i'm planning to visit in sri lanka with my Family between apri - May . i'm looking for near the beach bungalow stay two weeks and Scuba Diving (Beruwala,Bentota, Hikkaduwa,Unawatuna) i have heard that Beruwala,Bentota, Hikkaduwa,Unawatuna are good for Diving. is there any recomend places?
Any body know the cheap place, please inform me.i am very appreciate it.
Eva
Edited by: eva_g
Hi'
I'm in Sri Lanka for two weeks right now. Just got back from Unawatuna which was fantastic. It has a village feel as you can walk around all the shops, beach, restaurants, hotels within a few minutes. There are enough people for an atmosphere, but not too many. Youj can dive there, nothing world class, but there are two wrecks, I saw one called Tango wreck, which was nice, but would only satisfy one dive. There are some caves to dive apparently. There's probably 2-3 days of diving if you exhaust it, but that's a guess.
I stayed at Thambopanni which is the inner land location of Thrabopan. Both are very nice, and $45 a night is cheap by european standards, but I guess probably more than the rest in Una. It is very nice and chilled out, good service too, so if the price isn't an issue ten its a good option. I didn't see anything else that I thought I would check out and recommend. There is enough availability in the area to turn up with nothing planned, but Thambo and Thrabo. will get booked up. They have a good website which isn't too deceiving. The Thrabo is on the beach front, thamopanni isn't, but we didn't mind because then you can go to the restaurant in Thrabopan and sit by the sea when you eat, and restreat to your accommodation afterwards.
I haven't seen the other places you list. I hear Hikkuduwa is not as ncie as there are a lot more people. I would definitely recommend Una! Enjoy!
Southwest monsoon will be setting in around mid to late April after which diving is either not possible or very difficult on the west coast. Best option is to go to the east coast. There is an operator at Nilaveli Beach Hotel north of Trincomalee. Great shallow coral gardens off Pigeon Island and some interesting rocky reefs as well. Another dive center should be operational at Chaaya Blu hotel in Uppuveli (just south of Nilaveli) from early May or so.
Overall thought the best diving in Sri Lanka is off Colombo and the northwest coastal areas of Kalpitiya. Colombo has world class wrecks and some good rocky reefs while Kalpitiya has extensive shallow coral reefs with everything from seahorses to reef sharks.
A good site for info is www.divesrilanka.com