The West Coast stretches northwards from Mt.
Lavinia a southern suburb of Colombo. Mt.
Lavinia and Negombo are the best developed
beach resorts in this region. Isolated hotels
have sprung up in most places along the
western coastal stretch.
Eleven kilometers south of from Colombo along the
road to Galle is the beach resort of Mt. Lavinia.
The sea is safe for bathing and is a popular
bathing spot with clean sandy beaches. The name
Lavinia reminds of a secret love affair between a
British Governor and a local damsel who used to
meet at the holiday house of the Governor which
stood on the spot where the Mt. Lavinia Hotel is
located.
The major beach resort in the West Coast is
Negombo. The wide sandy beaches and the safe sea
attract thousands of visitors to Negombo, a
traditional fishing town. Several hotels ranging
from luxury hotels to small motels, guest houses
and restaurants have come up along the coastal
stretch called Lewis Place. The fish market is
worth visiting where busy trading of a variety of
fish including prawns, crabs and seer takes place
wide in the mornings when the fishing crafts
return to the shore with their catch. The most
popular fishing craft is the outrigger canoe
called oruwa dug out from a huge log and is seen
in large numbers in the Negombo lagoon.
The southern coastal belt is the most popular
among the tourists and comes to life mainly from
October through April when the monsoon moves north
east and the sea becomes calm with blue skies. It
is an ideal place to spend the Winter vacation
fully made use of by the European tourists. The
main beach resorts are at Beruwala, Bentota and
Hikkaduwa having several beach hotels with their
exclusive beachfronts. Another interesting stretch
of beach in the south is Unawatuna.
An hour's drive from Colombo along the south coast
will take the visitor to Beruwala that marks the
beginning of the South Coast Beach Resort. Several
tourist hotels of "Star" grade provide comfortable
accommodation and meals. Beruwala is considered to
be the first Muslim settlement in the Island
established by the Arab traders as far back as the
8th century. There is a famous Muslim mosque at
the beachhead close to which is a light house one
of several erected along the Sri Lankan.
Four kilometers to the south of Beruwala is the
Bentota National Tourist Resort, a romantic
rendezvous of river and sea. It is a planned
resort with four-star class hotels, a Railway
Station, Post Office, Bank, Shopping Arcade, a
Tourist Information Centre, and an abundance of
water based recreational activities.
Hikkaduwa (99 km. from Colombo) is the place for
underwater delights where there is a marine
sanctuary abundant with rare corals and tropical
fish. The underwater world of colourful corals and
beautiful shoals of fish can be explored either by
snorkeling or taking a ride in a glass bottom
boat.100 Km from Colombo, Duration is 2.1/2 Hrs.
Four kilometers south of Galle is Unawatuna (120
km. from Colombo), a beautiful stretch of beach in
the south safe for bathing. Rumasssala, a rocky
outcrop projecting into the sea at Unawatuna is
connected with the legendary Ramayana as a piece
of mountain fallen from the portion of Himalaya
brought to Lanka by Hanuman who went in search of
a medicinal herb to treat Laxamana, Rama’s brother
wounded in battle.
The road leading south from Colombo passes through
the Southern Beach Resorts winding its way through
stretches of coconut land. An alert visitor will
spot a man high up in the air crossing from tree
to tree on two ropes tied tightly to the trees
like a tight rope walker in a circus. He is a
‘toddy tapper’ getting about his daily chores
tapping the sap off the tender inflorescence of
the coconut trees which is used to distill Sri
Lankan Arrack and other alcoholic beverages.
From April to October, the East Coast comes to
life. It is one of the best stretches of beach in
Sri Lanka. The Eastern beaches stretch for over
300 kilometers along which tourist resorts have
developed in Nilaveli, 16 km. from Trincomalee and
Kalkudah, 32 km. north of Batticaloa.
Horatio Nelson, the British admiral of the 18th
century had on arriving at the Trincomalee harbour
described it as the finest harbour in the world.
It is a beautiful natural harbour worthy of that
description and had been in use from the days of
the early Sinhala kings. The old Portuguese/Dutch
Fort reminiscent of the colonial rule of the
Island has the year 1676 inscribed above its
entrance by the Dutch. It was subsequently named
Ford Frederick by the British.
Nilaveli is a prime beach resort in the East
Coast. It is ideally suited for sun bathing, sea
bathing and diving. A few meters off shore is a
small rocky island good for snorkeling.
