A 65km-south-of-Colombo beach town in Galle District where Sri Lanka's first planned resort project began in the late 1960s.
Duration
Half day to full day
Entry Fee
Free
Difficulty
easy
Budget
free
Bentota Beach sits 65 kilometres south of Colombo on Sri Lanka's southwest coast, in Galle District, where the Bentota River meets the Indian Ocean. The Sri Lanka Tourist Board chose the town for the country's first organised resort development in the late 1960s, and architect Geoffrey Bawa's Bentota Beach Hotel, built 1967-1969, still stands as an early landmark of his tropical modernist style. The wide sand beach and generally calm water make it one of the busier stretches on the south coast for jet-skiing, windsurfing, parasailing, and banana boat rides, run by operators along the beachfront. Swim on the northern half of the beach where the current is gentler; the river mouth end has stronger currents and is better suited to watching the boats than swimming.
Swim on the northern half of the beach; currents are stronger near the river mouth.
Water sports operators line the beachfront with hourly and half-day rates; agree the price before boarding.
Combine with the Bentota River safari a short drive inland for wildlife alongside the beach day.
Best time of day: November to April, calmest sea and driest weather on the southwest coast
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ALSO IN THE AREA
Bentota River Safari
A 2-hour motorboat safari on the Bentota River's mangrove channels, departing from jetties near Bentota town itself.
Explore →Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery
Sri Lanka's oldest sea turtle hatchery (1978), on Galle Road at Kosgoda, incubating eggs from 5 of the world's 7 sea turtle species.
Explore →PLAN YOUR VISIT
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