Best Beaches in Sri Lanka

 

Best Beaches in Sri Lanka.The tropical island of Sri Lanka, fashioned like a teardrop and mendacity within the Indian Ocean, is encircled with a necklace of golden sandy beaches. Slender coconut palms arch over pristine sands, whilst turtles make their way up the shorelines to put their eggs, and blue whales cruise offshore. To many, that is as close to paradise as you’ll get.

But Sri Lanka is more than beaches. Close to the shore, you’ll find Hindu temples in top notch colorations, European colonial architecture, and wildlife reserves in which you can spot birds and monkeys. There are caves, jungly mountains, lush tea plantations, and mangrove lagoons to explore.

So make the maximum of the glorious beaches – however use your time to see more of this charming island, too.

Here are 10 of the nice Sri Lanka beaches to attempt.

Goyambokka Beach, close to Tangalle

One hour’s drive west of Hambantota, Goyambokka, or Sriyanga Sanjeewa, is a laid-again stretch of creamy sand set against a backdrop of dense greenery.

You’ll discover a few shacks right here selling beverages and snacks, and a gently rolling swell that means the beach is commonly secure for swimming and snorkeling.

Visitors love Goyambokka for its comfortable, unstructured experience, and the fact that there’s plenty of color underneath the palm bushes. Just watch out for falling coconuts.

Tangalle Beach, near Hambantota

Pristine Tangalle Beach, placed in Sri Lanka’s Southern Province, 40 mins from Hambantota, is one of the island’s most blissfully undeveloped stretches of sand. Pounded with the aid of surf, it also gives calmer locations for swimming in a string of small, rocky coves.

This beach is one of the most important sea turtle nesting sites on the island and, as such, isn’t over-business. You’ll find a few guesthouses and villas, and toes-in-the-sand seashore shacks for lunch.

There’s masses to look across the busy town of Tangalle when you want a destroy from the tropical sunshine.

Check out the Hoo-maniya Blowhole, a herbal rock chimney through which seawater is forced into a 50-foot jet whilst situations are proper. Head inland to see the rock temples at Mulkirigala, carved into an outcrop 673 feet high.

At Wewurukannala, you’ll find a giant Buddha, the most important in Sri Lanka. Keen birders can visit the Kalametiya Bird Sanctuary, in which one hundred fifty species of wetland birds had been recorded. You may additionally see grey mongoose and the Hanuman langur, a large, bushy monkey named after Hanuman, the Hindu god of healing and worship.

Rekawa Beach, Tangalle

More than two miles of golden sand, backed by using swaying hands and dense, inexperienced shrubbery, Rekawa, to the east of Tangalle, is absolutely undeveloped. Why? Because this is prime sea turtle us of a.

Hawksbill, leatherback, inexperienced, and Olive Ridley turtles emerge from the pounding surf here, shuffling up the beach to put their eggs and bury them inside the warm sand. You’ll see turtle hatcheries right here, designed to defend the nests and the miniature child turtles which might be guided with the aid of the mild of the moon to the water as soon as they hatch.

Rekawa is simply a sandbar, with the ocean on one facet and a tranquil lagoon on the opposite. While it’s not the best area to swim, as the surf is regularly hard, it’s a first-rate region to come back for a walk, a cooling paddle, and time to commune with nature.

Mirissa Beach, close to Hambantota

Spotting a blue whale, the arena’s largest mammal, is an almost non secular revel in. Mirissa Beach, 90 minutes’ force from Hambantota, is appeared as one of the pleasant seashores in Sri Lanka for doing simply that.

You will easily discover a boat to take you out among December and April, whilst the marine mammals migrate through the Indian Ocean, feeding as they pass on krill.

You may be lucky enough to spot a blue whale, up to a hundred toes lengthy, or other species, inclusive of sperm whales and humpbacks.

Back ashore, you’ll find a 1/2-moon-fashioned bay of soft sand, with masses of sports. Head out beyond the Parrot Rock outcrop for snorkeling, or rent a surfboard and hit the western reef spoil. It’s safe to swim in the clear, commonly calm water.

There are greater than sufficient locations to move for a relaxing beer and a lunchtime curry; Mirissa within reason advanced.

Hiriketiya Beach, near Hambantota

There’s an nearly spiritual magnetism about Hiriketiya Beach, a great horseshoe of white sand guarded through wooded hills on both side, an hour or so west of Hambantota.

Artists, sculptors, musicians, and writers were drawn here in search of a slice of paradise and a laid-lower back existence inside the sun, giving upward thrust to a innovative expatriate community.

You can surf and swim at Hiriketiya year-round, snooze inside the shade of the coconut arms, gossip in cool coffee shops, browse rustic galleries, or be a part of a yoga class. Hiriketiya is so seductive that, like many who’ve been right here earlier than, you may by no means need to depart.

Wellawatte Beach, Colombo

Colombo itself isn’t blessed with the identical completely satisfied beaches because the a ways south of the island, but this doesn’t forestall the locals from heading for the shore to fly kites, stroll, snack on road meals, and go fishing.

The city beach of Wellawatte gives all of these, the skyscrapers of the contemporary metropolis at the northern horizon, and colorful fishing boats pulled up on the sand.

The railroad tune runs parallel to the seashore, which makes for interesting viewing as heavily encumbered trains rumble past—you virtually have to move the tracks to reach the sand, so be cautious. You likely wouldn’t come here to swim, however at sunset, it’s Colombo existence in microcosm and a high-quality area for a night prom.

Galle Face Beach, Colombo

One of the satisfactory activities in Colombo is to go to Galle Face Green, a waterfront park where locals come to play cricket, fly kites, picnic, and stroll. The Green is bordered through the lengthy prom isolating the grassy area from the narrow strip of Galle Face Beach.

The promenade become built by using Sir Henry Ward in 1859, when Sri Lanka changed into referred to as British Ceylon, and the Green turned into absolutely used for horse racing and called Colpetty Race Course.

There’s little shade here in the course of the day, and the water isn’t the maximum attractive for swimming, however it’s a famous spot to go to overdue afternoon for a stroll, trendy socializing, kite-flying (a actual passion here), and watching the sun sink in a ball of hearth into the Indian Ocean.

Hawker stalls offer snacks from the sea. Try isso wade, a local specialty of crispy, break up pea pancakes with whole massive shrimp pressed on top, served with chili, garbanzo beans, curry leaves, and sauteed onions.

Negombo Beach, near Colombo

Negombo is a lively seaside hotel approximately an hour’s pressure north of Colombo, at the northern tip of a extensive lagoon.

It’s one of the greatest seashores close to the metropolis for swimming, snorkeling, kite browsing, and fishing, and has blossomed from a humble fishing village into an advanced inn. Souvenir stores, bars and restaurants line the shore, and the beach is a extensive swathe of golden sand.

There’s plenty to see far from the seashore, too. Negombo is famed for its fish market, so take time to go to and wonder at the bounty of the Indian Ocean.

You’ll locate both Portuguese and Dutch churches across the metropolis, alongside the Dutch-constructed canal, a nine-mile waterway that’s a legacy of the instances when every kingdom used Negombo as a trading port, their hobby by and large within the cinnamon that grows in Sri Lanka.

Look out for the vintage Dutch Fort gate, too, which dates again to 1672 and has a conventional Dutch gabled roof.

Also worth seeing is the brightly colored Angurukaramulla Temple, which includes a massive picture of Buddha and some magnificent murals.

The populace here is absolutely almost totally Roman Catholic, no longer Buddhist, so the neoclassical St. Mary’s Church (Mahaweediya Palliya in Sinhala), an excellent cathedral, performs an important function within the community.

Peek interior to see the excellent paintings on the ceiling, in reality created with the aid of a neighborhood Buddhist artist.

Bentota Beach, near Colombo

With its glowing blue waters, lightly sloping sands, and swaying arms, Bentota Beach, forty miles south of Colombo, is about on a long spit of sand.

Unsurprisingly, that is a top choice for honeymooners in Sri Lanka and one of the first-rate Sri Lanka seashores if you’re searching out activities and purchasing. It’s also called Ventura Beach.

The beach lies south of the estuary of the Bentara River, which flows into the Indian Ocean here and has created a calm lagoon behind the sand spit. There are infinite possibilities for watersports, from snorkeling to diving, windsurfing, fishing, and powered sports which include jet skiing and water-skiing on the lagoon.

For a more non violent activity, take a kayak tour of the mangroves, paddling solar-dappled channels of green in search of birds in the trees and sea turtles popping their heads up.

Numerous seashore concessions offer gadget in case you haven’t introduced your personal. One of the maximum famous dive web sites is Canoe Rock, a 20-minute boat ride from the seashore. The reefs here are wonderful, with corals in every colour of the rainbow, and dozens of species of tropical fish.

Away from the water, there’s extraordinary memento purchasing in Bentota, from batiks to carved masks, packs of Ceylon tea, herbs and spices, and gems.

Mount Lavinia Beach, Colombo

Mount Lavinia, an upscale suburb of Colombo at once south of the town, is one of the capital’s more attractive urban beaches.

It’s now not usually perfect for swimming as the waves are often too robust, but is despite the fact that a popular spot in which metropolis dwellers come to play at the sand, walk, build sandcastles, and watch the superb sunsets for which the west coast of Sri Lanka is thought.

While you’re right here, make time for afternoon tea at the posh, colonial-fashion Mount Lavinia Hotel, a Colombo institution for the reason that 1806, perched on a promontory overlooking the sea and emanating old-world beauty.

The hotel became as soon as the residence of the British governors and the Governor’s High Tea is a mouth-watering unfold of dainty sandwiches, scones nonetheless warm from the oven, quite desserts, and tempting pastries. All this is washed down with the greatest Ceylon teas.

Mount Lavinia is a Colombo organization, and you could study the history of the constructing and its poignant love story.

Sir Thomas Maitland, governor-widespread of what became then Ceylon among 1805 and 1811, fell in love with a neighborhood gypsy dancer, Lovina, and went to extensive effort to peer her, notwithstanding the reality that the romance changed into taken into consideration socially unacceptable.

There’s absolutely a secret tunnel from the wine cellar within the governor’s mansion to a well on what was the assets of Lovina’s father.

The romance changed into tragically doomed, and Maitland moved directly to the Mediterranean island of Malta in 1811. He never married. But his Ceylon home became named Mount Lavinia House, in a slight corruption of the dancer’s call. Today, there’s a statue of Lovina in a fountain at the entrance to the hotel.

If you’re no longer too full following afternoon tea, stroll on the sand, breathe within the sea air, snack on avenue food, or watch the sundown with an ice-bloodless beer.