Arugam Bay Pottuvil Lagoon

Pottuvil Lagoon sits immediately north of Arugam Bay village, connected to the sea by a narrow mouth and ringed by dense mangrove forest. The lagoon is one of the more reliable places in eastern Sri Lanka to spot mugger crocodiles from close range, as they sun themselves on sandbanks in the early morning. Painted storks, grey herons, cormorants, and kingfishers feed along the mangrove edges throughout the day. Local operators in Arugam Bay organise canoe or small motorboat tours of the lagoon that last 1.5 to 2 hours, winding through mangrove channels narrow enough to touch both sides. The lagoon is also an archaeological area: the ruins of a 10th-century Buddhist stupa, Pottuvil Point, are visible on the headland at the lagoon mouth.