About Sri Lanka - Nature & Adventure

White Water Rafting

If you're looking for an action-packed adventure on the water, why not go for a white water experience in the numerous rapids found in Sri Lanka. This activity is great fun for first-timers and experts alike, with a wide range and grading of rapids on some of Sri Lanka 's more turbulent waters such as the Kelani river. However as Canista Tours we believe safety comes first. Therefore we have chosen Kitulgala for this adventure session. Kitulgala in the hill country, southwest of Kandy provides an ideal base from which many white water rafting tours take place. Tours can be arranged for anything from 1 hour to a half-day including lunch.

Camping

If you love wild life safari and camping, Sri Lanka is your ideal destination. Even tough being small Sri Lanka has many wild life locations best for camping and safari. All National parks has facilities for camping and safari. You can take a one day safari or several days safari moving from one location to the other in your 4 Wheel Drive.

Another best place to camp would be Horton Plains in Sri Lanka. However in order to do this your physical fitness needs to be in a quite a healthy state since you will have to bear a low level of temperature along with lighting fire to keep away the leopards from the jungle.

Bird watching

The amazing abundance of over 400 varieties of birds in Sri Lanka is attributable to the tropical climate and wide range of natural habitats, from mountains to lowlands to dry plains and lush forests. On a point of academic argument, there are either 26 or 23 endemic species in Sri Lanka, largely confined to the rainforests of the hill zone.

The best time of year for sightings is November-April, particularly February and March, after the migrants (198 species) have arrived. The best time of the day to go bird watching would be early morning, except for the people-friendly “Townies”, like the black house crows, common mynah, sunbirds, parakeets, etc.

Places to stay with excellent Birdlife:

• The River House
• Illuketia
• Paradise Farm
• Don Duigo
• Rafters Retreat
• Nisala Arana
• Ulpotha

Hiking

There are many places in Sri Lanka for you to take hikes. The virgin Sinharaja forest for example is something which will not reveals it's secrets easily. Hiking in a rain forest will teach you a lot about life. Horton Plains is also a nice place to have a long lasting hike. Trips can be arranged to these places where you can return to the hotel in one day if you not planning to camp inside.

Game Diving

In Sri Lanka diving is cheap but it is also great! During season the visibility is between 10M to 50M. In comparison to other Asian countries our blue waters are very clean and unpolluted due to low shipping traffic and small coastal populations.

In addition to these we can offer you with Cycling, Trekking, Canoeing, Wind Surfing and Water Skiing. If you are a beginner an expert can be provided for you at a reasonable cost.

Shore dives are a rarity. Operators generally have small boats (for about 6 divers). Some do have larger boats for about 15 divers. Most dives are before noon and, depending on the operator, could mean a two tank dive or a trip back to the shore to reload for the second dive. The boat trips are pretty quick ranging from 10 minutes to 45 minutes depending on the location. All most all major dive operators have an on board supply of pure Oxygen in the unlikely event of a Decompression Illness emergency. The boats are also equipped with radio and cell phones to activate Emergency Medical Services if required. The dive objective could change depending on what you encounter on the way! Sometimes the visibility is so good that you would see interesting rock formations on the way and wish to dive then and there, or the boat could bump into a Whale Shark or Manta Ray and everyone will forget all about diving and snorkel with the beast for the rest of the morning!

In addtion to this we can offer you with Trekking, Cycling, Canoeing, Water Skiing etc. If you are a beginner to these activities we can provide you with an expert on your request.