Highlights of Sri Lanka + Maldive Dhoni Cruise

Arrive in Negombo, the famous coastal town famous for its fishing industry and golden sands. This relaxing beach resort is a short distance from Sri Lanka's capital city, and is the perfect place to spot locals bringing in the day's catch and watch the sunset. F...

Leaving Negombo we travel north following the coastal road via the small towns of Chilaw and Putalam before reaching the entrance to Wilpattu National Park. Here we will leave our bus and change to jeeps for an afternoon safari through the park hoping to spot Sri Lank...

We start this morning with a visit to the mountain peak of Mihintale. It is believed that this was the site of a momentous meeting between the monk Mahinda and King Devanampiyatissa, introducing Buddhism to the country. Exploring Mihintale involves climbing a flight o...

Today is left free for you to relax on the beaches of Trincomalee. The waters on the east coast are particularly calm and shallow, in some areas you can walk almost 100 metres in to the sea with the water only being waist height. Alternatively you could take a short t...

Today we leave the coast and head inland. We swap our bus for a bullock cart and make our way slowly through a small village on the outskirts of Habarana. Reaching the lake we change seats again and use dugout canoe style boats - adapted with seats for a more comforta...

An early start this morning as we plan to climb Sigiriya Rock ahead of the crowds and whilst it is cool. The ruins of this 5th century Sky Fortress are one of Sri Lanka's major attractions, a stupendous sight to behold and a feat of consummate engineering skill. Built...

We take our breakfast as we begin cruising south, passing through the Vaadhoo Canal to the South Male Atoll - a smaller and quieter neighbour to the more developed North Male Atoll. Here, many of the islands are inhabited simply by vegetation and white sand, surrounde...

Today we sail south for a further two to three hours, crossing to Meemu Atoll - home to one of the longest stretches of reef in the Maldives. On this or other crossings, we may be lucky enough to be chased by spinner dolphins, who like jumping in our wake. We are als...

After a relaxed start, we head east to the inhabited island of Dhiggaru. Here, we drop our anchor by a particularly good snorkelling reef. Later in the afternoon, when it has cooled down a bit, we plan to go ashore to meet the island's inhabitants. We may be struck by...

By now, we are likely to be feeling completely relaxed, as our routine of reading, sunbathing and napping between island stops and snorkelling spots has become second nature. With a subtly different name to our previous day's stop-off, we break today's journey with a ...

Arrive in Negombo, a coastal town known for its fishing industry and golden sands. This relaxing beach resort is a short distance from Sri Lanka's capital city, and is the perfect place to spot locals bringing in the day's catch and watch the sunset. For those arri...

Leaving Negombo this morning we travel north following the coastal road via the small towns of Chilaw and Putalam before reaching the entrance to Wilpattu National Park, a drive of around 4 hours including stops. Here we will leave our bus and change to jeeps for an a...

We start this morning with a visit to the mountain peak of Mihintale. It is believed that this was the site of a momentous meeting between the monk Mahinda and King Devanampiyatissa, introducing Buddhism to the country. Exploring Mihintale involves climbing a flight o...

An early start this morning as we plan to climb Sigiriya Rock ahead of the crowds and whilst it is cool. The ruins of this 5th century sky fortress are one of Sri Lanka's major attractions, a stupendous sight to behold and a feat of consummate engineering skill. Built...

Leaving Kandy behind we stop at a tea factory to learn about the processes involved in Sri Lanka's largest export. Originally a tea bush was brought from China in 1842 to be planted at Peradeniya Botanical Gardens and it was 25 years later that James Taylor establishe...

Today is left free to do as little or as much as you wish. A short tuk tuk ride can take you back to the pretty coastal town of Galle. Today, the town has a strong arts vibe, with foreign and local artists, writers, photographers, designers and poets drawing inspirati...

This morning we drive 3 hours back to Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) for our flight to Male and after meeting up with our representative we'll transfer to our hotel. After checking in we'll go on a walking tour of the town, taking in the Mosque, t...

This morning we walk to the waterfront to meet our moored dhoni and crew. We take our breakfast as we begin cruising south, passing through the Vaadhoo Canal to the South Male Atoll - a smaller and quieter neighbour to the more developed North Male Atoll. Here, many o...

Today we sail south for a further two to three hours, crossing to Meemu Atoll - home to one of the longest stretches of reef in the Maldives. On this or other crossings, we may be lucky enough to be chased by spinner dolphins, who like jumping in our wake. We are als...

After a relaxed start, we head east to the inhabited island of Dhiggaru. Here, we drop our anchor by a particularly good snorkelling reef. Later in the afternoon, when it has cooled down a bit, we plan to go ashore to meet the island's inhabitants. We may be struck by...

By now, we are likely to be feeling completely relaxed, as our routine of reading, sunbathing and napping between island stops and snorkelling spots has become second nature. With a subtly different name to our previous day's stop-off, we break today's journey with a ...

The trip ends after breakfast on our dhoni in Male. There are no activities planned today, so you are free to depart from Male from 11 am. If your flight is departing later in the day, luggage storage facilities are available at the airport for a cost of approx. $6...