The West - Sri Lanka - page 176

The catch is not all from the open sea: Negombo is at the northern end of a lagoon that
is renowned for its lobsters, crabs and prawns. Across the lagoon bridge there's a second
fish market ( GOOGLE MAP ) . If you can stagger out of bed at 6am, it's a good place to
watch much bigger fishing boats return with their catches.
Beach BEACH
( MAP GOOGLE MAP )
Even though it could never compete in a beauty contest against many Sri Lankan beaches,
Negombo's beach, which stretches north from the town right along the hotel strip before
fading into a palm tree distance, has been recently tidied up and, in front of the big hotels,
is now quite pleasant. Sadly, the water does have a distinct brown colour thanks to estuary
run-off and pollution, but it's no longer bad enough to stop people swimming.
Foreign tourists can often access the beach in front of most big hotels even if you're not
staying, but for a more colourful (and noisier) scene join the locals at what is known as
Negombo Beach Park ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ) .
Religious Buildings RELIGIOUS
Negombo is dotted with churches - so many locals converted to Catholicism that the town
is sometimes known as 'Little Rome'. The fading pink chamber of St Mary's Church (
GOOGLE MAP ) , in the town centre, has some thunderous ceiling paintings covering the
nave. East of town the Angurukaramulla Temple , with its 6m-long reclining Buddha, is
also worth seeing. The island of Duwa , joined to Negombo by the lagoon bridge, is famed
for its Easter passion play.
Canals CANALS
The Dutch showed their love of canals here like nowhere else in Sri Lanka. Canals extend
from Negombo all the way south to Colombo and north to Puttalam, a total distance of
over 120km. You can hire a bicycle in Negombo from various hotels and ride the canal-
side paths for some distance, enjoying the views and small villages along the way.
Activities