Travel Hikkaduwa

Turtle Hatcheries & Farms - Hikkaduwa

As far as turtles concerned, they are the top on the endangered list all around the world. There are all together seven turtle species have listed up to now, such as green turtle, hawks bill turtle, Oliver twist turtle, leather back turtle, kemp's ridly, and  flat back.  But five of these are presenting in srilanka coastal area. Now a days so many turtle hatcheries are mushrooming along the southern coastal belt. They are doing a great favor to increase the capacity of this giants descending from Jurassic period.

          Turtle have their nesting places all along the islands shore. After a hatching of nearly 60 days these tiny ones are making their own way right direct to the deep blue sea. This time they may get the dangerous attractions from birds, crabs and fish. Few of them will survive for breed their posterity. Humans are the main threaten for them. To avoid these circumstances social services have started to protect them in hatcheries. They buy eggs from villagers and they spend whole nights when the nesting season starts for turtles on the beach to find eggs. After three months of time they release them in to the sea. Hatchery holders feed them with tiny fish two times each day. “Kosgoda” area is famous for turtle hatcheries. All the five species are displaying in these places. They may charge a little amount for the maintenances of the turtles.  Well, no need to think twice to look them on your necked eyes as really as in the deep blue sea.

 Mask & Puppet - Ambalangoda

A private mask centre Ariyapala Mask Museum is an establish mask craft center and sales outlet. Wooden masks worn during ritualstic folk dances and operas. Now mostly produced for home decorations and for export. Masks are associated with exorcism which are performed as dances. All masks are associated with ledgends and depict humans, demons and animals such as birds or snakes. Some masks patterns are a combination of various types such as snake and a demon or a bird and a demon.

Moonstone Mine - Meetiyagoda

Sri Lanka is famous for its precious gems and moonstone. Moonstones belong in the semi-precious category but are an important component of the gem business. Meetiyagoda, located between Ambalangoda and Hikkaduwa, is one of the few places where they are found in such high concentrations. It is believed by the villagers that this piece of land, around an acre in extent, is blessed by the moon. The moonstone is grey and feels cool and smooth to the touch when polished and has a glow like that of the moon. The finest are bluish in colour and there are quite a few of them in these mines. At Meetiyagoda, you can see or even go down into the deep, narrow shafts from which the stones are mined. The small visitor centre will provide information related to this stone while the large shop on the premises sells moonstones as well as other stone.