Top Negombo Hotels

After the first relaxing days at the beach of blue oceanic we made a fantastic tour through the country. We used Lanka travel associates, contact Alastair at 0777-308915.

It''s easy and recommended to ask for a driver because driving in Sri Lanka is very dangerous for foreigners! You can find a driver in each hotel and it''s not too expensive (4500 rs all included per day). In Hikkaduwa, taxi service DOUGLES B. GAMAGE was great (091-2277773 or 077-6065819). We had a 4 day-tour with him; sailing an old catamaran at Negombo, bodyboarding at Hikkaduwa,tea plantations and factory, orphanage elephant were great .

Its a good place to start or end your holiday in Sri Lanka , because the place is close to the airport. (about 10km, transport from airport by taxi about 5,50 USD) . The beach is nothing special, high waves, a bit dirty, therefore not very suitable for swimming. There are no hotel beaches, because according to the law the beach belongs to the local fishermen. It''s worth to stroll around the old city of Negombo with its Dutch canals, some old Dutch churches and its fishing port. Many small restaurants can be found along St. Lewis Place Rd., about 3 km north of Negombo town, where most hotels are located. But do not expect any vibrant nightlife there. If you are on a backpacking tour, you may use buses directly from Negombo bus station to Kandy or places north of Negombo to avoid the hussle of Colombo city.

Jetwing Travel is a trusted agency over there. But, we felt we were overcharged for our full day tour at USD50 per pax. You may like to shop around or ask your hotel for tour recommendation and price. We took bus 905 to Negombo centre. It was an interesting ride. The train ride to Colombo was enjoyable and cheap too. But, the ride was 1.5 hours. Otherwise, you can pay 100 times more for a taxi ride between these two points.

Nice and frendly people but don´t forget to deal hard when you are byuing something. Look around for prices and arrangements if you are planning a trip to Kandy or elsewhere, there are a lot differences in the pricesetting. Never give promises that you don''t keep. The local people talked a lot about this. That tourist made promises that they never kept. If you hire a car with a guide and will spend the night on a guesthouse or at a hotel be sure that you pay only for your room when you check out. Our guide put his hotelroom on our bill without our knowledge. The bill said one room but after some thinking we found out that we had paid for two rooms. When it come to shopping. Try to find shops where the prices are set. It saves at lot of energy and it is often cheaper.

Negombo is a good place to begin and end a self-managed tour in Sri Lanka. It is a beach resort that lies much closer (20 minutes) to the airport than Colombo city itself. Here you can get accustomed to the climate after you arrive and relax on the beach after your tour, before you go back home.

Give the hotel food a miss – it’s a big disappointment. There are plenty of small restaurants all along this strip of the coast (on the other side of the road to the beach) serving both cheap local food and reasonably priced western food. I had grilled seer fish, French fries and vegetables at one open-air restaurant for 200 rupees (US$2.10) – which was very good – and a 625 ml bottle of Lion beer for 100 rupees (US1.05). <BR><BR> There’s not much to do at night in Ethukala (apart from cheap eating and drinking) unless you are interesting in shopping for jewelry. Every second shop is a jewelry shop, and they will invite you in to every one you pass, but fortunately the shop owners are not as aggressive as in some other parts of Asia. <BR><BR> However, be prepared to be hassled by hawkers trying to sell you sarongs and shirts on the beach, and guys wanting you to take pictures of them with their cobras or pythons (for which you will have to pay). The hotels don’t let the hawkers into the resort areas and there seems to be an imaginary line in the sand, a metre back from the lounge chairs closest to the beach, which the hawkers are not allowed to cross - and which they do seem to respect. But once you are on the beach proper, you are at their mercy and it’s almost impossible to take a quiet stroll along the beach without being hassled by hawkers, fishermen wanting to take you on a boat ride or women asking for money to support their children.

We were in Negombo only 3 days, than we traveled around Sri Lanka and in every places we spend only one day...

I was only there for 2 days, but was pleased with the 1 tour that I had time to take, which was to Kandy, with various attractions along the way. The Elephant Orphanage is a must see.

WE stayed in Negombo as we were only there for 4 days and it is only 20 mins. from airport. We were pleasantly surprised with the resort as the beach is fabulous and clean, there are several bars and restaurants within walking distance of the hotel and Negombo is a short Taxi ride away. We did not eat out but we had a drink in the Happy Banana Bar each night and found the staff very helpful and friendly. We did not take any tours.