Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
At
Talawila
, halfway up the peninsula, there's a Catholic shrine to St Anne. The church
features satinwood pillars and is pleasantly situated on the seafront. Thousands of pilgrims
come here in March and July, when major festivals honouring St Anne are held. The fest-
ivals include huge processions, healing services and a fair.
The two main beaches are
Kalpitiya beach
and
Alankuda beach
a short way to the
south. Alankuda is the busiest and best for non-kitesurfing beach bums. If you squint your
eyes and blot out the string of giant wind turbines stretched right out along the length of
the beach, the massive coal-fired power plant at the far end and its long and ugly jetty, then
Alankuda would be a lovely beach. But let's face it, you're not going to be able to blot that
lot out!
Kalpitiya beach, which can only be reached after crossing a lagoon, is certainly the nicer
of the two, but its status as a kitesurfing hotspot means that it can get very windy here -
too windy to really enjoy lying about on the sand.
Dolphin & Whale Watching
DOLPHIN WATCHING
Boat safaris to watch schools of hundreds of spinner dolphins run most mornings between
November and March. Every hotel can organise a safari, but try and suss out how know-
ledgeable your captain is about dolphins beforehand. Prices start from US$40 per person.
Dolphins (and even whales) are seen around 80% of the time in the October-to-May
season.
Snorkelling & Diving
DIVING
There are some spectacular offshore reefs here with plenty of big fish. The prime dive site
is Bar Reef, which sits several kilometres off the northwest tip of the peninsula and is said
to be one of the finest dive sites in Sri Lanka. Despite its remote location, it's also con-
sidered to be a good snorkelling spot. Most hotels can organise snorkelling and diving
trips, with prices starting at about €100.
Kitesurfing
KITESURFING
Kalipitya beach is fast gaining a reputation for having excellent kitesurfing conditions and
there are schools and board rental places attached to all the hotels as well as dedicated
kitesurfing camps.
