O3 – Negombo city and boat ride

Negombo is a seaside town north of Colombo with a number of large scale hotels along the beach to cater to the northern European holiday crowd. It has a long history having first been settled by the Portuguese, taken over by the Dutch and finally occupied by the British. It is at the centre of cinnamon production. It is also the base for a large fishing fleet that ventures out into the Indian ocean in search of its rich pickings, including a large amount of tuna. The fish market is quite a sight.

We were there to join a boat ride around the lagoon, an extensive inland part of the ocean that stretches for some 10 km

The lagoon tour boats line the canal entrance to the main lagoon. They are mostly in good shape although the canal still shows evidence of typhoon damage from late November 2025. What is obvious is that primary attention and funds have been dedicated to rebuilding bridges, roads and other necessary infrastructure and beauty projects such as clearing back canals are secondary.
A different kind of place for a cocktail and snack. Out in Negombo Lagoon we hung out on the shallow sandbar with fresh fruit and a table and progressively more wrinkled feet. Water warm. Having a snack part way through any tourist excursion is the way in Sri Lanka
Another nearby group.
There is a plethora of bird life in and around the lagoon. unfortunately it was not all cooperative for that photo moment. we did see numerous egrets, kytes, pelicans, cormorants and heron. Did catch a raven on camera – just about!
There were six boats on the bank while we were there.

Monkey Island – a stop in the middle of Negombo Lagoon. We were welcomed with open arms by the local monkey population, babies as well. While you have to be careful and not try to treat them like pets they provide a range of fun and entertainment with their antics. Another “first” for us. Quite the encounter and experience.
We saw lots of bird life
These boats are the local tuna fleet. colourful and traditional. No modern fishing equipment here – just a massive area of Indian ocean on three sides.
A very large church in Negombo called St Marys Church. The area is known as Little Rome given the strong Catholic influence introduced by the Portugese.
Typical street scene

Phil Shatz

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