lhgreenacres

We are rethinking the Maldives as the islands seem too small and very little to do. My mom really wants to snorkel somewhere. Any recommendations in Sri Lanka or within a close plane flight? We will be traveling in March 2012.

Mohammed

Hi again, as I indicated to you in the previous post Niveli Beach Hotel Trincomalee is a superb location both for beach and also for snorkelling/scuba diving, probably the best in Sri Lanka. The nearby Pigeon Island has a vast bed of corel that is growing beautifully thanks to recent conservation efforts. The Island is very easy to access by boat from the hotel and also some other nice snorkelling dive spots in the vicinity. Thre is also a professinal dive center in operation under PADI instructor Mr Eric Fernando.

Mohammed

Sorry, please read as Nilaveli....

Mohammed

On the south west coast better snorkelling is available off Unnawatuna Beach (near Galle), try UBR (Unnawatuna Beach Resort).

Hikkaduwa is highly over rated, all the corals in the nearby marine sanctuary are badly damaged/dead, we call it the coral grave yard, hopefully will pick up in the eras ahead to its old glory with conservation efforts kicking in. there are some good deeper dive sites available off Hikkaduwa for scuba divers.

Weligana also may have some snorkelling but nothing to write home about.

In March I think you will be better off at Nilaveli.

Mohammed

For some pic of Nilaveli see my photo stream at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31829627@N02/5366482566/

Eric_Bal

Mohammed, I'm planning a trip in end July...want to spend some time in the beaches with my wife and 2 young kids..5 and 3 years old. So more laid back type of beach holiday versus active water activities. Hoping for clear waters that are not so rough for the kids. Smooth sands where kids can play. And accessible / easy for finding restaurants, etc. The guide I'm emailing to is reocmmending Tangalle and Mirissa. Tangalle on our way to Yala from Colombo. Mirissa on the way back ? Any thoughts on those 2 beaches ?

Thanks

crellston

Tangalle has a lot of different beaches around the town and environs, we stayed for 4 days at Goyambokka in a cheap guest house as everywhere else was fully booked (but there were some very nice places we tried to get a room in. The beach was clean and the surf not to bad for kids. Lots of good seafood places on the beach which was very quiet. The hotels etc are all within 100m of the beach which would be good for the kids. The town itself does not have a lot offer the tourist apart from a quite intersting local market.

Mirrissa is the place for whale watching. It is quite asmall village spread out along the road on its own small bay. It is at the other end of the large bay from Weligama (a 4k walk or ride) which has some good restaurants etc. The beach is very pretty with some nice restarants but seemed a bit busier tha Tangalle. There was surfing going on at one end of the beach but apart from that area it seemed ok for kids.

Both places had sandy & clean beaches. Apart from beach restaurants, there were few independent restaurants and most people will eat in their own hotel/guesthouse or at one of the others. Food, understandably centres on fresh fish & seafood plus the ubiquitous "rice and curry" and is generally pretty good

I have uploaded a few (unedited!) pictures to our blog if you want to have a look at the beaches:

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...l?view=preview

Mohammed

Clive, your pics of Goyambokka look very nice, sounds like a great spot.

For "clear waters that are not so rough for the kids. Smooth sands where kids can play. And accessible / easy for finding restaurants, etc".... and in July .... that is peak South West Monsoon time when all beaches/sea on the southern/western coast are very rough and not good. Only place to dind good beach is on the East Coast, and best option IMHO will be Nilaveli Beach. Not much restaurants etc around there but thebeach is suoperb and kids will love Pigeon Island, the beach bar restaurant at Nilaveli Beach Hotel is really nice.

lhgreenacres

Mohammed- Is it possible to drive from Tangalle to Mirissa to go whale watching for the day. We were thinking of staying in Tangalle so we can see the turles nesting and thought it meet be easier to base in one place. We also want to visit Bundala to see the birds. We also are back including at least a few days in the Maldives but really want to see the whales and the turtles. Also do you have any experience with Sinharaja. We do not want to spend an hour driving in and out each day and want to stay as close as possible to the entrance. There is a place called Martin's which is basic but not exactly sure how basic.

Mohammed

Tangalle to Mirissa is about 50km will take about an hours drive, very early morning you should not have much traffic on the roads, so I would deem this possible if you have the commitment to leave early.

lhgreenacres

Mohammed- Here is the new proposed itinerary that I got today. Can you give me your thoughts. First night outside Columbo, 2 nights Sinharaja, one night Tissa to visit wetlands and Bundala, 3nights Yala, one night Tangalle to visit be able to visit the turtles in Rekawa, 2 nights Galle (driving to Mirissa one morning to do the whale watching) and the last night back to Columbo staying near the airport to catch early night to Male. Does it sound too hectic as I really don't like all the one night stays? I have just heard that roads are bad and the driving difficult so I do not want us to have to spend a lot of time driving back and forth to destinations. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I also need to say that I am somewhat disappointed with the tour companies that I have contacted in that they really do not make any recommendations.

Mohammed

Route looks ok. Do agree on the one nights, would perhaps drop Tissa, also not so sure you need 2 nights at Singharajah, also you are spending two whole nights transiting in and out from Colombo. Thats a lot of valuable time doing very little, but thats just my opinion, perhaps this suits you, I tend to pack in a lot when I travel. I was looking a bit at your previous Fodors posts and was amazed how much we have in common, I too have done two tours to Africa and last summer in the USA we had a grand road trip covering Tetons, Yellowstone etc too. We enjoyed it so much I am thinking of sending my daughter this summer on a 30 days back packing and leadership traning programme in Wyoming with NOLS.

lhgreenacres

Mohammed, If you can believe our summer trip was supposed to Yellowstone but we cancelled it as we are going to Madagascar in September. I sure Yellowstone would be a wonderful experience for your daughter. We are actually hoping on the last night to stay near the airport and just basically sleep there as we are going to have an early flight to the Maldives. We could take a late night flight but then we have to overnight in Male, which I think is going to be a lot more expensive. We love the rainforest and birding watching so I thought that Sinharaja would be nice. I think we will drop the night in Tissa. Is Galle nice and is there other things to do as the one morning we are going to do the whale watching.

Mohammed

Yes its better to take an early morning fight to Male, as arriving in Male at night is not much fun when you have to take a boat ride to your island resort. Check the "Airport Garden Hotel" very decent place about 4 starish, managed by Taj Group, 5 mins from the airport.

Sinharajah is very special for the serious birder. What is so special are the bird waves, also known as mixed species feeding flocks that move during the early morning hours from about 7am to 9am. Whereas most such encounters in rainforests around the world can last for but a couple of minutes, an encounter with a Sinharajah bird wave can last for as much as fifteen minutes and its is an amazing cacophony of sound and a kaleidoscope of color with a possible 30+ endemics. There is also a rich biodiversity of other flora and fauna including very "personal experiences with leeches"! Not to worry my friend, just buy yourself a pair of leech socks (about US$ 5/) from the lady tailor who sells them from a small village shop just past the entrance ticket office (ask your guide). They work wonderfully and IMHO much better that all chemical repellants.

Martins Lodge - is the place to stay for proximity/location but is very basic. There are about three ground floor rooms with attached bathrooms, and these are quite livable. Martin Wickremesinghe himself is about 70yrs, an ex forest department officer who has spent his entire life in the rainforest and he is an encyclopedia of knowledge and he will happily share all his wisdom with you if you will share a dram or two of your whisky with him, highly recommended! If you want more comfort look at "Rainforest Lodge", but it will take you about 30 mins to get to the park gate. For premium comfort it's Boulder Garden, but really too far away from the action.

Galle is interesting, and if you will be doing a day trip to Mirissa, two nights in Galle is not too much time. If you want a nice beach with a great buzz and some nice sea food restaurants, bars etc check Unnawatuna Beach which is 10 minutes from Galle town. It will be shorter travelling to Mirissa too from Unnawatuna. Galle town and the Fort has a fair selection of very plush "arty farty" chic boutique type hotels seeped in colonial history perhaps best for a lazy lunch or an afternoon tea with chocolate cake and tour the Fort etc separately. Do take in the ramparts at sunset!

Have fun and enjoy Sri Lanka!

Mohammed

Sorry please "Rainforest Edge" not Lodge...