OceanWhales, dolphins and reefs
The room
The Indian Ocean surrounds Sri Lanka on both sides, so there is good water in season somewhere all year. Blue whales pass Mirissa, dolphins gather at Kalpitiya, and turtles nest along the south coast. We arrange private boats and dives with experienced local skippers.
Head out at first light from Mirissa or Dondra Point, the island's southern tip, where the continental shelf runs close to shore and blue and sperm whales surface near the boat. We use a private skiff and a captain who knows the water, with breakfast served at anchor. The season runs December to April.
Kalpitiya runs from December to April: large pods of spinner dolphins, and the Bar Reef for divers. The east coast holds quieter water from May to September. Pigeon Island off Nilaveli is the main snorkelling reef, and the Great and Little Basses, offshore of the south-east, are advanced wreck and current dives.
Five turtle species nest on Sri Lankan beaches. Rekawa runs a guided night watch, busiest in the middle of the year, and the Kosgoda hatcheries take a daytime visit. We book each trip with a skipper who has worked this coast for years, not from a desk.
What we curate
Ways into ocean, each one a private door, each one composed for you alone.
- 01
Blue & sperm whales, Mirissa & Dondra (Nov-Apr)
- 02
Blue whales, Trincomalee (May-Sep)
- 03
Spinner dolphin super-pods, Kalpitiya (Dec-Apr)
- 04
Reef snorkelling, Pigeon Island, Nilaveli (May-Oct)
- 05
Bar Reef diving, Kalpitiya (Nov-Apr)
- 06
Great & Little Basses wreck dive, Kirinda (Mar-Apr)
- 07
Coral & turtle snorkel, Hikkaduwa
- 08
Turtle night-nesting watch, Rekawa (Apr-Jul)
- 09
Turtle hatchery, Kosgoda
Where ocean belongs.
This experience is woven into the journeys below, choose the geography that suits the trip you have in mind.
