Published on Feb, 2025
Highly recommend that you consider this trip as an option if you're looking for something to do in the south coast, this hits up most of the main activities.
My driver was friendly, professional and drove safely. He picked us up on time from our hotel directly and took us to each of the sites in a timely manner. He made sure we had plenty of time at each place to check it out and ask questions and learn.
The tea plantation was fantastic. I enjoyed learning all about the different tea varieties and factors that influence its growth. I also enjoyed learning about other agricultural products of Sri Lanka such as rubber, coffee and cinnamon. The plantation was really nice to tour as well and they have an excellent selection of teas at the end to purchase. They do take card payment.
The next stop was the stilt fisherman. You do not have to pay to watch them and they were really friendly about answering questions as well. You will need to pay if you want to take a photo and they also have the option of letting you get onto a stilt to take a photo there too.
We stood watching them for about 5 min and didn't feel pressured to pay.
We then visited the turtle sanctuary a real highlight of the day. We learnt about how turtles hatch eggs plus the different factors that go into determining genders and behaviours. We saw whole range of different turtles and learnt about the different species and why they go to the sanctuary for treatment. We also got to hold baby turtles which was really unexpected and our guide came in and took pictures of us for us too.
Galle Fort was interesting to visit. It was larger than we thought so make sure you bring comfortable walking shoes. We had plenty of time to visit shops, stop for lunch, read all the signs and take lots of pictures. We just had to text our guide and ask him to pick us up at the end.
Finally, we decided to stop for a sweet treat on the way home and our guide accommodatingly dropped us off at an ice cream parlours that we could end the day with a cold treat.