Sea plane

Hi Saphira,
The governmet announced the suspension some time ago, more or less because of the Tamil threat.. I'm pretty sure that there's been no announcement regarding resumption of services.
Perhaps someone living in Lanka can confirm that but I think it's right.
Never mind, just think of all the money you'll be saving with travelling by train.
Rod.

Rod, you're right about the $$$ but it has been something I'd really fancied doing and it was suspended the last time I was there too..never mind. So, can I tap into your knowledge again, please...? Do you have any suggestions for somewhere relatively quiet to stay (with great prawns) and waves that aren't too big between Colombo and Galle? ...over to you. Sapphira

Hello again,
suggestions as to where to stay,, depends on what sort of place and how much to spend.
As a middle of the range lower budget hotel I like,;-
Sunil's Beach Hotel,
Narigama, Hikkaduwa,,,,Tel; +94-(0)-91-2277186 email > sunilsd@sltnet.lk <
there's a site where you can get an idea ,,,http://www.sunilbeach.com/index.html<BR><BR> I know Hikkaduwa has a reputaion for being good but noisy. Well, this place is about 1 mile south of the town centre. A sort of suburb named Narigama. The hotal is beach side of the road. Rear has a decent pool, garden to lounge around in and opens out onto a good stretch of beach. Strolling from there towards town, there's lots of small bars and restaurants opening out onto the beach.
The rooms are all quite big, clean and well furnished, all good en-suite and each with a small private balcony. It's built so every room looks out over the pool , beach and the sea.
The chef is great with prawns. If you want a few more pics, then pm me with your email and I'll send some along.
Rod.

Didn't know the air taxi service had been suspended, but even when it was operating, there weren't many flights. Flights between smaller towns and between Colombo and those areas would only get off the ground if there were a minimum number of passengers, at least ten or something, maybe half a dozen if the planes were small. Only a couple of the routes had regular service.

Rod, I've looked at the sight and will make reservation.

The sort of thing I'd fancy is something on the beach in a relatvely quite place and certainly no more than $30 and ideally less than $10. If there's not a plane to take me south then will go slowly your rec for Hikkaduwa looks v.nice but do you know of anywhere between Colombo and there that might be interesting ? will be taking up your Dikwella suggestion by the way and will let you know how it all goes.

Sapphira

Hi Saphira,
Sorry, I can't be much help to you on places between Colombo and Hikkaduwa.
A couple of years ago went to a place at Aluthgama which I really liked. It was owned by a German lady who was married ( partnered ) with a local guy. They had a huge garden full of amazing trees . The garden opened out onto a lovely beach and up in one of the trees she had two tree top cabanas. I havn't been back since the tsunami so don't know the current info. It was called,
Little Rock Cabanas, 712 Galle Road, Yalagama.
I've also stayed at a couple of other beautiful guest houses on good beaches around Ahungalla area. Unfortunately, I could take you right to them but it was before I really started taking note of where I was or where I'd been. So no addresses, sorry.
Rod.

Hi just to let you know the sea plane is up and running, it flies from Colombo to bentota, then onto Kogala, near Galle
there was a special offer I saw on redddottours.com for about 50 uk pounds

I run a small hotel on the lagoon in hikkaduwa and some of my guest have used the plane and said it was great.

glad to hear it's back. it lands within walking distance from where i stay. it's expensive but sometimes worth it after the long flight from the usa. then the 6 hour drive to tangalle can be a killer, in every sense of the word. to be honest the more i go to sri lanka the more the driving scares the hell out of me. someday when i have the time i'd like to take the train.