Activities

Unforgettable Experiences

Discover the beauty, adventure, and culture of Sri Lanka

Exciting Things to Do

The following are some of the numerous activities that one can get involved in to pursue fun, endurance, adventure, thrill & happiness on the vacation.

Unlike grand rapids, Kithulgala located on the road to Ella / Badulla is smaller in size but huge in heart, as the service is extraordinary. Kithulgala has lots of water, over nine rapids, passing gaps and the rocks to make it an adventure worth the exertion. Kayaking, rafting or canoeing downstream amidst the green foliage one can see hikers treading upstream on the banks. Plenty of camping grounds to kick back & chill out. It’s possible to rent out rafters, canoes, kayaks, rigiform helmets, life jackets & other necessities such as tents, gas, stoves etc. & other camping gear available in the vicinity, so one doesn’t have to bring them from far. The water is nice & warm unlike grand rapids, so one can’t get cold or sick. The only caution one needs to take is to clean the ears after the expedition, as the ‘tropical ear’ germs can get in the ears. It’s a challenging ride downstream to the Kelani River through a dense green forest.     Have fun!

Habarana, Minneriya, Sigiriya, Udawalawe, Yala & Ella are the best-known destinations in order to get an elephant safari in this emerging tourism dependent economy. The gentle giants can take two or four passengers at a time through ‘elephant paths’ in the woods, bush & the countryside. Bookings can be made in order to reserve seats on the back of the tamed giants in order to go on a ride.   

Other places will also come up with this fun activity as they will need the space & techniques necessary in order to enable that to happen. Jeep safaris are available in almost all the national parks including Yala, Wilpattu & Udawalawe, where the Jeep with its grills, bars & crash bars serve to protect the passengers from any attacks by animals especially Elephants and Leopards.    

Only a few beaches provide the uncanny tall waves required for surfing out of sixteen hundred kilometers of coastline, most of which are calm & tranquil. They’re mostly on the east coast – Arugam Bay, Passikuda & Panama though there are emerging new beaches with waves tall enough in Kalpitiya on the west coast and Weligama on the south shore pretty suitable & fitting especially for beginners. Plenty of travelers from some countries have found these hideaway destinations and would not hesitate to keep it as discreet as possible in order to keep it ‘less traveled’ so that all of you surfers who ‘surf’ can have the fun in the quiet tranquility.

They organize happening ‘beach parties’ after stretching & reaching the heights of the surfs & breakers which has come from as long as eternity and keeps coming to marvel at riding them to shore. Most of these ocean fronts were found by travelers around the globe to have that kind of fun; it was never a pastime or sport of the locals who were too busy fishing to get their food to feed the families & market. So, it’s up to the adventurous traveler to find more of these exciting seaboards to surf, excel & keep it as subtle as possible to deter too many fun lovers from penetrating into such territories.

For a tropical island located north of the equator Sri Lanka has a unique geological formation of hilly terrain in the central regions of the country to enable the adventurer to hike, trek or simply walk. In this landscape a comfortable temperate zone enables those who indulge in outdoor activities such as farming and construction work to hiking to exercise with the least of perspiration. So, you are fortunate as you can tread with no sweat in these regions. These mountainous areas are full of beautiful fragrant nature trails where locals and travelers hike to peak tops through challenging expeditions of the topography to take panoramic views. These central hills are situated approximately 50 Km from the coastline. Ella, Badulla, Horton Plains, Haputale, Bandarawela, Hatton, Ginigathhena, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy. Matale, and every place where one finds tea, rubber & spice plantations are included in these recommended areas for hiking with no sweat. All other areas are available for those who want to sweat it out and let go.

There are two popular destinations out of numerous places from where whales & dolphins can be spotted & watched in this pearl of the Indian ocean.    Mirissa on the south coast and Kalpitiya on the west coast. From either place, one can hop into a boat & take a cruise beyond the horizon with others including life guards. While waiting for the apparitions to appear, one can perhaps read a book or something or begin a conversation with other travelers, as the Whales could be pretty busy down under, but be prepared with your camera to capture some unreal images. Then suddenly at the spur of the moment, the apparitions materialize & the gentle giants are all over the area, swimming, excited & also fearful that the boat may perhaps ‘attack’ them. Usually there are the white whales, one should be extremely fortunate to spot a blue one. On the way back be on the lookout for dolphins if you didn’t wave at them on the way out looking for the whales. Good luck!

There are some retreats in the hill & coastal country where meditation & yoga are practiced. They are usually kept discreet & only revealed to those who are genuinely interested in practicing. The organizers who conduct these activities filter the requests by making the discerning pupil to apply ‘online’ through their website.     

Yoga – stretching exercises of the limbs & abdomen are generally done under the supervision of certified therapists, the silence that you’ve ever learned earlier in life is practiced here in order to ‘reconnect’ the mind, body & soul together to help integrate into a sync, that is union, that is Yoga.

Meditation into emptiness or nothingness – that is without any perceptions or thoughts is practiced at every meditation center.  Having left behind the name, identity, person, ego & all other thoughts etc. at the door, one is welcomed into the session to walk-in empty of any thoughts or other perceptions. Then sit still in silence.  And listen to nothing whatsoever. Just Being there in the now is the best practice. It is undoubtedly difficult to do it, however, over time & sufficient practice one can emerge to be light, love, free & content being with the source.

This tear drop of India is an exceptional island for bird watching, for its location in close proximity to India in the Indian ocean which attracts ‘foreign’ birds to visit on their long voyages across continents in their natural migration during certain seasons of the year. It is fascinating to watch large flocks of birds flying together ‘turn’ altogether simultaneously spontaneously all together at once as if every one of knows that they’re all turning together. This synchronization happens under the ocean in the case of a group of fish as they swim and turn in unison quite spontaneously simultaneously in sync.

One can observe plenty of flocks of birds migrating between Europe & Asia through ‘bird paths’ to Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia & Africa & back through this Island of plenty. Within the country there are numerous local birds: high above the air are the Eagles patrolling a given area to watch the vulnerable prey on the ground, others on the trees are humming birds, myna, parrots, parakeet, robin, nightingales, ones with long tails, beaks and wings only paleontologists know how to name them with a certain amount of accuracy, trial & error. Every national park, estuary, lake, river, rain forest, sanctuary, backyard & the coastal perimeter is frequented with these ‘flying machines’ yes, the birds chirping ‘long stories’ & singing pretty tunes. The atmosphere is full of these adorable two-legged creatures getting aerodynamic, aeronautical, flying, diving, taking off & landing to look for something to peck at. Sri Lanka has plenty of them in every color one can imagine, yes birds to watch.

There are two popular destinations out of numerous places from where whales & dolphins can be spotted & watched in this pearl of the Indian ocean.    Mirissa on the south coast and Kalpitiya on the west coast. From either place, one can hop into a boat & take a cruise beyond the horizon with others including life guards. While waiting for the apparitions to appear, one can perhaps read a book or something or begin a conversation with other travelers, as the Whales could be pretty busy down under, but be prepared with your camera to capture some unreal images. Then suddenly at the spur of the moment, the apparitions materialize & the gentle giants are all over the area, swimming, excited & also fearful that the boat may perhaps ‘attack’ them. Usually there are the white whales, one should be extremely fortunate to spot a blue one. On the way back be on the lookout for dolphins if you didn’t wave at them on the way out looking for the whales. Good luck!

The views from the train from Nuwara Eliya to Ella or back are exceptionally fascinating because one gets to see the ‘guardian mountains’ over the rolling hills, vast gaps, valleys with every shade of green. So be ready & alert to capture some of the most beautiful sights of the rolling hills and the ‘Mountain line’ as the train gradually descends down or climb up over 1200 meters from place to place.

Since Sri Lanka is located in Indian ocean, deep sea fishing is an exciting thing to do for visitors to the Island surrounded by unpolluted blue water. Deep sea fishing is something absolutely new and unreachable for Sri Lankan fishermen who have gained enough and been comfortable with their traditional methods of fishing such as line & net fishing. One would wonder at a loss as to why Sri Lanka would not benefit from deep sea fishing as it appears that the island should have abundant supplies of fish because the Isle is entirely surrounded by the Sea. Deep sea fishing was introduced to Sri Lanka by foreign investors who found lot of scope and profitability in serving an increasing demand for proteins out of fish and its alternative catches.

The Japanese investors were exceptionally interested in deep sea fishing in and around Sri Lankan waters to supply their never satisfying markets back home.      However, they began some work towards those ends but somehow, they have withdrawn from their interests for some reason.

However, some Scandinavian countries have begun their exploration using large trawlers required for deep sea & long voyage journeys into the unpredictable conditions of the ocean & weather.

Sri Lanka did have some joint ventures with investors from overseas as Sri Lankan fishing businesses couldn’t quite invest large sums required to acquire modern trawlers capable of handling the workload involved in supplying reputed prospective buyers from overseas.

The ordinary fishing community will not be able to face the challenges of the demands of modern day buyers who have extremely high standards of catching, storage and supply of fish working on deadlines since they deal with a fragile product. So, it is the Govt. agencies such as the fisheries corporation of Sri Lanka who can continue with the challenging tasks of investing in modern crafts and storage facilities in order to venture into such an enterprise, prior to the quickest disposal before it is too late as fish seems to decompose fast if not handled timely without precise standards of work standards & ethics.

Sigiriya, Dambulla & Habarana are the areas where hot air ballooning is conducted as the winds are good enough in the area of the plains of the island, to be able to enable the balloon to stay up in the air and move with the wind.     It’s an enjoyable ride, to ‘oversee’ the forest plains, rocky hills, pretty lakes & estuaries with an amazing real time panoramic view in motion. However, the only drawback is hot air ballooning depends on the winds and its direction.     So it is essentially seasonal and depends heavily on the moods of the supernatural, solar flares, global weather & neutrinos passing through the planet. The adventurers who do this exercise are testing places like Ella, Tissa & Hambantota as potential locations in order to enable this ‘bird’s eye’ sightseeing in the future. It’s far more economical than boarding into a helicopter, which is an alternative if the winds aren’t going to materialize in other attractive destinations.

Cycling enthusiasts are usually seen in the central highlands peddling uphill and freewheeling in the rolling hills of the downhill slopes of the countryside.     It is very rarely that one would see cyclists on their bikes in Colombo or the Urban townships. There are some cycling tracts which are certainly great places for cycling such as the bund across the Kandalama Lake, Victoria golf course cycling tract and some places which aren’t too crowded so there is sufficient space for cycles to pass on opposite directions. The roads are too full with vehicles that it can be extremely dangerous to walk, leave alone cycle on two wheels. However, safe & designated cycle tracts are available for the discerning traveler to use.

Since 1996 when Sri Lanka managed to win the cricket world cup it earned a reputation for being able to use strategy in the game of cricket to be able to beat world class teams of the planet. This marked the name of the country on the map of the world, and ever since then when one mentions the name of our Country Sri Lanka most people know exactly where in the world that we are located. Such a reference point has taken us a long way ahead of similar or better-known countries. In 2022, the ladies managed to do just that in the netball court, when they became the world champs beating world-renowned teams of the world, which has yet again marked Sri Lanka on the curved map of the world. Although Sri Lanka has four (4) Nine (9) hole golf courses none of the golf stick swingers have been able to even come close to reaching the finals or winning any of the numerous tournaments of the world. However, we all can understand that they play the game which is almost like winning or losing to better techniques and stamina. Sri Lanka used to be good at playing good rugby some time ago when they secured some championships in the 7 a side tournaments. However, when compared to the sizes and physiques of some of the world class teams such as South Africa, New Zealand & Australia, Sri Lankan players cannot match the muscle, stamina and ‘loose play’ of the players in those teams. However, win or lose Sri Lankans are known for our fair play, discipline and the simple attitude to ‘play the game’.

Sri Lankan local markets have transformed to be bigger, spacious and more accessible places to buy and sell produce for most of those who set out to purchase or market their goods. We used to have very small inaccessible provincial types of markets in the past which were somehow much simple, friendly and affordable.

Following the latest trends of the modern world, supermarkets and super stores began to showcase a wider variety of goods at their outlets at convenient times of the day when most people have the time to conduct their shopping or marketing. Some of the old-fashioned local markets don’t even open for business on certain public holidays, which is found by most shoppers to be so rude, provincial & uncomfortable and inconvenient. This has displaced most of the customers who used to be regular clients of the olden day local markets & small shops and markets like the manning markets of Colombo at Pettah & at Wellawatte. Since they couldn’t quite match the extended operating hours and working days offered by the modern air-conditioned supermarkets, their business is quite limited and not going to improve unless they are able to reduce their prices further down in order to entice new and old regular customers to return.

Immerse yourself in the true essence of Sri Lankan cuisine through an unforgettable local cooking experience. Step into a warm, home-style setting where time-honored recipes are brought to life using fresh, locally sourced ingredients. Guided by passionate hosts, you’ll discover the unique techniques, spices, and traditions that define the island’s rich culinary heritage.

This hands-on journey goes beyond just cooking—it’s a cultural experience. As you prepare each dish, you’ll hear the stories, customs, and inspirations behind the flavors, creating a deeper connection to Sri Lanka’s vibrant food culture. From the comforting aromas of slow-cooked curries to the delicate balance of spices in every bite, each moment is designed to feel personal, authentic, and truly memorable.

Translate »
Scroll to Top