THE COMPLETE DESTINATION GUIDE
Discover Bentota
Bentota is one of Sri Lanka's longest-established beach resort areas, and its particular geography — a wide ocean beach running alongside the calmer Bentota River and its estuary — gives it a genuine variety of water-based activities within a compact area. The ocean side offers a broad sandy beach with the more typical range of sea conditions found along this coast, while the river side is sheltered enough for water sports that need calmer conditions, including jet-skiing, water-skiing and boat safaris upriver through mangroves.
Those river safaris are a distinctive feature of Bentota, taking visitors by boat through mangrove channels and past small river islands, with the chance of seeing water monitors, kingfishers and other birdlife along the way, alongside a stop at a small cinnamon-processing demonstration on one of the river islands. This combination of beach and river activity has made Bentota a long-standing choice for travellers wanting a more resort-style stay with a range of organised activities close at hand, rather than a quieter, more independent beach base.
The area is also known for the Brief Garden, landscape architect Bevis Bawa's private garden a short distance inland, and for a scattering of turtle hatcheries along the coast road, similar to those found elsewhere on the south and southwest coast. A number of well-established hotels back directly onto the beach here, reflecting Bentota's long history as a purpose-developed resort destination going back several decades.
As with any water sport activity, current safety standards and operator practices are worth confirming directly before booking.