• An unsung Lankan destination

When Sri Lankans think of the sun and sea, our southern coast is most often what comes to mind. And indeed, this is what the rest of the world thinks too. The south of Sri Lanka is a tourist hotspot. 

But what happens if you go north – off the beaten path, so to speak? Well, as The Sunday Morning Brunch discovered a couple of weeks ago, you find gems like Kalpitiya. 

Kalpitiya isn’t an altogether new Lankan destination, but it certainly is underrated. An hour past Puttalam (with a turn-off that can be missed if you’re not paying attention), Kalpitiya is, in a word, unspoiled. A small fishing village on the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka with huge expanses of beach and a group of small hotels – settling into Kalpitiya is an escape in every word. 

Kalpitiya’s main attractions are off-shore – the crystal clear waters are renowned for whale watching and dolphin watching, as well as for water sports like kitesurfing. 

Up, up and away

Lankan seas, in general, are warm and clear – ideal for diving, surfing, and watersports. One of the more unheard-of sports that is popular in Sri Lanka is kitesurfing, or kiteboarding as it is sometimes called. It is an action sport that combines aspects of waterboarding, windsurfing, paragliding, and sailing into one extreme sport. Kitesurfing harnesses the power of the wind with a large controllable power kite that can be propelled across water, land, or snow (locally, kitesurfing takes place on the water). 

Brunch chatted with Kitesurfing Lanka Joint Owner Dilsiri Welikala – Kitesurfing Lanka is a kitesurfing camp and community based in Kalpitiya – on the role kitesurfing has to play in the area. Welikala is Sri Lanka’s first IKO (International Kiteboarding Organisation)-qualified instructor and is one of Sri Lanka’s most enthusiastic kiters. He is well known in Sri Lanka for his passion for all watersports. 

Welikala explained that he had first discovered kitesurfing in 2009 when he worked with the apparel industry (Sri Lanka happens to be one of the biggest manufacturers of kites for the export market) and saw foreign clients coming down to test these kites and setting up small kitesurfing camps. The very first of these camps was on the southern coast before they moved up to Kalpitya.

Having developed a passion for kitesurfing, Welikala, with his business partner Léo Moret, eventually decided to start an “epic” kiting company in Sri Lanka. The warm water and  tropical climate as well as flatwater lagoons, (which is very rare), makes Kalpitiya one of the best places for kitesurfing. 

“Kitesurfing is an expensive sport, both to learn and practise,” Welikala shared. “In many ways, it is the new golf. You get lots of CEOs and executives of a similar profile and spenders who are kitesurfing enthusiasts. They are people who are educated, affluent, and passionate and often end up being high-value tourism customers who spend a lot of time and money in Sri Lanka, thereby impacting local areas and communities as well. Kalpitiya has moved away from being a sleepy fishing village over the last eight to 10 years because of the interest and patronage of travellers like this.”

Finning around

Under its crystal clear surface too, Kalpitiya has a lot going on. It is one of the best places to see dolphins – during the season (from October till May, though essentially the peak season is November to April), you can often witness dolphin pods of up to 1,000-1,500 members at a time. Kalpitiya first gained repute as a dolphin and whale watching destination in 2005, following the sightings of large pods of spinner dolphins off its coast in a belt known as ‘Dolphin Line’ that runs parallel to the peninsula. 

The season for whale watching is between December and April, with the months March and April being the most ideal. The deep waters surrounding Kalpitiya are roamed by five types of whales – most frequently sperm whales, but also blue whales and minke, melon-headed and dwarf sperm whales. (Note: blue whale sightings are infrequent, so if you’re looking specifically to see blue whales, you may want to consider the southern coast). 

Brunch took to the seas with Ocean Lanka Kalpitiya, one of Kalpitiya’s boating tour companies, for a morning of dolphin watching. Taking us about 7 km offshore, Ocean Lanka Kalpitiya Founder Shanaka D. Perera explained that much of Kalpitiya’s whale and dolphin watching took place within the Bar Reef Marine Sanctuary, and both for environmental reasons and tourism safety reasons, each boat that went out must obtain a permit that declared their purpose for going offshore as well as how many people were travelling. Foreign travellers are also required to show identification and each boat is required to report back immediately on arrival. 

The Kalpitiya seas were clear as glass in the morning and after about half an hour or so of boating off the coast, we saw our first dolphin, then our second and our third. The rest of the next hour or so we spent at sea was punctuated by dolphins frolicking around us and even as we headed back to shore, some of the pod swam with us, before heading off on their own. 

Perera also shared with us the story of Ocean Lanka Kalpitiya, explaining that his father had been a pearl diver, and this led to him too becoming a diver, going down south to train as well as visiting Thailand and the Maldives to learn from divers there and became a certified diving instructor. One of Perera’s other companies is Scuba Diving Kalpitiya, a diving and snorkelling school. Ocean Lanka Kalpitiya also offers lagoon tours. 

Perera also shared that it was very heartening to see local tourists taking more of an interest in Kalpitiya. “Lots of locals are now interested in doing some water activities. Mostly, people like whale watching, but diving is also something a lot of people are interested in,” he said, noting that what set Kalpitiya apart was that it offered these experiences on a smaller scale as opposed to other areas of Sri Lanka. “We only take a few boats out on the water at a time, and these are small boats of six people. This allows us to provide a better experience and also allows for better whale and dolphin watching because the dolphins and whales are comfortable coming closer to smaller boats.” 

Travelling the road less travelled

Indeed, Kalpitiya’s biggest charm is that it is relatively undiscovered and free from the effect of mass tourism. 

As Welikala of Kitesurfing Lanka shared: “Kalpitiya is rarely visited. People think it is too far, but it is a place, unlike down south, where the people and the area have a different vibe, one that is more genuine and authentic and not spoiled by mass tourism. If the local market really wants to experience an area that has not seen the negative side of mass tourism, Kalpitiya is the place to visit – it is nicer and wilder, the buildings are rustic and low-impact and the sustainability aspect is much more prevalent.” 

Getting to Kalpitiya takes about four hours by car. You can also take the train to Puttalam, where you can take a taxi the remaining way to Kalpitiya (most of the hotels also organise transfers to and from Pallavi Junction near Puttalam). There is no A/C bus service to and from Kalpitiya yet, but the normal buses run and they run very well.