Itinerary
Day 01: Airport – Negombo
Upon arrival at the airport, you will be met by our friendly and courteous English – speaking Guide and transferred to Negombo.
Check in to a delightful beachfront hotel in Negombo. The hotel staff are friendly and welcoming and will instantly make you feel at home. Spend the day at leisure, relaxing and unwinding in the comforts of your star class resort hotel. Call it an early night after enjoying a scrumptious dinner, rich with many seafood delights from appetizer to main course.
Negombo is an exuberant tourist destination, with a vibrant community. The Negombo beach is wide and compelling, often teeming with locals and tourists. A lively atmosphere prevails throughout the day. However, those who prefer a more secluded beach experience can limit the stroll and horizontal lounging to their resort property’s less crowded beach backyard.
Day 02: Negombo
After breakfast head out to the Negombo lagoon, which is worthy of exploration. It consists of patches of mangroves which are rich in biodiversity and essential for the lagoon’s marine life and eco system. These mangroves and swamps attract a wide variety of water birds including cormorants, herons, egrets, gulls, and terns.
Join a local fisherman in his catamaran boat and head out on a short sea voyage. A ride in these traditional boats is a novel experience for many. It is also an ideal opportunity to mingle with the local fisher folk and learn much about their life, livelihood, and adventures at sea.
Day 03:Negombo – Bentota
After breakfast, leave for Sri Lanka’s watersport capital, Bentota.
Visit the beautifully landscaped 5-acre Brief Gardens, which is the creation of Bevis Bawa, brother of the famous Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa.
Your next stop is Galapatha Rajamaha Viharaya. The initial construction of this temple dates-back to the time of King Devanampiya Tissa (247-207 BCE). Yet, most of it was completed during the time of King Saddatissa (137-119 BCE). The temple has an underground tunnel which leads to other ancient temples in the area.
Overnight at a star class hotel in Bentota.
Day 04:Bentota
Enjoy the day at the beach, engaging in some exhilarating water sport activities. Make your pick from a multitude of sports such as windsurfing, water-skiing, jet skiing, snorkeling and scuba diving. Alternatively, you may opt for a boat ride on the tangled waterways of the Bentara River.
If lazing is what you have in mind, spend a full day lounging on the beach, soaking in the mesmerising sea view as time stands still under the dreamy azure skies of Bentota. Your dream of a perfect beach getaway just became a reality!
Head over to the Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery by late afternoon. If lucky, you will have the opportunity of releasing endearing baby turtles to the sea.
Five types of sea turtle species (olive ridley, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, and green turtle) seem to love the west and south coasts of Sri Lanka as much as we do! For many of these adorable sea critters, Bentota is their beach of birth and consequently as adults, the chosen location to lay their own eggs. A few weeks later hundreds of newborn hatchlings make an arduous journey back to the sea.
The Turtle Hatcheries around Bentota purchase eggs from poachers and incubate these on their premises. Once the eggs hatch, the baby turtles are kept in tanks for a few days and released to the sea.
Day 05: Bentota – Galle
After breakfast leave for Galle, one of Sri Lanka’s foremost south coast destinations. Visit the Amabalangoda Mask Museum en-route. Thereafter, visit the famous Dutch Fort and Museum in Galle.
Galle is the busy administrative capital of the Southern Province and plays a critical role in the island’s naval surveillance and shipping services. Galle’s history and heritage are equally illustrious.
Realising its potential as a commercial port and strategic location in the global maritime routes; the Portuguese developed a fortified base in Galle, in 1588. Subsequent Dutch occupants built the Fort in 1663. Later, the British colonizers established their administrative base around Galle. Galle Fort is the largest and best preserved of the European Forts in Asia and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
On the one side, Galle is a lively town with the hustle and bustle of people getting about their daily business. However, within the confines of its colossal coral bastions, lie rows of Dutch heritage villas and other colonial edifices fringing the cobblestone paved streets, where the hubbub of workaday Galle is almost nonexistent. Instead, a placid and quiet atmosphere prevails.
Overnight at a hotel in Galle.
Day 06: Galle
Head out on an excursion to the Unawatuna Beach. Spend a day of blissful lounging on the beach or engage in some exhilarating diving, snorkeling, or surfing activity.
Bustling Unawatuna, with its picturesque bay and beach, is one of the liveliest and most popular beach towns in the southern coastal belt of Sri Lanka. It is a busy beach hangout, characteristically packed with tourists enjoying the gorgeous beach, sheltered bay, charming guesthouses and the ever-lively party atmosphere.
Overnight at the hotel in Galle.
Day 07: Galle – Mirissa – Hambantota
Leave early morning to Mirissa. Enjoy an immersive and memorable whale watching expedition.
Quite apart from the wide golden swathe of sand and gorgeous turquoise sea front, the blissful southern town of Mirissa is famed for hosting many migratory whales in its warm inviting coastal waters. The best period for whale watching in Mirissa is December to April, when hundreds of blue, sperm, fin, killer and bryde’s whales and spinner dolphins pass within a few kilometres of the coast.
Overnight at a selected hotel in Hambantota.
Days 08: Hambantota
Spend a day of leisure on the beach. Alternatively, relax in the pool or at the hotel spa.
Overnight at the hotel in Hambantota.
Day 09: Hambantota – Yala
After breakfast, leave for Yala National Park.
Yala National Park, is Sri Lanka’s most popular wildlife sanctuary, best known for its voluminous variety of wildlife including stealthy leopards, ginormous elephants, mischievous monkeys, vibrant birdlife, and a marvellous landscape of virgin woodlands and salty lagoons. Experience a thrilling and immersive wildlife safari in Yala. Don’t forget to click your cameras and capture some rare photos.
Overnight at a hotel in Yala.
Day 10: Yala – Colombo
After breakfast leave for Sri Lanka’s suave and tourist friendly commercial capital, Colombo. Check in at a plush city hotel, in time for lunch.
Your ever-reliable Chauffeur Guide will take you on a late afternoon guided city tour, where you will have the opportunity to seize some last-minute shopping bargains and souvenirs.
Enjoy a relaxing dinner at a trendy restaurant of your city hotel before retiring for the night. You will need your full quota of sleep, considering the impending long flight back home!
Overnight at the selected hotel in Colombo.
Day 11: Colombo – Airport
Departure transfer to the airport.
Detailed/tailored itinerary and pricing provided on request.
