shaped shallow beach situated further south to the famous town of galle and its famous harbour and towering roomassala mountain. It is protected by a natural reef from the open sea and due to the semicircle shape of it forms a perfect natural swimming pool with aquamarine colour gentle waves crashing on the golden sandy beach.

With almost every kind and type of hotel, motel and guest houses to cater to the gourmet food a sea bather crave for, it is the perfect holiday spot for all your sea bathing and water based activities such as surfing in search of miriads of coral fish,angel fish & puffer fish diving for beautiful and out of this world coral reefs, scuba diving and underwater photography, sailing, yatching and the latest attraction of setting out in search of the blue whales which linger very close to the unawatuna beach a  few kilometers to south of this bay.

The uniqueness of this beautiful beach cove is that given any time of the day one can get in to the shallow waters without fear of opening out to the open sea and also the level of water which keeps a natural gradient forming a shallow and a deep end on this natural swimming pool. The coconut palms fringing the beach brings out the shade one require after a few hours under the bright and shinning sun which gives you the perfect sun tan that you craved for without burnning your skin. After a perfect bath the ayurveda masseeurs await your arrival for the perfect bliss and mind boggling spa treatments using local herbal oinments and medical creams. The mouth watering local curries done with creamy coconut milk and spices to arouse your pallete along with seafood such as crab, prawn, lobster, muscssells tuna and cuttlefish make one feel that this paradise beach was meant to be the kingdom of “tritan” the god of sea. The guest houses cater to every need a holiday maker want with friendly and smilling staff to please your requirements without being asked.

Fishing near Unawatuna Beach

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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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Arugam Bay, The bay of Surf lovers.

Arugam Bay is a bay situated on the Indian Ocean in the dry zone of Sri Lanka's southeast coast. The bay is located 320 km due east of Colombo. It is a popular surfing and tourist destination. Many of the buildings were destroyed in the 2004 tsunami. Due to its popularity among tourists, the area has managed a slow recovery by private initiatives only. The main road through town has still not been repaved. As late as the beginning of 2010 no help has been received from any official source or international organizations. An exception is uncoordinated support for fishing folk as well as many school rebuilding programs, resulting in a continuation to provide only separatist schools for each community. Although there is a huge demand for an international school, one huge new building donated by the people of Japan remains unoccupied since the grand 'opening' ceremony in 2007.

 The bay hosts a large fleet of fishing boats which operates off the beach. Many organizations donated boats after the tsunami and as a result there are far more fishing boats than ever before. The main beach is a bit dirty as it is used as a garbage dump and a toilet by some locals. Nearby beaches are more esthetically pleasing and also have excellent waves. Arugam Surf Point has a very long, consistent, sectiony right hand break. Many organizations claim to have done extensive work in the area. No notable progress can be observed locally and on close inspection, as late as New Year's Day, 2010. The main road, shown below in 2004 still looked the very same at the end of 2009. Despite calls for a walking street contractors have recently (September, 2010)completed construction of a fast trunk road through the hamlet. Repeating the mistakes made in other seaside tourist resorts such as Negombo and Hikkaduwa. US 'Mercy Corps' has been the most active of any organization. Funded by Oprah Winfrey's 'Angel Network', following a huge fund-raising TV series in the United States. Sadly, none of their projects survived the first year of operation. A new bridge has been constructed by USAID. 

It was opened for traffic in 2008. It replaced the 1960s, original landmark box girder construction linking Arugam Bay with Pottuvil. At km 313 on the main A4 (the famous Colombo High Level Rd. - PottuVille), an excellent shortcut side road exists, which ends up in the very middle of Arugam Bay itself. This picturesque drive avoids the dusty town of PottuVille. Also no bridges need to be crossed. Raising questions regarding the wisdom for the need of the so-called 'high tech' USAID bridge construction. There is excellent elephant viewing nearby, incl. on this mentioned jungle road and the surrounding lagoon, as well as two types of monkeys wandering around the area.

The nearby (4 km) Muslim village of Pottuville is the center of commerce and transportation while tourist accommodations lie along the beach to the south of Pottuville Arugam Bay (4 km) is also the gateway and the only road access to the Yala East National Park. This area is known as Kumana (44 km), to be reached via the Sinhalese settlement of Panama (17 km) and the shires at Okanda (32 km). Sources of further, up-to-date local information: [1] [2] Arugam Bay has its own insiders, veteran and fan club (777 members end 2008, 5,500 members August, 2009). History was made on election day, 26 January 2010. The Community page Facebook page "Arugam Surf" managed to attract more than 10,000 fans. Making it the fasted growing Facebook site in Sri Lanka. By end 2010 this, Sri Lanka's first and oldest FB fan page has attracted near 20,000 loyal members. Remarkable for such a small, remote hamlet of just 2,500 residents.

Source - http://www.directlink.lk/arugam.html

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