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ONE DAY EXCURSION TO GALLE

ONE DAY EXCURSION TO GALLE

One Day Excursion to Galle Fort, Madu River, Stilt fishermen and Turtle Hatchery

Take a magical boat ride down the beautiful Madu River, a wetland estuary spreading over 900 hectares of which 770 hectares is covered with water and inhabited with 64 islands. The boat ride is a wonderful way to take a closer look at this complex wetland ecosystem; a world heritage site protected by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands being one of the last wetlands in Sri Lanka to contain a pristine mangrove forest.

Journey past massive mangrove forests, glide under the canopy of the forest tunnels as they curve playfully towards the watercourse. Take in the unique biodiversity of the Madu River and its surrounding islands that boasts of hundreds of birds, plants, fish and animals.

There's plenty more to do; quench your thirst with a refreshing drink of King Coconut Water and then proceed towards the Buddhist Monastery, see how Kraal fishing is carried out, how Ceylon Cinnamon is peeled and enjoy some 'fish therapy' as they playfully nibble your feet at the 'fish spa'. If it's later in the evening watch the fishermen in their canoes lighting lanterns on traps that catch prawn and other shellfish. It's certainly going to be a memorable day-out on the serene waters of the unforgettable Madu River!

After an exciting Madu river boat trip, drive down to Galle on the highway and visit a Turtle hatchery enroute, to see various species of Sea Turtles, if you wish you could even release a baby Turtle to the Ocean.

Then proceed to Koggala to witness Sri Lanka's most photographed iconic stilt fishermen who sits on perched poles in the shallow water of the Indian Ocean waiting for their daily catch followed by a visit to Galle market and fishermen selling their daily catch by the beach in Galle town.

Finally, we take you to a leisure stroll in the best-preserved colonial fort in South Asia; relive a 500-year-old history, be captivated by the glorious past!

This magnificent piece of architecture, a UNESCO World Heritage site was initiated by the Portuguese in the 16th century, seeing some of its best days during Dutch rule in the 18th century, until the British took over in 1796.

Enter the fort through the main entrance which bears the carved logo of the British monarch on the outer wall and the VOC symbol of the Dutch East India Company in the inner wall. Observe the magnificent building with its old stone walls, the ramparts, Dutch colonial villas, the clock tower, the Old Dutch Hospital, Dutch period houses, the beautiful Dutch Reformed Church and the old Bread fruit tree, thought to be the oldest bread fruit tree in the country.

The fascination about the Country Side is that it is a living historical site and not just another well preserved piece of architecture. The Country Side covering 52 hectares of land is one of the busiest places in Galle with a multi-ethnic population living within its walls. Walk around the old town and the ramparts; visit the Maritime Museum, Country Side Temple, Antique shops, Country Side Mosque and the many hotels and restaurants around. Enjoy the beautiful view of the Indian Ocean over the fort walls

Tour Itinerary

  • Pick up from Colombo hotel and transfer to Balapitiya – Approximately 2 ½ hour drive
  • Boat ride down the beautiful Madu River
  • Transfer to Galle – 1-hour drive approximately
  • Visit a Turtle Hatchery to see various verities of Sea Turtles and possibly release a baby turtle to the Ocean
  • Lunch at a recommended restaurant
  • Witness the skills of stilt fishermen who wait for the day’s catch sitting on a stick perched on shallow waters of the Indian Ocean
  • Visit bustling Galle market and see the fishermen sell their daily catch by the road side.
  • Visit Galle Fort - Galle Fort is a trendy place to enjoy the architecture, history, shopping and taste some best food and wine in the road side cafes.
  • Transfer back to Colombo – 2 hours drive approximately

Rate includes,

  • Air-conditioned vehicle with fuel
  • English speaking chauffeur guide
  • All parking and highway charge where applicable
  • All taxes

Rate excluding (but our chauffeur will assist you when you want it)

  • Entry fees for the mentioned attractions and activities
  • Meals or refreshments
  • Specialist guide’s fee

Places of visit during this trip

  • Madu River
  • Turtle Hatchery
  • Galle Fort
  • Koggala Stilt Fishermen
  • Galle Market

For the cost please contact 

CYRIL TOURS at ct@cyriltours.com. WhatsApp +94777366633

 


Feedback from valuable clients + See all

    "(10 days). Before the trip I did a lot of research here on the site and other sites on the tour options and after checking in we decided to go with a guide attached. Choice in was not easy and I started Travels "correspondence with more than ten guides to staying with the" chosen ". No doubt it was an excellent choice! Before Asbury on our guide, I wanted to note that after the visit, I understand the importance of taking guide (driver) suite. Roads and driving in Sri Lanka ..." Corey

    "We would like to say thank you very much Mr. Cyril for the excellent 7 night tour of Sri Lanka you provided us. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Sri Lanka and the itinerary you arranged. The four hotels (Earls Regency, Amaya Lake, Heritance Kandalama and the Colombo Hilton) were excellent and thoroughly deserved their 5 stars. Your driving skills was excellent. Also very friendly, calm, helpful, and courteous and always prompts. Sri Lanka is a lovely country and the people were very friendly. ..." Suresh and Prashanth

    "                  Our Tour in Sri Lanka Traveling through the beautiful Sri Lanka has been great. Cyril warmly welcomed us at the airport and drove us with his always clean car in every part of the country. He provided daily information about the history and the different sites of Sri Lanka. Also, he taught us a lot about Sri Lankan culture, starting from food, traditions, animals and nature, and suggested authentic and less known places we c..." FILIPPO MASI FROM ITALY

    "Thank you Cyril for making our Christmas holiday fun so smoothly and easy. We loved Sri Lanka and look forward to retuning again. Cyril, your knowledge and service was outstanding and it was so refreshing to have such a very highlevel of service. We will be sure to recomond your service and travel agency to our friends. Please feel free to use us as a reference, you can use my email or phone number to clients." Bruce Larson & family from USA

    "11th April 2014 01 week tour around Sri Lanka A fantastic week was had by all with Cyril, exploring Kandy, Nuwaraeliya and Bentota. Your meaningful insights & excellent explanations of the Sri Lanka’s culture, nature and traditions were invaluable. Your smile and charm helped is feel related and comfortable. Not getting stressed once. With your guidance & tips, the holiday flew by with only one problem: it was very short! Your comprehensive list of talents ranges from findin..." Ian Price and family from UK

    "Hello my dear friend Mr. Cyril We are all fine dear, I have visited Sri Lanka and I loved the country, Insha’Allah I will visit again your country, it is amazing place. This is the first  day at work , really I enjoy the tour to sri lanka with my  family  and it was very nice and  I wish  to go again to sri lanka and of course you were very good and polite and respectable guy  -thanks  a lot  for every thing and  I wish you ..." Nasser Mohamed from Oman

    "We had a exellent and memorable trip. That all credit to you Cyril.Indepth knowledge about the place, roads, Culture and history. Very matuared and patient. We were in very safe hands on all the time. Thanks a lot, mainly it's memorable expeirience for all of us. We always recomond CYRIL TOURS to our friends and relatives in Dubai and in India." Awdhesh Kumar and gruop

    "CyrilWe are now back at home after the lovely time with you in Sri Lanka, andvisiting Hong Kong.Thank you for driving for us while we were in Sri Lanka.In particular, we appreciated  - your smooth, calm and efficient driving through varied traffic conditions  - your calmness when things did not go quite as expected  - your being available at all times of day - I'm remembering our late  arrival at the airport, and our late departure  - your information about all sorts of ..." Cliff Hooker and Jean from Australia

    "Thanks a lot for making great arrangements for the visit. The visit was very well organized with good hotels and the vehicle/ driver. I would highly recommend your agency and its services to everyone who wants to visit Sri Lanka. Anastasia - Russia, Feb 2011 " Anastasia

    "We found Cyril on-line and after checking with lots of other guides we decided he is the one for us, that decision was the best one we did for our trip From the beginning, in our emails, Cyril listen to us and was very helpful, he gave us information and helped us to create the best trip for us.We had 10 days trip, for our honeymoon, to many parts of Sri-Lanka. the country is amazing, green, nice people and good food.Cyril was a great driver and even greater guide, he has so much knowledge and e..." Coral and Oded from Israel

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