Bentota River Safari Vs Madu River Safari and Bentota River Safari in a Nutshell

Posted on by Sanjeewa Padmal (Seerendipity)

A mangrove lagoon is one of the most striking features of the Bentota River safari, and you will not encounter this type of mangrove lagoon during other boat trips in Sri Lanka. The boat takes you through two mangrove tunnels; however, the mangrove tunnel of the Bentota River is about 3 times longer and denser compared to the mangrove tunnels of the Madu estuary. Therefore, the Bentota River is better compared to the Madu River if you like to see the interesting vegetation of mangrove forests.

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What is the best Boat safari in Bentota?

The Bentota river safari takes place in the popular beach resort of Bentota. The travellers take a boat ride towards the interior of the island along the Bentota river. The boat tour starts from Bentota beach, close to the point, where the river mingles with the sea.

Bentota River Safari

If you are looking for a boat tour in Bentota, on the west coast tour of Sri Lanka, you definitely will be contemplating what boat tour you should take and which one gives you the best experience. Because this coastal city is a popular beach holiday destination on the island and attracts many thousands of sun-worshippers. Most of these beach holiday lovers set off on a few short trips during their beach stay and boat tour or boat safari, Galle day tour, Colombo city tour, and Udawalawe safari are some of the popular activities for them.

There are two major places for boat tours in Bentota, the Madu River estuary and the Bentota River. Both tours are very similar in many ways. Cost, duration, kind of motorboat used for the trip, and even the vegetation of both places have a lot of similarities. However, most travellers prefer the boat trip on the Bentota river over the Madu River estuary. As a local tour operator that experienced both trips, I agree with them. So if you are also in dilemma and find it hard to decide to pick the best place for your boat tour, this article is for you.

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Affordable Sri Lanka one-day tours from Seerendipity Tours. Click www.seerendipitytours one-day trips for more information and many other one-day programmes from Sri Lanka.

Visiting Mangrove lagoon

A mangrove lagoon is one of the most striking features of the boat trip, and you will not encounter this type of mangrove lagoon during other boat trips in Sri Lanka. The boat takes you through two mangrove tunnels; however, the mangrove tunnel of the Bentota River is about 3 times longer and denser compared to the mangrove tunnels of the Madu estuary. Therefore, the Bentota River is better compared to the Madu River if you like to see the interesting vegetation of mangrove forests.

Bentota is primarily a beach holiday destination

By far Bentota is the most popular beach resort in Sri Lanka and it attracts the most number of beach holiday lovers in Sri Lanka. It is one of the most popular beaches for day outings in Sri Lanka. Bentota deserves to be the best beach holiday destination in Sri Lanka because it has all ingredients to be so. This popular beach resort provides pristine beaches, diving sites, water sports centres, restaurants, bars, cafes, markets, temples, historical monuments, a wide range of accommodation facilities, recreation activities… and many many more.

Bentota River

Bentota River is one of the most important geographical features in Bentota and a popular place for Sri Lanka’s one-day trips from Colombo and west coast hotels. However, the Bentota boat safari is not as popular as the Bentota beach resort. Its importance is largely overlooked due to its nearby counterpart, the Madu riverboat estuary, which is the most popular river safari spot on the island. Most Bentota’s one-day trip from Colombo includes a boat trip. But the boat trip is not at Bentota river most of the time and it is at Madu estuary.

There are many places on the island to explore rich riverine fauna and flora. Madu river estuary and Muthurajawela wetland are the 2 most popular wetlands on the island for Sri Lanka boat trips. Bentota River safari is not as popular as both places mentioned above, however, the natural beauty of the Bentota River is not second to any of the places mentioned above.  

What is the best Madu river safari or Bentota River Safari?

I have done boat trips many times on the Bentota River as well as the Madu estuary, according to my experience, the Boat tour at Bentota is much more attractive than the boat trips at the Madu river and Muthurajawela due to its richness of Fauna and flora. If you like to see wild animals like crocodiles, and monkeys, the Bentota river safari is the best bet for you, because the chances are far better here than on any other boat trip in Sri Lanka.

Undoubtedly, the Madu Riverboat safari is the most popular boat tour in Bentota, therefore, most travellers undertake the boat tour at Madu River. Due to its popularity, travellers can see a large number of boats crisscrossing the Madu estuary at any time of the day. You may even encounter many dozens of motorboats running up and down as you take the boat tour. Due to the fact that increased human activities along the river over the last several years, it has been turned to difficult to spot many animal species on the River now, and it might be difficult to see many animal species like crocodiles, monitors, and monkeys.

Bentota boat tour is far less popular than the Madu River boat safari, and therefore human activities and sightseers are occurring in far fewer numbers compared to the Madu estuary. It means that the natural habitats at the Bentota river are far less disturbed compared to the nature at Madu estuary. Therefore, the opportunities are very high to see many animal species such as crocodiles, snakes, monitor lizards, monkeys, as well as a large number of birds.

Bentota River Safari from Bentota beach

If you stay in a beach resort on the west coast of Sri Lanka and like to do a boat trip there are 2 options for you Madu river and Bentota river. The Rivers are not far from each other, Madu river attracts the greatest number of travellers due to its popularity while the Bentota River attracts only a fraction of the crowd that is visited by the Madu River.

Boating through the Mangrove tunnel of Bentota River

You might be wondering what the mangrove tunnel is. Because tunnels are to be found in cement, metal, and rock but a tunnel made of mangrove, is definitely a little bit awkward. Even though it sounds a bit strange, you can witness a mangrove tunnel during the boat trips. Your boat will travel through the mangrove tunnel.

The mangrove tunnel is formed by huge mangrove trees, which are rising up to many hundred feet from the water surface of the bay. These giant mangrove trees reside on the shallow, muddy surface of the river bank. Its roots are poking into the air and work like noses trills of mangrove trees, and help the tree to absorb air into the system.

Whether it is Madu River boat safari or Bentota River boat safari you will encounter mangrove bays. But the mangrove forest that has a shape of a tunnel at Bentota river is much bigger than the tunnel found in the Madu river estuary. The Mangrove tunnel in Bentota River is many hundred feet high in some areas and its with roughly about 20 feet. The tunnel of the Bentota River is about 200 meters in length and it takes about 10 minutes to go from one end to the other in a motorboat.

However, the mangrove tunnel of the Madu river estuary is much smaller and less attractive than the tunnel found in Bentota River. Furthermore, the Bentota River is very wide and deeper than the Madu River estuary, Bentota River is the 5th biggest River in Sri Lanka. However, the Madu estuary is smaller compared to the Bentota river and shallower than the Bentota River. There are 64 islands of varying sizes within the Madu River estuary but there is no island to be found in the Bentota River, and it is flanked by the mainland.

Visiting mangrove forest on the Bentota river safari
Giant mangrove trees rise on both sides of a water stream that flows into the Bentota River.

Flora and Fauna

The Flora to be found in both places are by and large the same. But with regards to Fauna Bentota river has much more variety than the Madu estuary. Crocodiles, Water monitors, land monitors, snakes, monkeys, and many species of avian fauna species can be easily spotted on a boat trip to Bentota River. The water monitor is the most common animal to be found in the Madu estuary and it is highly unlikely to spot crocodiles, snakes, and monkeys on a boat trip Madu estuary.

Bentota River safari price

The price of the Bentota River safari is similar to the Madu River Safari. The price for the 1-hour Bentota River safari is $ 50 while the cost for the 2 hours Bentota River safari is $ 75. The price does not include transportation and guidance.

How to book Bentota river safari

Please call us on 009477440977 or write us at admin@seerendipitytours.com to book your Bentota river safari. You can book the Bentota river safari as a standalone activity (only the boat trip) or you can combine it with many other itineraries. The travellers can book the Bentota river safari with a transfer from their hotel in Colombo or without the transfer. If you stay in Colombo, please be kindly informed that you need to leave the hotel about 1 hour and 30 minutes ahead of the boat trip due to the transfer. If you stay in a hotel in Bentota it would take around 15-20 minutes to reach the starting point of the boat trip from your hotel.

Usually, all our tour packages to the south coast and west coast such as the southern Sri Lanka tour, Galle day tour from Colombo, and Bentota one-day tour includes a boat trip either at Madu river or Bentota river.

What time the Bentota river safari starts?

The Bentota boat tour can be booked and done at any time of the day, however, it is recommended to start the trip in the early hours, if you fancied watching exotic avian fain species. The early morning boat trip is always recommended as it not only allows you to watch a large number of bird species but also allows you to see many other wild creatures like crocodiles, monkeys, snakes, and monitors.

Why you should book Bentota boat safari with Seerendipity tours?

Seerendipity Tour is an entirely locally owned travel company with a head office in Colombo. The highly experienced local staff is a key strength of Seerendipity Tours, and they can plan your dream holiday to Sri Lanka.

The best price guaranteed for you srilanka 5 days trip

When you book a tour with us, you directly book the tour with the local company, which means there are no middlemen and therefore you can guarantee the best price. Simply get in touch with us and let us know when you travel and what you like to see.

Plan your best srilanka 5 days trip with expert

Our staff makes a personalised programme for you, which you can change until you find the best package for you. You can also browse our existing tour packages for inspiration; all our ready-made tour packages are customizable and can be tailored to meet all your expectations. Write to us at admin@seerendipitytours.com, tel. 0094-77-440977, WhatsApp 0094-77-4440977

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