Whale & Dolphin Watching and other attractions : Kalpitiya Sri Lanka

Whale and Dolphin watching is a major tourist attraction in along some parts of the coastline of Sri Lanka. Form all those locations Kalpitiya is the most visited and famous for dolphin watching.

Kalpitiya is one of the few places in the world where you can observe these amazing mammals in their natural habitat. There are many boat services available where you can hop in and get a tour. The best time to watch them are in the mornings and boats take off around 8 o'clock. Usually the boats are hired for groups and each boat service have different price range and viewing times. It ranges from 3000 LKR to 5000 LKR per person depending on the sevice.

In my journey to Kalpitiya I was fortunate to see pods of dolphins of around 30 members. Dolphins are social animals therefore they are not afraid to swim along with the boats. They also communicate with each other with unique sounds which is mesmerizing.

According to our guide there are mainly two seasons in a year where dolphins are more often. They are January to April and July to October. But you can see them almost around any time of the year. Whales are rear to see and in my journey I wasn't fortunate.

Other attractions in Kalpitiya

Dutch Fort

There is an old Dutch Fort which is maintained by the Sri Lankan Navy which you can visit during your trip. It was built build by the Dutch in the time between 1667 to 1676. As for now it is a base of operation of navy and the visitors should but ticket from counter at the front gate and follow strict rules of Navy officials while visiting the fort. The Fort is nearly square shaped and have many guard towers. The guard tours are cooler than the outside harsh climate and it was amazing to see.

Most of the walls of the fort was made with coral and granite. Most of the building are collapse but you can still see the ruins of the old world. Navy provides with a guide who explains each location we visit. We can still see the symbols of Dutch and original wooden doors which were placed in the entrance.