Category: Destinations

Two of Sri Lanka’s best beaches side by side

We consider Mirissa and Weligama as twin destinations. Although only a few kilometres apart, they offer a contrast of experiences. Mirissa offers great beaches, a splendid array of accommodation, restaurants and nightlife, Weligama wins for its surf-friendly beaches and village life setting. If you are heading down the coast from Colombo, you would first come across Weligama and you would immediately recognize it with its fishing boats bobbing in the waters and the waters that are full of surfers. A few minutes down the road is Mirissa.

Mirissa

What was once a small fishing village is now one of the island’s most well-known beach destinations. Mirissa can be accessed via train or through the Southern Expressway. If you select the latter, your closest stop will be the Matara town. From here you can hop on a bus or take a tuk-tuk for about Rs.500 to 750. Mirissa has grown so much in popularity, size, and the sheer number of activities available in such a short time. So it is a place with issues. There have been occasional harassment, unchecked development and other complications arising from over tourism. Thankfully these have also led to changes with the destruction of unauthorized properties, a backlash against the bad behaviour of a few and so on. Regardless of all this, Mirissa’s beautiful beaches still draw in thousands of visitors from around the world, every day. New Year celebrations in Mirissa have become massive with hundreds and thousands of revellers ringing in the New Year on the beach and having the best times of their lives.

Mirissa also boasts of a fishing port. You can take a walk there and meet with the local fisherfolk or watch them pull in their nets.

Mirissa is also a popular destination for those seeking to head out on a whale watching expedition. The waters off Mirissa (like Trincomalee and Kalpitiya) are home to numerous species of whales and dolphins. Foozoo Travel works with a selected group that has been taught the value and importance of respecting the whales, the dolphins and the wider habitat when going on a whale watching ride. We also offer an option to watch whales by air. Speak to us on more of this.

Mirissa also offers a wide spectrum of accommodation to choose from. Exclusive and private boutique hotels, luxury hotels, small bnbs and quirky hostels are all ready to welcome you. Our tours feature an expert selection for all types of budgets and expectations. The array of seafood, coffee shops and roadside shops (kades) selling Sri Lankan fast food and the not to be missed, chocolate rottis are just another reason to make this a definite stop when down south!

Weligama

Weligama is a town adjacent to Mirissa. The name Weligama, literally means “sandy village” which refers to the area’s sandy sweep bay. The main industries are tourism and fishing. Weligama is a popular tourist destination and hosts several boutique hotels including an offshore islet known as Taprobane, which houses a villa constructed by the French Count de Mauny, and is currently owned by Geoffrey Dobbs. It was the birthplace of the scholar monk Weligama Sri Sumangala.

There are a number of sites of historical importance within Weligama and its vicinity, including a 3 metres (9.8 ft) high statue of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, carved into the surrounding rock, between the 6th-9th century AD. Weligama is recognized for its ‘Beeralu’ lace-making. First introduced by the Portuguese in the 16th-century lace-making has remained a traditional handicraft along the coastal area of Weligama, with a number of households producing crochet and tatting lace.

The area is also famous for its distinct stilt fishermen, who erect a single pole in the chest-deep water on the beach, just a few meters offshore, where they perch on a crossbar and using bamboo fishing rods cast their lines out beyond the surf break to catch small fish.

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Largest remaining fortress in Asia built by European occupiers.

Galle is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, 119 km from Colombo. Galle is the administrative capital of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the district capital of Galle District.

Galle was known as ‘Gimhathiththa’ before the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century, when it was the main port on the island. Galle reached the height of its development in the 18th century, during the Dutch colonial period. Galle is the best example of a fortified city built by the Portuguese in South and Southeast Asia, showing the interaction between Portuguese architectural styles and native traditions. The city was extensively fortified by the Dutch during the 17th century from 1649 onwards. The Galle fort is a world heritage site and is the largest remaining fortress in Asia built by European occupiers.

Other prominent landmarks in Galle include the city’s natural harbor, the National Maritime Museum, St. Mary’s Cathedral founded by Jesuit priests, one of the main Shiva temples on the island, and Amangalla, the historic luxury hotel. Galle is home to the Galle International Stadium, which is considered to be one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in the world.

According to James Emerson Tennent, Galle was the ancient seaport of Tarshish, from which King Solomon drew ivory, peacocks and other valuables. Cinnamon was exported from Sri Lanka as early as 1400 BC, and as the root of the word itself is Hebrew, Galle may have been a main entrepot for the spice.

Galle had been a prominent seaport long before western rule in the country. Persians, Arabs, Greeks, Romans, Malays, Indians, and Chinese were doing business through Galle port. In 1411, the Galle Trilingual Inscription, a stone tablet inscription in three languages, Chinese, Tamil and Persian, was erected in Galle to commemorate the second visit to Sri Lanka by the Chinese admiral Zheng He.

The modern history of Galle starts in 1502, when a small fleet of Portuguese ships, under the command of Lourenço de Almeida, on their way to the Maldives, were blown off course by a storm. Realising that the king resided in Kotte close to Colombo, Lourenço proceeded there after a brief stop in Galle.

In 1640, the Portuguese were forced to surrender to the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch built the present fort in 1663. They built a fortified solid granite wall and three bastions, known as “Sun”, “Moon” and “Star”. After the British took over the country from the Dutch in 1796, the British preserved the fort unchanged and used it as the administrative centre of the district.

Galle features a tropical rainforest climate. The city has no true dry season, though it is noticeably drier in the months of January and February. As is commonplace with many cities with this type of climate, temperatures show little variation throughout the course of the year, with average temperatures hovering at around 26 degrees Celsius throughout.

Popular Attractions in Galle

• Galle fort
• Flag rock
• Dutch reformed church
• Old gate
• Marine archeological museum
• Meeran mosque
• Sudharmalaya temple
• Dutch hospital
• Amangalla
• Main gate
• Galle international cricket stadium
• Sun bastion
• National maritime museum
• National museum
• Point Utrecht bastion
• Zwart bastion
• All Saints Anglican church
• Lighthouse
• Dutch market
• Clock tower
• Lighthouse beach
• Dutch Governor’s house
• Muslim Saint’s tomb
• Court square
• Japanese Peace Pagoda
• Jungle beach
• Unawatuna beach

Trincomalee – The east coast gem with so many facets

Trincomalee is a major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast of the island overlooking the Trincomalee Harbor. The city is built on a peninsula of the same name and is home to the famous Koneswaram temple. East Coast is only offseason during the months of November to March. And because the monsoon rains are weaker in the North-East of the country it doesn’t mean rain throughout. So check with us if you would like to visit Trincomalee when it’s less crowded. Rest of the year though, Trincomalee is beautiful and laid back. We have incorporated stops here on quite a few of our tours so make sure you check them out.

The recorded history of Trincomalee spans more than two and a half thousand years, beginning with civilian settlement associated with the Koneswaram temple in the pre-modern era. One of the oldest cities in Asia, it has served as a major maritime seaport in the international trading history of the island with South East Asia. Trincomalee’s urbanization continued when made into a fortified port town following the Portuguese conquest of the Jaffna kingdom, changing hands between the Danishin 1620, the Dutch, the French following a battle of the American Revolutionary War and the British in 1795, being absorbed into the British Ceylon state in 1815. The city’s architecture shows some of the best examples of interaction between native and European styles. Attacked by the Japanese as part of the Indian Ocean raid during World War II in 1942, the city and district were affected after Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948, when the political relationship between Tamil and Sinhalese people deteriorated, erupting into civil war. It is home to major naval and air force bases at the Trincomalee Garrison. The city also has the largest Dutch fort on the island.

The Trincomalee Bay Harbour, unlike any other in the Indian Ocean, it is accessible in all weathers to all craft. It has been described as the “finest harbour in the world” and by the British, “the most valuable colonial possession on the globe. Popular tourist destinations include its beaches at Uppuveli, Salli and Nilaveli, used for temple visits, surfing, scuba diving, fishing and whale watching, and the Kanniya Hot Springs.

History of Trincomalee

Trincomalee which is a natural deep-water harbour has attracted seafarers, trader and pilgrims from Europe, Middle East, Africa, China, East Asia and Australasia since ancient times. Trinco, as it is commonly called, has been a seaport and Hindu pilgrimage center since 400 BC. Trincomalee, and specifically the Swami Rock promontory, has housed several Kovil temples to deities of the Hindu pantheon, as well as a Buddhist vihara and a Christian Catholic church, both introduced following invasions.

Early Tamil dynasties continued to employ the city as the prefectural capital of the Trincomalee District, allowing administrative duties to be handled by elected Vanniar chiefs.

On 8 January 1782 the British captured Trincomalee’s forts from the Dutch, the first place on the island they captured. The French recaptured it on 29 August of the same year after the Battle of Trincomalee. In 1783 the French ceded it to the British and subsequently, Britain ceded Trincomalee back to the Dutch Republic under the Peace of Paris (1783 Treaty of Versailles). In 1795 the British recaptured the city and held it until Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948.

Before the Second World War, the British built a large airfield to house their RAF base, called the RAF China Bay and fuel storage and support facilities for the British fleets there. After the fall of Singapore, Trincomalee became the home port of the Eastern Fleet of the Royal Navy, and submarines of the Dutch Navy. Trincomalee harbor and airfield were attacked by a carrier fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy in April 1942 in the Indian Ocean Raid of the war. However, the installation later served as an important launching point for British naval operations in 1944 and 1945.

With the turn of the modern era, English authors and poets used Trincomalee as inspiration for literature and poetry and became connected with the city. Arthur C. Clarke, who discovered the temple’s underwater ruins with photographer Mike Wilson, described the city and the ruins in Reefs of Taprobane and would go on to write 2001: A Space Odyssey based on his experiences in the city. Trincomalee’s Bhadrakali Amman temple provides a setting in Wilbur Smith’s novel Birds of Prey. Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories feature multiple settings in the city, including in A Scandal in Bohemia and A Singular Affair at Trincomalee. Jane Austen’s younger brother Charles Austen of the British Royal Navy is buried in Trincomalee.

Trincomalee is sacred to Sri Lankan Tamils and Hindus around the world. The city has many Hindu sites of historical importance. These sites are sacred to the Hindus and some Buddhists also worship at these Hindu sites. Prominent sites include the Koneswaram temple compound, its Bhadrakali temple on Konesar Road, and the Salli Muthumariamman Kovil of Uppuveli beach in the Trincomalee suburb of Sambalativu.

Trincomalee Harbour

Trincomalee’s strategic importance has shaped its recent history. The great European powers vied for mastery of the harbour. The Portuguese, the Dutch, the French, and the British, each held it in turn, and there have been many sea battles nearby. The harbour, the fifth largest natural harbour in the world, is overlooked by terraced highlands, its entrance is guarded by two headlands, and there is a carriage road along its northern and eastern edges.

Beaches of Trincomalee

Trincomalee has some of the most picturesque and scenic beaches found in Sri Lanka, relatively unspoilt and clean. The area is famous for bathing and swimming, owing to the relative shallowness of the sea, allowing one to walk out over a hundred meters into the sea without the water reaching the chest. Whale watching is a common pastime in the seas off Trincomalee, and successful sightings are on the rise with the increase of tourism in the area.

There are seven hot springs of Kanniya (Kal = stone; niya = land), on the road to Trincomalee. A high wall bounds the rectangular enclosure which includes all seven springs. Each is in turn enclosed by a dwarf wall to form a well. The water is warm, the temperature of each spring being slightly different.

Climate

Trincomalee features a tropical wet and dry climate. The city features a dry season from March through June and a wet season for the remainder of the year. Average temperatures in Trincomalee range from around 26 °C (79 °F) in December and January to approximately 30 °C (86 °F) during the warmest months of the year from April through September.

Places to visit in Trincomalee

• Koneswaram Temple
• Velgam Vehera
• Kandasamy Kovil
• Gokanna Temple
• Pathirakali Amman Temple
• Seruwila Mangala Raja Maha Vihara
• Fort Frederick
• Hoods Tower Museum
• Commonwealth War Cemetery
• Kanniya Hot Water Well
• Manayaweli Cove
• Swami Rock
• Fish Market
• Dutch Bay
• Lanka Pattuna
•  Saint Mary’s Cathedral
• Nilaveli Beach
• Pigeon Island National Bank
• Marble Beach
• Arisimale Beach
• Uppuveli