Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery

Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Project has operated since 1978, making it Sri Lanka's oldest turtle hatchery, on Galle Road at Mahapalena in Kosgoda, a short drive south of Bentota. The centre buys eggs from local fishermen who would otherwise sell them for food, reburies them in a protected hatchery, and releases the hatchlings to the sea after incubation, a model developed here specifically to reduce egg poaching on this stretch of coast. Five of the world's seven sea turtle species nest on the surrounding beaches, and the tanks hold turtles at different growth stages alongside a few permanent resident turtles recovering from boat-strike or fishing-line injuries. Ask staff on arrival whether a hatchling release is scheduled that day, since timing depends on the incubation cycle, not a fixed show time.