beach towns; courses start at around €30.
Low Pressure Stormrider Guides (www.
lowpressure.co.uk) offers good advice on
surfing Sri Lanka.White-Water Rafting,
Canoeing & Boating
You don’t have to be a beach babe to
enjoy Sri Lankan water sports. High up
in the hills, rivers tumble down moun-
tains to produce some memorable rafting
conditions.
Currently the best-known white-water
rafting area is near Kitulgala, where a
number of different operators can take
you out on gentle river meanders (around
US$30 per person) or, for experienced raft-
ers, exciting descents of Class 4–5 rapids.
Adventure Sports Lanka (p316) is the
biggest player in Sri Lankan rafting and
organises rafting expeditions to Kitulgala
and elsewhere from its Colombo base. The
Belihul Oya area of the Hill Country is
also gaining a reputation for kayaking and
other river-borne sports.Back on salty water you can organise
boat or catamaran trips for sightseeing,
birdwatching and fishing around Ne-
gombo, Bentota and most east-coast beach
resorts.Windsurfing &
Kitesurfing
Sri Lanka isn’t renowned for its windsurf-
ing or kitesurfing but that doesn’t mean
there’s no action. Negombo has a well-run
kitesurfing school (p87) that runs trips up
and down the coast. Further north, the
Kalpitiya area has gained a reputation as
one of the best kitesurfing areas in South
Asia and there are plenty of board hire
places and experienced kitesurfing (p92)
schools. On that note, the far north of Sri
Lanka, around Munnar Island and the
islands off Jaffna have good windsurfing
potential, but they remain very much off
the beaten track.
Some top-end hotels and a couple of
private water-sport operators around the
Bentota area hire beaten-up sailboards. It’s
a good place for learners and lessons are
possible; windsurfing courses cost around
US$130.Whale- & Dolphin-
Watching
Sri Lanka is fast gaining a reputation for
being a world-class whale-watching loca-
tion. The big attraction is big indeed – blue
whales, the largest of all creatures. Mirissa
(p124) is the best place from which to or-
ganise a whale-watching trip. On the east
coast, Uppuveli and Nilaveli offer quieter
but less-reliable whale-watching and in the
northwest the Kalpitiya area (p92) is popu-
lar, although here schools of dolphins are
more common than whales.
In all these places local boat tours are
available, but it pays to go with someone
who really knows what they’re doing. Eco
Team Sri Lanka (%011-583 0833; http://www.
srilankaecotourism.com; 20/63 Fairfield Gardens,
c olombo) is first-rate and offers whale-
watching (and dolphin-watching) tours to
all of these places.White-water rafting, Kelaniya Ganga (p165)GREG ELMS / GETTY IMAGES ©
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