Books	Sri Lanka Marine Mammals Checklist
Continental Shelf Map	Whale Watching History
Image gallery	Mirissa Whale Watching Log
Real Accounts	Whale Watching Publicity
Sri Lanka Seabirds Checklist	The Whale Watching Boats
Regulation, Licensing and Conduct	Products
Useful Articles (Whale Watching pdfs)	Trincomalee Whale Watching Log

 

Whale Watching and Dolphin Watching in Sri Lanka

Welcome to the most comprehensive source of information on whale watching and dolphin watching in Sri Lanka. In May 2008, Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne the CEO of Jetwing Eco Holidays broke the story that Southern Sri Lanka is the best place in the world for seeing Blue Whales. This sections contains some of the articles, press publicity real accounts and  the most detailed log of sightings available.

Use the links above to navigate to a wealth of information.


ITINERARY

DAY 01 Arrival in Sri Lanka and transfer to Jetwing Lighthouse Hotel & Spa, Galle for six nights.

        

DAY 02 - 03 Mornings, take the boat from the fishery harbour out to sea. Blue Whales in concentrations not seen elsewhere in the world would be the highlight. A concentration of blue whales of this nature is something which whale watchers can only dream about. During the migration, Blue whales are seen relatively close to shore as the continental shelf is narrow to the South of Dondra. After seeing the blue whales, your naturalist will take you further out to sea look for sperm whales. Even sperm whales sometimes come within a few kilometers of shore.

(The boat crew we use is experienced and makes it a point to keep a comfortable distance from the whales so that they are not stressed)

DAY 04 Morning, at leisure by the beach, enjoy signature treatments at the hotel Spa. Evening, take a walk along the Dutch Fort (UNESCO World Heritage Site)

DAY 05 - Another visit to the sea with focus on Dolphins. On a good day you will have the treat of observing more than five hundered dolphins. The long-snouted spinners are a treat to watch in action. See the image gallery.

DAY 06 Depending on your wish, you may either spend another day in the sea taking the last round of best piciures of the largest animal to have ever lived on the planet or you can opt to spend the day bird watching with your naturalist at a nearby forest reserve.

DAY 07 After breakfast transfer to The Beach, Negombo for one night.

DAY 08 Transfer to International Airport.

You may also like to join marine biologist Dr Charles Anderson on the longer and more in-depth whale watching tours he leads, for which we are agents. Charles is the foremost authority on the whales and dolphins of the region, and can be contacted on anderson[at]dhivehinet.net.mv or charles.anderson11[at]btinternet.com 


If you have more time in Sri Lanka, we recommend that you take a big game safari extension with us either to Yala National Park for Leopards, or Udawalawe National Park for herds of Elephants. For serious whale watching enthusiasts, or seabird enthusasists, we can tailor a more focussed tour. 

Above and below are a few images taken by Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, the CEO of Jetwing Eco Holidays, on his visit to Mirissa in April 2008. Beyond doubt Eco Holidays Team have clocked more whale watching excursions in Sri Lanka than any other team in the island. Gehan has over a 1,000 spectacular images of the whales, most of them taken during the month of April.