Diving in Negombo
Sri Lanka - Colombo - Negombo - Dambulla - Kandy
Negombo which was once a trading port for Portuguese and Dutch is situated by the shores of a lagoon by the same name in SriLanka. It is a small town which is situated in Ja-Ela divisional secretariat in Gampaha District of the Western Province of the country. It is approximately 30 kilometers north of Colombo in SriLanka. This coastal wet land is 6,232 ha in extent and is populated by almost 65,000. It is located at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon which is just 10 kilometers away from the international airport attraction. With its idyllic beauty, beaches, palm trees and blue sea it draws tourist from all over the world. The physical features of Negombo inspire various water sports and one of the most famous water sports is Diving in Negombo.
Diving refers to the typical water sport of acrobatically jumping into water. There are numerous sites in Negombo which are ideally suited for diving. The sites of Diving in Negombo have a maximum depth to a rock strewn sandy bottom of 15 meters. The temperature remains about 27C and with a good visibility of 20 to 25 meters. The diving sites in Negombo has rocky outgrowth with corals attached to it.
It provides shelter to numerous variety of marine life like lionfish and eel, various coral fishes like parrotfish, angelfish, buterflyfish etc. other sea life includes sea branches, black coral, lobsters, shoe lobsters, octopus, stingrays, tunas, turtles, sharks and whales. The divers enjoy Diving in Negombo. Because of its popularity Negombo is thinking of increasing the diving sites. Some of sites are Mada, Siri, and Shark point.
Large number of hotels arrange for diving for the visitors. They also supply equipments for the water sports like diving and wind surfing. There are even few diving schools which offer reasonable diving courses. The best diving seasons are mid November to end of March (west and south coast) and June to September (east coast). Some safety measures should be taken before going for a diving- divers should not board a flight until 24 hours have elapsed since the last dive.