Negombo Lagoon, Western Province, Sri Lanka

5Bobbo 5:00 PM Dec 10, 2018

Quite early on morning on Negombo Lagoon beach.
A "Once in a Lifetime" experience, watching the long narrow single-outrigger fishing boats with their huge billowing red-brown square sails hurling themselve up onto the sand, laden with fish. Walk and wonder at the many thousands of salted and split fish (Tunidae) laid out on great long mats and drying in the sun. Ignore the strong fishy smell and the scores of persistent Asian Crows, and stroll on along to the covered open-air fish market where deeper-sea fish like the delicious Butterfish or Sunfish amongst many others, are being sold and cleaned. Mounds of glistening prawns, Blue Crabs, Rock Lobsters, enough to make a Billingsgate market man gasp. One word of warning, you WILL be approached by what appear to be local beach bums offering to guide you. They tend to be "on the beach" fishermen who go no more to sea because of ill-health or injury. They usually speak good English and I was fortunate in that the 500 Sri Lankan Rupees (approx. 5 pounds Sterling at that time) demanded was very well earned. So, when approached, my advice is, negociate a price beforehand, and pay after, and if the would-be guide is not to your liking for whatever reason, politely turn him down, but please, always politely with smile of thanks.. That is valid advice for any of the very many worthwhile sights in Sri Lanka

5hannahspencer16 5:00 PM Aug 18, 2019

Do a boat tour if you can
We did a wonderful lagoon boat tour with Lenard Perera. We pootled around the Dutch Canals before heading out into the expanse of the lagoon. After a while, we suddenly stopped off, the captain dropped his anchor and set up a picnic in the middle of (an obviously shallow part) of the lagoon. He then chopped up an array of beautifully fresh fruit and served it with king coconut water. Just perfect. Once we’d stuffed ourselves with the lovely fruit, we visited monkey island, feeding them our fruit scraps, getting a close encounter with them. On the way back, the captain let my boy drive the boat for a short while which he still talks about now. It was an excellent experience, highly recommended for children and adults alike.