My Favourite Offbeat Places in Sri Lanka: 3 Hidden Gems to Explore

For a small, tropical island Sri Lanka is really very diverse and offers so much to see and do. There’s several famous tourist attractions you shouldn’t miss but also plenty of unspoilt hidden gems and offbeat places in Sri Lanka to explore.

There are so many amazing experiences you can have in Sri Lanka, from exploring the beautiful beaches and surf spots, scenic tea plantations and train rides, ancient temples and colonial architecture to spotting herds of wild elephants on safari in the national parks or relaxing on a yoga retreat.

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Read More: Why I Love Traveling in Sri Lanka

One of the best things about Sri Lanka is that the island isn’t huge so it’s possible to see a lot in a short trip. With just 2 weeks you could see most of the natural and cultural wonders – read my 2 week Sri Lanka itinerary to find out how. Another is that Sri Lanka isn’t completely crowded with tourists and its still easy to get off the beaten track and feel like you are the only one exploring this beautiful, tropical island.

In this post I want to focus on a few of my favourite experiences in the more offbeat experiences, hidden gems and offbeat places in Sri Lanka that you might not have heard of before.

My favourite hidden gems and offbeat places in Sri Lanka

Spotting dolphins in Kalpitiya

Kalpitiya is a relatively undeveloped peninsula about 4 hours north of Colombo. Tourism is only just developing here so the beaches are wide and refreshingly empty but there’s still a handful of decent places to stay here and plenty of things to do off the beaten track.

Kalpitiya is actually one of the best places in the world for dolphin watching and kite surfing! The best time to go kitesurfing here is from May to November and there are many kite surfing schools that will teach you the ropes. It looks like so much fun, sadly I didn’t have time to try but now kitesurfing is on my bucket list to try one day.

One of the best things to do in Kalpitiya, and one of my favourite experiences in Sri Lanka was dolphin watching! Kalpitiya is located where the continental plates meet close to land, which means there is a high chance of seeing dolphins without having to travel far from the land.

I lost count of how many dolphins we saw but it must have been hundreds! I loved the way that they swam, frolicking and jumping out the water in synchronicity pretty close to the boat. It was a magical experience that I’ll never forget.

We were even lucky enough to see a Brydes Whale even though whale watching season is normally in March. You can also go whale watching in Mirissa in the south of Sri Lanka.

The best time to go dolphin watching in Kalpitiya is from November to May and we arranged our trip through the Blue Whale Resort where we stayed. You need to go early in the morning before the seas get too rough and expect to pay around 25,000 LKR for a boat of 6 people.

There’s also good snorkelling and scuba diving and a Dutch fort in Kalpitiya. It’s also possible to go on a safari in Wilpattu National Park, the largest park in Sri Lanka.

Where to stay in Kalpitiya:

We stayed at the Blue Whale Resort, a lovely cluster of thatched bungalows around a pool on the beachfront who arranged our dolphin trip.

If you want to learn to kite surf Kalpitiya is a great place to do it. I recommending staying in one of the kite surfing resorts and taking a package of lessons, equipment hire and accommodation like this one at Sun, Wind, Beach Kite Resortif this is the main reason for your visit.

Read More: My pick of the best surf camps in Sri Lanka

Hiking in Riverston and having lunch in an unspoilt local village

Sri Lanka offers so much more than just beaches. The island is also blessed with an incredibly scenic hill country; think lush jungles, waterfalls, incredible views and hillsides carpeted with emerald tea plantations.

One of my favourite places to visit in Sri Lanka was Nurwara Eilya, nicknamed ‘Little England’ because of it’s colonial era architecture and the surrounding tea plantations, but for a more off the beaten track experience you can’t beat Riverston.

Riverston is part of the UNESCO listed Knuckles Mountain Range which is located around 30 kms from the town of Matale. It’s truly one of Sri Lanka’s hidden gems. We had an incredible day with our guide Aravinda from Lanka In Motion and didn’t see any other tourists!

First, we learned about how important this cloud forest is for biodiversity and saw some unique lizards which are only found in this area.

Then we took a short hike to Mini Worlds End, this has to be the most rewarding 10 minutes hike I’ve ever done. The views over the mountains and lush greenery from the look out point are just mesmerizing as long as you’re not scared of the steep drop below!

Another hike through unspoilt lush green rice terraces and over a gushing river made me feel like I was in Bali, but without the crowds of tourists. An easy hike took us to a blissfully authentic remote local village where we were served the best local lunch ever of organic and super fresh rice, veggies, curries and a fresh coconut straight off the tree with timeless views.

We topped off the day with a refreshing swim in the waters of Sera Ella Waterfall. The tour cost 5000 per person and you can get in touch with Aravinda on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lankainmotion/

Where to stay in Riverston

There is limited accommodation in the mountains so we stayed at the Grand Mountain Hotel in Matale, a large, comfortable and plush modern hotel which served one of the most fanciest, and one of my favourite, dinners of the trip.

Read More: Hiking Riverston by Journey Era  

Watching orphaned baby elephants being fed at the Elephant transit home in Udawalawe National Park

Elephants are one of the main attractions of Sri Lanka, the island is one of the best places to see wild elephants in the world!

There are many ways to get your elephant experience, the most popular is by going on a safari in one of the national parks where the sight of seeing herds of wild elephants is something you will cherish forever.

My favourite elephant experience in Sri Lanka was watching the baby orphaned elephants being feed at the Elephant Transit Home in Udawalawe National Park.

Ok, so this place is not so offbeat, but it was one of my favourite experiences in Sri Lanka and seemed a lot more ethical than some of the more famous elephant orphanages in Sri Lanka like Pinnawala.

You should be aware that sadly there are still some unethical places where elephants are treated badly, chained and ridden by tourists (read here to know why you shouldn’t ride elephants)

It was refreshing to see that there was no riding, chains, tricks, bathing, touching or taking selfies with the elephants. Watching the baby elephants running excitedly to be fed was so cute!

We watched the feeding from a shaded stand at a distance, the elephants are being prepared to be released fully back into the wild once they are old enough and strong enough, therefore they try to minimise human contact.

Elephant Transit Home is located in Udawalawe National Park and feeding time is at 9 am, noon, 3 pm, and 6 pm and tickets cost 500 LKR. You could combine your visit with a safari in Udawalawe but try to visit in the week when there are less crowds.

Where to stay near Udawalawe

There is accommodation nearby or you could also make a day trip from one of the southern beaches, like Mirissa.

Close to the national park, Eliyanth Udawalawe is a great value for money small resort with a swimming pool and lovely private balconies overlooking the river.

Read More: Visiting orphaned baby elephants at the Elephant Transit Home

I’m sure there are many, many more hidden gems and off beat places to visit in Sri Lanka – sadly that’s all we had time for in an amazing 10 days.

Thanks to Sri Lanka Tourism for organising an amazing trip and for taking us off the beaten track to see these hidden gems. I can’t wait to go back and visit more offbeat places in Sri Lanka as soon as I can!

Do you have any more recommendations for off the beaten track places in Sri Lanka I can add to my list?

Read More: The best 2 week Sri Lanka itinerary