Kalpitiya

Kalpitiya, situated nearly 130 km away from Colombo in the Puttlam district, is a fishing town based around the peninsula of Kalpitiya. With the country’s largest coral reef of 307 km 2, 14 off shore islands, saltpans, mangroves swamps, salt marshes and vast sand dune beaches Kalpitiyais identifiedfor the large pods of Spinner Dolphins who could be found within a just one hour boat ride from Kalpitiya harbour. The dolphins with nearly hundreds of members leap and jump in an aerial display in a movement known as Dolphin’s dance attracting thousands of tourists to the shallow water s of the Kalpitiya reef. Other than the most common, the spinner dolphins, other species including Risso’s Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin and Striped Dolphin too makes appearance although not as frequently or in such large numbers. The sighting of sperm whales too is a common site in Kalpitiya. From November to Mid-April sperm whales gather in pods of 20-30 further West from the location of the dolphins and nearly seven nautical miles away from the land, where the depth of the ocean shows a sudden increase from hundred meters to thousand meters. These giants are not found alone as few Blue Whales, pilot whales and a pod of Pygmy Sperm Whales are often observed in the immediate area.