From Bentota to Galle and Colombo to Galle

Posted on by Sanjeewa Padmal (Seerendipity)

If you wish to find some of the best things to include in your trip either from Bentota to Galle or from Colombo to Galle, you are on the right track. Keep reading our article “Top 6 relaxing and romantic ideas in a trip from Bentota to Galle and Colombo to Galle“, this article mainly evolves around the west coast of Sri Lanka, which is easy to reach and can easily be covered in a Sri Lanka one day trip.

Table of Contents

What are the activities available on a trip from Bentota to Galle and Colombo to Galle?

  • Exploring the Madu River estuary
  • Exploring Beaches in Bentota
  • Exploring Hikkaduwa marine sanctuary
  • Visiting sea turtle conservation project
  • Visiting Galle fortress
  • Indulge in Ayurveda herbal Massage
  • Visiting the Kande Vihara Buddhist temple

You can count on this tropical island to lock away fond memories of a memorable holiday. Most travellers love the charm of Sri Lanka, the slow pace and the other reason why Sri Lanka is so attractive is, that the island is not overdeveloped. The hectic, chaos, stress, hustle and bustle that you find in most developed countries are yet to be fully implemented on the island, therefore, the majority of the people are still enjoying the easy-going lifestyle.

Top 5 Places To Visit In Sri Lanka Within One Day

Whether you have a short vacation or a long holiday, there are plenty of chances to explore the island’s rich historical past, devotion to Buddhism, panoramic mountains, wildlife reserves, fascinating plant life, pristine beaches and bustling city life. However, this article is meant for travellers, who stay on the beaches of Bentota on the west coast and can allocate only 1 day for a sightseeing trip.

There are many interesting places in Sri Lanka, that can be explored within a day such as Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Sigiriya, Dambulla Unesco world heritage site, southern Sri Lanka… the list goes on. In this article, we talk about a Sri Lanka one-day tour that features the attraction on the west coast and southern coast of Sri Lanka. Here are a few ideas I can put forward as a local traveller to maximize the relaxation and the romance of your Sri Lanka holiday package.

muthumuni beach resort
Bentota beach better known as the golden mile on the west coast inherits wide, sandy, golden colour beaches that perfectly match the taste of beach holiday lovers. Visiting Bentota beach is a part of the Galle tour. Bentota beach holiday is very popular among travellers, therefore, the golden beaches of Bentota beach are dotted with this type of cosy beach resort, giving easy access to the torque water of the Indian Ocean to their guests.

Useful articles on Bentota

Exploring Beaches in Bentota

Beach Resort- Our featured beach is tucked away from the Commercial centre of Sri Lanka, Colombo is also popular as a golden mile or better known as Bentota beach. I believe this is one of the best places to spend your holiday. By far Bentota is the most popular beach on the island home to a wide range of accommodation facilities from cheap dormitory accommodation to high-end luxury beach resorts.

A large number of beach resort are to be found here and they are just a few meters away from the clean sandy beaches of Bentota and provides easy access to the most important tourist attractions in the west and southern Sri Lanka. The resort is ideal for a relaxing beach stay for a couple, a single person or for a family holiday.

Among the dozens of beach resorts in Bentota, we are always recommending to our customers the Mutumuni beach resort, which offers 16 cottages, each cottage consisting of 2 bedrooms. The middle-class hotel provides peace and serenity for its in-house guests. It also has a well-equipped Ayurveda centre offering a wide range of Ayurveda treatments, Yoga sessions and Meditation programs.

All rooms are fully air-conditioned and also provide VC, a fan, hot/cold water and a balcony. All rooms are built with sea views and are only a few yards away from the white sandy beaches and their plethora of shells. The hotel provides all meals for the in-house guests in the restaurant on request, but there are many other beach restaurants within easy reach of the hotel allowing the guests to have more options with regard to meals.

Useful articles on Ayurveda

Indulge in the Ayurveda massage

Rejuvenate you with Ayurveda- Ayurveda is one of the most ancient healing systems in the country and it is being practised in the country for more than 2000 years. Our featured resort has a well-equipped Ayurveda treatment centre and provides a wide range of Ayurveda healing packages that can be differentiated into rejuvenation packages, body purification packages, slimming packages, Body Immunization packages, Stress Management packages and Beauty Care packages. If the guests do not wish to have a comprehensive Ayurveda package they can choose a small Ayurveda treatment such as 30 minutes head massage or full body massage or else they are also free to refrain from using Ayurveda at all.

Sri Lank is a country with a well-developed Ayurveda healing system and is very popular among the local people. Maybe it is not very popular among foreign travellers, however, Sri Lank attracts a large number of foreign travellers, who are enthusiasts of Ayurveda treatments. There is a large number of hotels that are particularly targeting those Ayurveda treatment seekers. Most such Ayurveda health retreats are to be found in beach areas such as Bentota beach, Beruwal and Kalutara.

Madu ganga river safari
Wildlife exploration is becoming a popular activity in Sri Lanka over the last few years. Sri Lanka offers many interesting activities such as whale watching tours, elephant safari and boat tours, and mangrove lagoon tours to wildlife enthusiasts. Sri Lanka safari and beach holidays go hand in hand and the Madu river estuary is a perfect activity that can be easily accommodated in a beach holiday package based on the West coast.

Boat trip on Madu River estuary

Madu river safari is a popular activity and is included in every Bentota trip from Colombo. Madu river safari is also included in the Galle one-day tour from Colombo. it is a perfect opportunity to explore the depleting mangrove forests in Sri Lanka. The tour also allows you to see dozens of fauna flora species in the wetland.

Sri Lanka’s one-day trip to explore the Ramsar wetland of Madu-A highlight for most tourists who spend beach holidays in Bentota is a boat tour in a tributary of Bentota River. Having the boat tour is the best way to experience the rich aqua Fauna and Flora of Sri Lanka. Usually, the boat tour lasts about 1 hour and tourists make visits to an island, Buddhist temples and mangrove forests during the Sri Lanka trip.

Having a boat tour, the visitors are able to see the rich mangrove forests and Fauna and flora species in the marshland. A large number of bird species, water monitors, land monitors, monkeys, crocodiles and a large number of freshwater fish species occur in this environment. Mangroves are a type of forest that diminishing rapidly from the island. Several decades ago mangroves were named a protected ecosystem in order to preserve them for future generations.

The tourists can borrow a motorboat with an experienced person to control the boat. Therefore the passengers are able to admire the beautiful scenery during the boat tour and learn about the fauna and flora of Sri Lanka. There is a high possibility of encountering many other people intermittently on boats, who are also roaming on the water body, because boating on rivers and canals is a very popular activity in the beach areas of Sri Lanka, especially in the western province.

It is highly recommended to make a stop at the cinnamon island during the boat trip, this island is a cinnamon plantation, and here you are able to witness the process of making cinnamon as a condiment or as a spice. The visitors are able to see many other plants and trees such as coconut, mango, pineapple, papaya, banana, manioc etc. Most travellers who come to this isolated island admire the overwhelming calmness and quietness of the island. Because the island is a few km away from the mainland, it can be reached only by boat.

Visiting sea turtle conservation project on a trip from Colombo to Galle

visit a sea turtle conservation centre on a Sri Lanka one-day trip to Galle–visiting a sea turtle conservation centre is another popular pastime activity for holidaymakers, who show up on the west coast of Sri Lanka. There are many sea turtle conservation centres along the west coast of Sri Lanka and all of them are under the purview of the wildlife conservation department while they are managed by private institutions.

It might be difficult to spot sea turtles everywhere in Sri Lanka, especially in their natural habitat, but in the conservation centre, you can see 5 sea turtle species, that occur in Sri Lankan waters without any hardships. There are few places where sea turtles occur very often such as Rekawa beach and Hikkaduwa beach, in fact, local tour operators in Hikkaduwa offer snorkelling tours with sea turtles and they make sure that you encounter sea turtles during the snorkel.

The Sea turtle is a protected animal and it is another animal listed under the red list of IUCN. It is believed that sea turtle conservation centres are helping the growth of the number of sea turtles in the Sri Lankan water.

Rekawa beach of Sri Lanka on the southern coast of Sri Lanka is considered the best beach on the island to spot sea turtles. Unlike in sea turtle conservation centres, where turtles are taken care of the human, at Rekawa, there is no interference from humans. Sea turtles are coming to the beach at night make a nest and lay eggs, afterwards a few days hatchlings come out of the nest and make their way to the sea. Sea turtles can be spotted here throughout the year, however, November to April is the best period to see turtles on Rekawa beach.

Sri Lanka One Day, Bentota to Galle, galle tour from bentota
Galle Fort is a popular tourist on the southern coast and is included in most Sri Lanka trips such as 5 days Sri Lanka southern coats trip. Venturing on a Galle fort walking tour is part of the Sri Lanka Galle one day tour and it is the best way to explore this medieval city.

Useful articles on Galle

Visiting Galle Fort on Bentota to Galle and Colombo to Galle

Sri Lanka one-day trip and visiting Galle fort–technically Galle fort is located towards the southern tip of Sri Lanka and it is about 30 minutes drive from Bentota. Galle Fort is one of the most attractive places to visit on the Sri Lanka south coast itinerary and has hundreds of ancient monuments that showcase the amalgamation of 3 generations of the colonial inheritance of Sri Lanka.

Galle Fort is a well-developed living quarter for travellers. Basically, it offers all the essential ingredients to make your holiday a memorable one. There is a large number of hotels, guest houses, dormitories, galleries, museums, bars, pubs, shopping areas, restaurants, and recreation centres within the borders of this old-world town. The laid-back settings of Galle fort give you the perfect environment to have a peaceful relaxation.

The walls of the fort whisper the ancient mysteries of the city. Galle Fort is the most ancient part of the city and harbours a maze of narrow, cobbled streets dotted with limestone buildings. A sight that is difficult to miss Wovendaal church and the lighthouse, both among the most historically important places within the Fort.

Exploring maritime museum

If you enjoy the cultural buff of foreign soil don’t forget to visit the Maritime Museum of Galle, which has a large collection of artefacts derived from the pre-Christian era to the modern days. It also provides a large number of sources that help to learn about the maritime activities around Sri Lanka in the past. There is a large number of Artifacts ranging from shipwrecks, fossils of sea creatures as well as fishing gears of common people to be seen in the museum.

Visiting Wovebdaal church

Wovendaal church or better known as the Dutch church is located in the Galle fort and was constructed during the Dutch rule in Sri Lanka. It is another important landmark in the Futch Fort and one of the oldest churches on the island. The church still showcases a large number of antique chairs, tables, altar and piano. There are a large number of tombstones in the church in vies of remembering the Dutch government offices who died in Ceylon.

diving in hikkaduwa, Bentota to Galle, galle tour from bentota
Diving and snorkelling are one of the favourite activities gaming the travellers who choose Sri Lanka’s west coast for their beach holiday. Hikkaduwa beach and Nilaveli beach with marine sanctuaries are the best places for snorkelling and diving in Sri Lanka.

Exploring coral reef on a trip from Bentota to Galle

Hikkaduwa is a beach holiday destination to be found between Galle and Colombo, Hikkaduwa is one of the most important places included in the Galle tour. A Large number of visitors in Hikkaduwa choose to go on a glass-bottom boat tour in order to have a different perspective of the island. Hikkaduwa marine sanctuary, one of the few underwater conservation centres of Sri Lanka is reflecting the rich underwater world of Sri Lanka.

A few minute’s rides in a 20 feet motorboat from the shore take you to the Hikkaduwa marine sanctuary. These boats are specially designed to examine the sea bed through its galls bottom. This is the most convenient way to see the sea bed because you do not need to jump into the water to see the corals, exotic fish species and sea turtles that reside in the water. The glass-bottom boat tour lasts around 1 hour; it is fun and convenient and demands no extra preparation to do.

There are many other activities to do in Hikkaduwa on a day trip from Colombo to Galle along with glass-bottom boat rides, such as scuba diving, snorkelling, fishing, boating, and surfing.

Indulge your taste buds in seafood on a day trip from Colombo to Galle

Hikkaduwa is one of the important places to visit in Sri Lanka and to feast on seafood. Hikkaduwa has one of the biggest fishing harbours on the island, therefore fresh seafood is freely available here. Seafood is a big scene here and hundreds of seafood restaurants line up along the beach. Eating fresh seafood is part of every Galle tour and it is customary to make a stop at one of the seafood restaurants in Hikkaduwa for lunch or refreshment.

In seafood outlets, there are a plethora of fish species on offer but for me, the best seafood dish is the mixed seafood plate, which is comprised of dozens of fish varieties such as tuna fish, calamari, shrimps, barracuda, cuttlefish etc. For non-seafood lovers, there are items like meat items, salads, potatoes, pasta, pizza, spaghetti etc

Hotels, restaurants, pubs, shops, boutiques, money changers, Sri Lanka tour operators, guest houses, rest houses, and diving centres are lined up along the main road due to the large concentration of foreign travellers in Hikkaduwa. Usually, all accommodation facilities are fully packed during the peak holiday season (November to April).

Therefore do not expect to find a place for an overnight stay in Hikkaduwa at the last moment during this period. During the off-season (from April to November) you will not find crowded streets, beaches, restaurants and hotels due to the lowered number of foreign travellers.

However, November to April is the best season to encounter Hikkaduwa beach due to the nice and clear waters of the Indian Ocean with no alarm of underwater currents. November to April marks the dry season on the west coast of Sri Lanka resulting in very low rainfall dominated by warm sunny weather.

Visiting Kande Vihara on Colombo to Galle tour

Visiting Kande Vihara is part of most Sri Lanka one-day tours from Colombo to Galle because it is one of the most ancient temples on the west coast. Kande Vihara Buddhist temple is located near Bentota beach and is one of the most visited Buddhist temples on the west coast of Sri Lanka. Undoubtedly Kande vihara is one of the most visited and sacred temples in the southern province of Sri Lanka.

Kande Vihara Temple is visited by a large number of devotees from all parts of the country. Being situated very close to the popular holiday resorts of Bentota, Beruwala, Alutgama and Kalutara, it is visited by a large number of tourists, during their holiday in the country. The especially well-maintained temple has been able to convince the foreigner about the commitment of Buddhists to their religion. The temple is able to create a good impression among the foreigners about Buddhism.

This beautiful temple is located some half a kilometre from the Kaluwamodara Junction on the Colombo–Galle main road. The temple is picturesquely located on a mountain and surrounded by lush green vegetation.

History of Kande Vihara

The history of the temple goes back to the reign of King Rajadhi Rajasinghe. The temple was started with a small dagoba during the Kandyan period and later developed to the present size. The temple had been started as a branch of the renowned Bentota Galapata Vihara, which was resided by Velivita Saranankara Thera.

The relic house of Kande Vihara is built to deposit the sacred relics same time it houses very valuable religious paintings that date back several centuries. The relic deposited here enhances the importance of this holy place. Another important part of the temple is the sacred Bo-tree (Ficus religiosa). It is planted in a house or Bodhigara, which is built in an octagonal shape; it is believed to be an architectural invention of ancient Sri Lankan architects.

See the biggest seated Buddha statue on the west coast

Recently added gigantic meditation Buddha statue measured 107 meters, it is located near the entrance of the temple and adds grandeur to the temple. A beautiful image house is built below the statue. The entrance of the Image house is adorned by a rare type of Makara Thorana. The main doors of the image house are constructed with cement while figures of animals such as lions and floral decorations are carved on the doors. The image house shows a close relationship between typical Dutch architecture.

The temple is conducting many religious programs for visitors; daily Gilanpasa Pooja, Deva Pooja, annual Kiripidu Pooja and Muruten Pooja are some of the important events. Vishnu Devala of Kande Vihara is considered to be one of the most important places in the temple. It houses a beautifully decorated statue of God Vishnu.

Why you should book the Galle tour from Colombo 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.

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