Beach camping at Baththalangunduwa Sri lanka
Baththalangunduwa is about
five square kilometer sized island in Sri Lanka which lies 38
kilometers from Kalpitiya Dutch Bay. Its a fishing village and the
people there are mostly Tamil Catholic fishermans. It also a popular
destination for foreign / local adventure travelers and beach lovers.
Baththalangunduwa is about
five square kilometer sized island in Sri Lanka which lies 38
kilometers from Kalpitiya Dutch Bay. Its a fishing village and the
people there are mostly Tamil Catholic fishermans. It also a popular
destination for foreign / local adventure travelers and beach lovers.
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| Naval detachment Baththalangunduwa |
How to get there
Our Journey from Colombo to Kalpitiya began around 11.00 PM. We took Airport high way and then Puttalam Road until Palaviya Junction. Then we turn left to Kalpitya road and witness the first appearance of light in the sky at Puttalam lagoon. It was around 6.00 AM when we enter the Jetty. There was ample time to park our vehicles, buy tickets, loiter a while, have some thing to eat and finally step in to our ferry. There is a passenger boat service which leave at 8.30AM every day except Sunday. A Navy Officer will record every traveler’s information and will give a brief heads up about the culture in the island.
The ferry is a Diesel engine 40-50 passenger wooden boat with only two people crew. Will charge around 300-400 LKR. Its a slow but wonderful ride. The journey will take 3-4 hours. Meanwhile you will find number of small uninhabited beautiful islands, Birds, Flying fishes and breathtaking long stretches of Wilpattu National Park by the sea. Also you can settle down to have a nap inside the boat with the sea breeze. You should be mindful of your electronic items with the Sea spray and those who struggle in sea rides can find this challenging along with how the sea behaves. But the others can enjoy the game of cards with fellow passengers. There is no jetty in Baththalanguduwa so no shoes.
What you should bring
Specially water. There is no way to get pure water from a well so pack enough water. Obviously your normal traveling gear. Since we planed to stay overnight we brought all sorts of food. (Noodles, Sausages, Soft drinks, vegetables, biscuits, liquor). We knew its going to be hot and humid during the day time so we packed an ice box with ice cubes which is very heavy to carry but well worthy to keep beers, soft drinks and water. We planed to camp at beach so Camping tents, Torches, Portable cooking stove and poly tarps to lay on sand.
About Baththalangunduwa
How to get there
The ferry is a Diesel engine 40-50 passenger wooden boat with only two people crew. Will charge around 300-400 LKR. Its a slow but wonderful ride. The journey will take 3-4 hours. Meanwhile you will find number of small uninhabited beautiful islands, Birds, Flying fishes and breathtaking long stretches of Wilpattu National Park by the sea. Also you can settle down to have a nap inside the boat with the sea breeze. You should be mindful of your electronic items with the Sea spray and those who struggle in sea rides can find this challenging along with how the sea behaves. But the others can enjoy the game of cards with fellow passengers. There is no jetty in Baththalanguduwa so no shoes.
What you should bring
About Baththalangunduwa
Life in this island is pretty simple. It resolved around fish and church. It has three churches and you will find one right after you get down from the ferry. Plenty of thatched fishing huts, boats all types of fishes and fishing items here and there. No permanent residents here but There is a Sri Lankan Navy detachment and they operate a school for children who come in the fishing season with their parents. Island face the threat of disappearing due to rising sea level as the inhabited small islands around there did. But despite the worries island life goes on having beach campers like us once in a while. Rainy season is from October to December. The passenger ferry will leave Baththalangunduwa to Kalpitiya by 2.00PM. But you can also find a motor boat going towards Kalpitiya for supplies.
Things to do in Baththalangunduwa
Right after we got down from the ferry we went towards the Navy camp to setup our tents. Lieutenant Madushan lakshitha and Navy officers received us and invited to their mess hall for lunch. Then we freshened up, took lunch and went towards the beach to find a better place to camp. We found a nice mangroves like place as you can seen in my video, We borrowed a hoe to clean the area a bit from navy camp, set up tents & tarps. Then we went to find some tree branches to set up a bonfire. Then we had a sea bath. Prepared our dinner, Took pictures under the moon light and Lighted the bonfire. Then right after the dinner we started singing and dancing with lots of laughter which lasted til midnight.
First light appears from the horizon was a sight to see but only few of us fortunate to witness. Others woke up late covered in sand and we went to take some early morning photos in the beach. Then we bought dried fish to take home. Had a chat with fisherman who just came back from work. Then we had lunch with fresh fish and headed back to beach to go home. But we didn't want to go back the ferry we came so we took a motor boat instead which took only 45 minutes to get back Kalpitiya. Here is the documentary video of our journey. Cheers.
First light appears from the horizon was a sight to see but only few of us fortunate to witness. Others woke up late covered in sand and we went to take some early morning photos in the beach. Then we bought dried fish to take home. Had a chat with fisherman who just came back from work. Then we had lunch with fresh fish and headed back to beach to go home. But we didn't want to go back the ferry we came so we took a motor boat instead which took only 45 minutes to get back Kalpitiya. Here is the documentary video of our journey. Cheers.
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