Tours available from Beruwela

Myself and my Partner have booked to visit Beruwela in December. I was wondering though if anyone could give me any advice on what was available in terms of day trips from Beruwela? Would it be possible to go to somewhere like the Elephant orphanage at Pinnawela in a single day?

Tours available from Beruwela

Hi,

It is possible to do a trip to Pinnawala as a day trip, but it is not really recommended. It will be about 4 hours drive going there and another 4 hours coming back. It%26#39;s recommended to Combine Elephant Orphanage with Kandy (Tooth Temple, Botanical Gardens and Kandy) and have an overnight stay in Kandy. The cost for transport is only LKR 1500-2000 extra.

Short trips from Beruwala could be:

Boat trip on Bentota river

Kande Vihare Buddhist Temple

- Sri Lanka%26#39;s tallest Buddha Statue. The Buddha Statue which is 160½ ft tall is constructed in Bhoomi Sparsha Mudra (Calling the Earth to Witness His Enlightenment).

Sri Kalyanarama Maha Viharaya, Kaluwamodera (opp. Araliya Hotel)

- This temple has the tallest ancient marble Buddha statue in Sri Lanka

Brief-Gardens (about 7 kms from Beruwala)

- Brief Gardens is the house and garden of landscape architect Bevis Bawa, developed since 1929. It is a hillside garden with excellent views and many sculptures - both by Bevis himself and other artists. The estate was formerly a rubber plantation

Weekly Fair in Aluthgama

- Mondays there is a fair in Aluthgama (Mathugama Road). Large vegetable market and lots of street vendors. Beware of ';commission boys';.

Beruwala Fishing Harbour (early morning trip)

Daytrips could be:

Down the coast to Galle with possibility to visit

- Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Project

- Boat Trip on Madu Ganga, Balapitiya

- Ariyapala Mask Museum, Ambalangoda

- Batic Factory,Ambalangoda

- Moonstone Mine, Meetiyagoda. This is one of the very few places in the world where blue gleaming moonstones are found. A number of stores and stalls sell jewellery made with these semi-precious stones.

- Hikkaduwa. Glassbottom Boat ride on the coral reef and maybe a swim inside the reef. Good place for lunch break (several good restaurants - Refresh is recommended)

- Galle. UNESCO declared World Heritage Site the magnificent Dutch fort is the most popular attraction of the town. 300 year old Dutch atmosphere is still very much alive around the fort and amidst its many historical buildings. Good possibilities for shopping in Galle.

Sinharaja Forest

- Sinharaja forest reserve is one of the least disturbed and biologically unique lowland rain forest in Sri Lanka. This forest covers an extent of about 11187 hectares from east to west .The length of the forest is about 21km and width from North to South is about 3.7km.It was declared a Man and Biosphere Reserve (MAB) in 1978,as representative of tropical humid evergreen forest Eco system in Sri Lanka and has been recognized by UNESCO as part of it%26#39;s International Network of Biosphere reserves. It was declared a National wilderness area in 1988 and lately a world heritage site in 1989.

Hans

Tours available from Beruwela

Hi - we did the trip down the Bentota river which was good and we got to hold a baby crocodile and do some jet skiing! This only takes a couple of hours during the day. We also did a trip to Galle comfortably in one day.

I can recommend someone to take you on your trips if you would like. I went in a group of 4 girls and we always felt safe and it was much cheaper than going through the tour operator. The person we used held full insurance and was approved by the tourist board, so no probs there.

Anyway, if you are interested please private message me and I%26#39;ll let you know more details. I don%26#39;t like putting details on here in case it looks like I%26#39;m touting for business or something!!