Sport and outdoor activities

Sri Lanka’s unspoiled environment and variety of landscapes offer all sorts of possibilities for outdoor and activity holidays. Water-based activities like diving and surfing are well covered, while there are plenty of other ways to get active, ranging from mountain biking and trekking to ballooning and yoga. As for spectator sports, if you’re lucky enough to coincide with a match, a trip to watch Sri Lanka’s cricket team in action is well worth the effort.

Cricket

Of all the legacies of the British colonial period, the game of cricket is probably held dearest by the average Sri Lankan. As in India and Pakistan, the game is undoubtedly king in the Sri Lankan sporting pantheon, with kids playing it on any patch of spare ground, improvising balls, bats and wickets out of rolled-up bits of cloth and discarded sticks.

Although the national team is a relative newcomer to international cricket – they were only accorded full Test status in 1982 – they’ve more than held their own since then. It’s in the one-day game, however, that Sri Lanka has really taken the world by storm, capped by their triumph in the 1996 World Cup, when their fearsomely talented batting line-up – led by elegant left-hander Aravinda da Silva and the explosive Sanath Jayasuriya – blasted their way to the title (a feat almost repeated by their successors at the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, where Sri Lanka ended runners-up). More recent success came with victory in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 championship.

Modern Sri Lankan cricket has produced three of the game’s unquestioned all-time greats. Arguably the world’s most lethal spin bowler ever, Muttiah Muralitharan (or “Murali”, as he’s popularly known) retired in 2010 after capturing an astonishing 800 wickets in Test cricket, a record which is unlikely to be broken for many years, if ever. Only slightly less jaw-dropping have been the achievements of batsmen Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. both of whom retired in from international cricket 2015. Jayawardene finished as the eighth highest-ever run-scorer in Test cricket, and the fourth-highest in ODI games, while Sangakkara ended his career at number five in the list of all-time Test match top scorers (at a staggering average of almost 60), and with only Indian great Sachin Tendulkar having garnered more ODI runs. More recently, in 2017, Rangana Herath became the most successful left-arm spinner in test-match history.

Watching a match

The island’s principal Test-match venues are the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy and the cricket ground in Galle. One-day and Twenty20 internationals are mainly held at Kandy, Galle, the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, and the modern cricket stadiums in Dambulla and Hambantota. Tickets for matches are available from the relevant venues. Note also that many of the tour operators we list, Red Dot Tours in particular, offer cricketing tours to Sri Lanka.

Surfing, kitesurfing and other watersports

Many of the waves that crash against the Sri Lankan coast have travelled all the way from Antarctica, and not surprisingly there are several excellent surfing spots. The outstanding destination is Arugam Bay on the east coast, the one place in Sri Lanka with an international reputation among surfheads. Other leading surf spots include the south coast village of Midigama, nearby Medawatta and Madiha (both on the edge of Matara), and Hikkaduwa. Boards are available to rent at all these places. Various places in Arugam Bay and Hikkaduwa arrange surfing trips around the coast. The surfing season runs from April to October at Arugam Bay, and from November to April at Hikkaduwa and at surf spots along the south coast.

North of Colombo, the Kalpitiya peninsula has emerged over the past few years as a major kitesurfing destination, with excellent wind conditions almost all year and a mix of sea and more sheltered lagoon kiting areas. Sri Lanka’s watersports capital is Bentota, whose lagoon provides the perfect venue for all sorts of activities, including jet-skiing, speedboating, waterskiing, inner-tubing, banana-boating and windsurfing, which is particularly good here. Wakeboarding is also beginning to take off – Hikkaduwa is the main centre. The island’s premier whitewater rafting destination is Kitulgala, while some of the operators listed on can also arrange kayaking and canoeing.

Diving and snorkelling

Sri Lanka isn’t usually thought of as one of Asia’s premier diving destinations, and although you probably wouldn’t come here specifically to dive, there are enough underwater attractions to make a few days’ diving a worthwhile part of a visit – divesrilanka.com offers a handy overview of what’s available. Sri Lanka is also a good and cheap place to learn to dive, with schools in Negombo, Bentota, Beruwala, Hikkaduwa, Unawatuna, Weligama, Uppuveli, Nilaveli, Batticaloa and Trincomalee – see the relevant Guide accounts for details. Diving packages and courses are good value compared to most other places in the world. A three-day Open-Water PADI course goes for around $400–4560, and two-tank dives for around $70–90, depending on the location of the dive.

The west coast has a well-developed network of schools and dive sites. Marine life is plentiful, while there are also some fine (and often technically challenging) underwater cave and rock complexes, and a string of wrecks. Diving on the east coast is also increasingly popular following the opening up of new sites and some superb wrecks, including that of the Hermes, near Batticaloa, a 270m-long aircraft carrier sunk during World War II and lying at a depth of 60m.

The diving season on the west coast runs roughly from November to April, and on the east coast from May to October; many operators have offices on both coasts, shuttling between them on a seasonal basis.

There’s not a lot of really good snorkelling around Sri Lanka: little coral survives close to the shore, although this lack is compensated by the abundant shoals of tropical fish that frequent the coast. The island’s better snorkelling spots include the beaches at Polhena (near Matara), Pigeon Island (off Trincomalee) and Uppuveli and, if you don’t mind the boats whizzing around your ears, the Coral Sanctuary at Hikkaduwa.

Trekking

Sri Lanka’s huge trekking potential remains largely unexploited. The hill country, in particular, offers the perfect hiking terrain – spectacular scenery, marvellous views and a pleasantly temperate climate. A few of the tour operators we’ve listed offer walking tours. Alternatively, there are good local guides, including Sumane Bandara Illangantilake and Ravi Desappriya in Kandy and a several others in Nuwara Eliya. For jungle trekking the rainforest of Sinharaja is the place to go, while shorter guided walks are often organized from eco-lodges and eco-oriented hotels, some of which have resident guides to lead guests.

Cycling

So long as you avoid the hazardous main highways, cycling around Sri Lanka can be a real pleasure –the island’s modest dimensions and scenic diversity make it great for touring, especially the hill country, with its cooler climate, relative lack of traffic and exhilarating switchback roads. The major caveat is safety: as a cyclist you are extremely vulnerable. Bus and truck drivers consider cyclists a waste of valuable tarmac, and as far as they’re concerned you don’t really have any right to be on the road at all: be prepared to get out of the way quickly.

Bikes are available for hire in most tourist towns (alternatively, just ask at your guesthouse – they’ll probably have or know someone who has a spare bike knocking around). In some places it’s also possible to hire good-quality mountain bikes. Costs vary wildly, but will rarely be more than a few dollars a day, often much less.

A number of the operators we’ve listed offer cycling or mountain-biking tours, usually including a mixture of on- and off-roading and with a backup vehicle in support. Other good options include Ride Lanka (ridelanka.com), and Action Lanka (actionlanka.com).

Yoga and meditation

Yoga isn’t nearly as well established in Sri Lanka as it is in India, although some of the island’s Ayurvedic centres offer classes as part of their treatment plans, and it’s sometimes possible to enrol for them without taking an Ayurveda course. Otherwise, your options are pretty limited. Serious students of yoga might consider signing up for a stay at Ulpotha (ulpotha.com), a wonderful rural retreat in the Cultural Triangle near Embogama (not far from the Sasseruwa and Aukana Buddhas) which attracts leading international yoga teachers; courses usually last two weeks and cost $2940 per person inclusive of accommodation, meals and tuition. Cheaper courses are also offered at Villa de Zoysa, in Boosa, near Galle (yoga-srilanka.com) and at Talalla Retreat on the south coast, and at the Kandy Samadhi Centre. Meditation courses are mainly concentrated around Kandy.

Other activities

There are currently two balloon operators in Sri Lanka, Lanka Ballooning (srilankaballoon.com) and Sun Rise Ballooning (srilankaballooning.com), both offering daily flights (weather permitting) from Nov–April, taking off from the Kandalama Hotel near Dambulla and offering bird’s-eye views of local forests and plains. Flights last about an hour and cost around $210 per person.

Horseriding day-trips (around $150) can be arranged through Premadasa Riding School (premadasa.lk/recreation.htm) at various locations around the island, including Bentota, Tissa, Ella, Nuwara Eliya and Kandy. Mai Globe (maiglobetravels.com) also run thirteen-day horseriding tours.

Sri Lanka has three gorgeous golf courses, at Colombo, near Kandy and in Nuwara Eliya; a number of operators offer specialist golfing tours.

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