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Year and Month | February 2010 (4th – 7th) |
Number of Days | Two Day Trip |
Crew | 3 (between 14 & 47yrs) |
Accommodation | Sethawadiya, Dolphin Watch Eco Lodge, Kalpitiya |
Transport | Car |
Activities | Bird watching, visiting other places of interest, dolphin watching and just chilling out |
Weather | Fantastic! Bright and sunny, ideal for all planned activities.Weather forecasts can be viewed at:
I have used these sites to check weather for other locations too and have found them to be pretty accurate. |
Route | Our destination was Sethawadiya, Dolphin Watch Eco Lodge, Kalpitiya.Drive along A3 (Colombo – Puttalam road), turn left at Plavi near the 120km post, and take the B349 to Kalpitiya. At 40 km is the Al Aksha junction. Turn left from there and ask for directions to Sethawadiya. Hope and pray you find someone who speaks your mother tongue to give you the directions!
Road is narrow at places but can be navigated by car – the last un-tarred stretch might be problematic during the rainy season. |
Tips, Notes and Special remarks |
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Author | Chandanie |
Comments | Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread |
A week end trip to Kalpitiya was planned as a family vacation. The main attraction was the dolphins but some detours to see interesting sites on the way were also in the itinerary.
We started around 4.00 am on a Saturday – just 3 of us in our car. En route to Palavi along A3, we visited the Munnewaram Kovil in Chilaw. The Munnewaram Hindu Kovil has many little shrines within the main complex; dedicated to various Hindu deities. Photography is not allowed inside the kovil.
Our next stop was at Nawadankulama tank for some birding. This is about 1 km along the road to the right, just pass the 105 km post. We were a bit too late and the sun was not ideal for birding. Despite this, it was quite an exciting stop over.
The road up to Plavi is fantastic. To get to Kalpitiya we turned left at 120th km post and drove along B349. This stretch of the road is carpeted only for about 6km and the rest is not so good. The terrain around is harsh and dry but it is offset by the spectacular view of the Puttalam lagoon on the right side of the road.
Along the way we visited the Thalawila church – which is the oldest Catholic Church in Sri Lanka – and saw the Norochcholai coal power plant from outside. Permission from the Ceylon Electricity Board is needed to get inside.
The road up to Al Aksha junction offers fascinating insights to life in the area.
The road from Al Aksha junction to Sethawadiya is pretty narrow but can be done in a car. The directions are not marked and you need to ask the villagers for them. This can be pretty confusing due to barriers in communication.
The next day was bright and sunny and it was ideal for dolphins. We were joined by two other guests in the hotel for the trip. We set off by 8.15 a.m eager to see the dolphins.
The first sighting was around 8.45 a.m. and there after the dolphins came in hundreds and the sea was literally filled with them! The dolphins were all Long-snouted spinner type and they put on a spectacular show, jumping up and spinning in the air.
The only ugly incident in an otherwise perfect trip was this example of highly irresponsible bit of eco tourism we witnessed, much to our disgust. The two boats in that group would charge into the middle of a pod of dolphins, making them dive back into the water rapidly. The tourists in the boats would dive into the sea with scant regard to their safety or the well being of the dolphins they were out to see. It would be interesting to know whether they would be allowed to behave in such an ugly manner in any other country!
The dolphins were spinning most of the time and my son was able to capture this spinner in action minutes before we turned back and WOW! what a fantastic bit of spinning it was. It was the perfect ending of a memorable trip.