Kalametiya lagoon and its birdlife, a visitor's guide

Kalametiya is a bird sanctuary of lagoons, mangroves and reeds on the coast beyond Tangalle, about an hour east of Dikwella. You visit it by small boat with a local boatman, at first light or late in the afternoon, and more than 150 kinds of bird have been recorded there.

What is Kalametiya?

It is a coastal wetland in the Hambantota district, made of two lagoons side by side, Kalametiya and the smaller Lunama. Around the open water there are mangrove forests, wide beds of reeds, scrub, salt marsh and open plain. The water is brackish, a mix of salt and fresh.

It is also one of the oldest protected places for birds in Sri Lanka. It was first made a sanctuary in 1938. That protection was withdrawn in 1946 after local objections, and a smaller area was declared a sanctuary again in 1984, under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance. Sources put today's sanctuary at about 700 hectares.

Compared with the national parks further east, Kalametiya is small and quiet. Writers call it one of the most secluded nature reserves on the island, and for many people that is the point.

Which birds are seen there?

A survey in 2005 recorded more than 160 kinds of bird in six months. About 120 of them live here all year, and more than 40 are winter visitors. A shorter study in early 2022 counted 79 kinds in four months, with the most variety in the reed beds.

Birds that sources name at Kalametiya:

• Herons and egrets. Grey heron, purple heron and little egret, standing in the shallows.
• Waders. The black-winged stilt on its long pink legs, and in the cooler months plovers, sandpipers and stints.
• Kingfishers. The white-throated kingfisher, a flash of blue on a branch over the water.
• Water birds. Lesser whistling duck, white-breasted waterhen, whiskered tern and the Oriental darter, which swims with only its neck above the surface.
• The big ones. Pelicans, cormorants and storks. The lagoon holds breeding colonies of pelicans, herons and egrets.

Birds are not all. Water monitors, the large lizards of Sri Lanka's wetlands, are photographed here too.

You do not need to know one bird from another to enjoy it. The boatmen know them, and a pair of binoculars does the rest.

How does a visit work?

You go out on the water. Local boatmen take visitors across the lagoon and along the channels between the mangroves, in small boats. The local operators we read about paddle them, with no engine, so the birds stay where they are and you hear them.

• How long. Most trips last about two to three hours. Shorter rides are offered too.
• How to arrange it. Small local operators run the boats, and some collect guests by car or tuk-tuk from hotels in the Tangalle area. Your hotel can usually telephone one for you the day before. Travel companies also sell the trip with transport included.
• What it costs. Prices differ between operators and we could not confirm them, so we give none. Ask what is included before you agree.
• What to ask. That the boat is paddled, that the group is small, and that the boatman keeps a distance from nests and colonies.

When should you go?

The hour. Early morning or late afternoon. The boatmen go out twice a day, and these are the hours when birds feed and the light is low and warm. The middle of the day is hot and still, for birds and for people.

The month. There are birds all year, because most kinds live here. The best months are roughly November to March or April, when the winter visitors have arrived and the weather on this coast is dry. In the south-west monsoon, from about May to September, water levels change and some channels can be hard to reach.

How do you get there from Dikwella?

Kalametiya is on the coast east of Tangalle. Guides put it about 24 km, or half an hour by road, beyond Tangalle. Tangalle is 18 to 25 minutes from us by road. So allow about an hour from Turtle Beach.

For the morning boat you leave in the dark. For the afternoon boat you leave after lunch and come home after sunset. A car with a driver for the half day is the comfortable way. Agree the price and the waiting time first.

It joins well with other things on the Tangalle side: a swim at Goyambokka or Silent Beach, or the rock temple of Mulkirigala. They are all in our list of places to see near Dikwella.

What should you bring, and how should you behave?

• Binoculars, if you have them. A phone camera will not reach a bird across the lagoon.
• A hat, sun protection and water. The boat is open.
• Clothes in quiet colours, and something against mosquitoes for the evening trip.
• A quiet voice. Sound carries over flat water.
• Nothing left behind. Take every bottle and wrapper back with you.
• No feeding, and no asking to go closer. Disturbance is hard on birds that are nesting.

Researchers describe Kalametiya as a wetland under pressure. Changes to the rivers upstream have altered its water, and the mangroves have spread over much of what used to be open lagoon. Visitors who come quietly, pay local boatmen fairly and leave no trace give the people around it a reason to keep it.

The wildlife department also counts nesting sea turtles on this stretch of coast, between Rekawa and Kalametiya. We wrote about that in turtle nesting season in Sri Lanka. More about the area is in our Dikwella and Hiriketiya travel guide.

Good to know

• Ohana is at Turtle Beach, Dikwella, less than five minutes by road from Hiriketiya.
• Breakfast is served from 08:00 to 11:00, so there is time for it after an early boat. Lunch and dinner are served from 11:00 to 21:00, every day.
• Prices are in LKR, plus a 10% service charge. Filtered water is on the house.
• Wild sea turtles often feed on the reef of our bay. Snorkel masks are lent free, ask at the bar.