Negombo / Airport

A photographer’s paradise – from gaudy, chaotic festivals erupting on the streets, to the bleached, beached and beautiful Oruva outrigger canoe catamarans. It’s hard to believe these driftwood sculptures have been braving the breakers for centuries but, if you’re up early, you’ll spot them delivering their catch. And this is really what keeps Negombo’s heart beating, the exchange of fish at dawn markets such as Lellama, with its pipe-smoking fisherwomen. Just north of the airport, Negombo is equally cursed and blessed. The proliferation of hotels along the beach strip behind Lewis Place are often only used as an overnight stopping point with complaints that both beach and town are seedier than other parts of this ideal island.

But you don’t have to cast far to reel in delight after sumptuous delight on Sri Lanka’s largely uncharted northwest coast. A cruise inland, through Andalankawa – “moon of Sri Lanka”, takes you through the idyllic rice paddy and coconut plantation landscape chosen by locals as a wedding backdrop. Another handy bit of tackle is a hired bike which allows you to dissolve into the tiny warren of streets along the extensive network of canals. Built by the Dutch to transport spices and gems from the luscious interior, they can lead you back to old-world life and unexpected treasures.
If you were seriously energetic, you could follow the canals 130 kilometers north, past Puttalam, and go kite-surfing to cool off. An old Portuguese port on a long spit of a peninsula, Kalapitiya is fast becoming a destination. Here you can watch dolphins and whales an hour from the coast. Past the prawn farms, the clever kids of Colombo play on perfect, pink sandy beaches, swimming in water, warm as tea, clear as gin. No need to fish here – the compliments come easy.