Tourist information about Beruwela

General information about Beruvel

Beruwela (also Beruwella, Beruwala, Beruwala) is a resort town on the west coast of Sri Lanka, washed by the waters of the Indian Ocean, located about 55 kilometers south of Colombo and five kilometers north of another popular resort in Sri Lanka-Bentota (Beruwela on the map of Sri Lanka). Sometimes Beruvella is considered as a suburb Bentotes, although in fact it is a completely independent resort. The population of the town is 34250 people (2012).

The city was founded in the VIII century by Arab traders, and still has a large Muslim community. "The shore where the sails were lowered", this is how the name of the resort is translated from Sinhalese. Local residents are engaged in fishing and crafts.

Holidays in Beruvel

Beruwela is the nearest resort from Colombo in the south (except for the conditionally Beach Colombo suburb of Mount Lavinia), and the first in a series of resort cities in Sri Lanka, stretching along the south-west coast.

On the Internet you can find a description of Beruvela as a wonderful beach resort with developed infrastructure and ideal sandy beaches with coconut trees. But the reality of this place is far from such descriptions.

In 2004, the city was hit hard by a tsunami: beaches were washed away, hotels and homes destroyed. But unlike other resorts, the management gave up on this place, refusing to restore. As a result, today it is a forgotten, dilapidated dirty town, which is not suitable for a comfortable stay. It seems that the resort is dying rather than developing.

So, there are almost no normal beaches here. The authorities reinforced most of the shore with stones, and only the Coral Beach in the south of the city, as well as short cleared areas near rare hotels, remained suitable for swimming. Since there are no beaches, they did not restore the tourist infrastructure: there are no travel agencies, restaurants, cafes, entertainment, and all tourist life takes place only on the territory of hotels. It does not add comfort that traditionally Beruvela was and remains a Muslim fishing town, whose inhabitants are not too ceremonious with the cleanliness of the streets and beaches, and careful attitude to tourists.

Therefore, we highly recommend that you think several times. Before going on holiday to Beruvela. And if you still decide to go here, read the information further about the beaches and areas.

Beaches and areas of Beruvela

Beruvela stretches along the coast for almost 4 kilometers, and almost everywhere there are hotels and guest houses, as well as beaches marked on maps. But in fact, most of the city and beaches are unsuitable for a tourist stay. Beaches are either absent or very dirty. The area is also dirty, and there is nothing for tourists in it.

The only place where you should choose a hotel in Beruvela is the extreme south of the city on the border with Alutgama and Moragalla Beach. Only in this place there is a more or less decent Reef Beach, several good hotels with their own territory, a couple of cafes (Coral Beach on the map). On foot along the coast from here it is easy to go to Moragalla Beach (it already belongs to Bentota), where there are beach restaurants, shops with goods for tourists, and in season there are even water activities.

By the way, this southern Coral Beach is one of the most unusual that we (the authors of the site) happened to see in Sri Lanka. Here, just a couple of tens of meters from the shore, there is a coral reef, which perfectly protects the water from waves. But at the same time, the tides create a current along the shore between the shore and the reef, as in a river. Swimming here is generally safe, but you need to constantly fight this current.

• 🛌 Search for hotels in Beruwala on Yandex.travel
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• 🛌 Search for hotels on Ostrovok.ru

Beruvela hotels on the map

Weather in Beruvel, tourist seasons

In Beruvela, as well as on the neighboring beaches of Bentota and Alutgama, the climate is conducive to year-round recreation. Low and high season stand out.

High season and the best time to visit is from October to April. During this period, the least amount of precipitation falls, and the beaches have the least waves.

Low season lasts from May to November. At this time, frequent, but usually short-term rains are possible, the weather changes very sharply. What's really bad is that monsoon winds form constant waves and it becomes dangerous to swim or do water sports.

Tourist seasons in Beruvel by month, when is the best time to go

Current weather in Beruvel and forecast

How to get to Beruvella

The way to Beruvella from Russia and other countries is via the main airport of the country Bandaranaike near Colombo. Upon arrival at the airport, Beruvella is easiest to get to by taxi, but you can do it much cheaper using local transport. Learn more about all methods:

• Taxi

  A taxi ride from the airport will cost about 10000 rupees (30.22 USD, see Sri Lankan currency and exchange rate), an hour and a half on the way. You can order a car at the airport at the counter, but the price is slightly cheaper you can bargain with taxi drivers or tuk-tuk drivers outside the airport. The trip will be cheaper if you order a car through Uber or PickMe applications. you can also order a cheaper tuk-tuk. You can use airport WiFi, or buy a local SIM card in the arrivals hall. Just keep in mind that the most budget cars through the application are miniature cars of Indian production without a trunk, and with large suitcases you can not get into it.

  Another great and convenient option is to order a tourist transfer online from Kiwitaxi or on the website intui.travel. You can do this at home, and then the driver will meet you at the airport with a sign and take you to the hotel:

• By bus or train

  To get to Beruvella from the airport by bus or train, you will have to make a transfer to Colombo. It is best to go with transfers by bus, but if you want Exotics, you can use the train.

  • By bus

    

    You can get there by bus spending no more than 200 rupees. First, from the airport you need to take route number 187 to Colombo. For more information on how to do this, see here. On this bus, you will arrive in Colombo at the main bus station, where you will change to a regular bus to Beruwela. There are no buses to Beruvela itself, as the town is only a stop along the way, so you need to look for buses in the south direction to Galle (Galle), Matara (Matara) or Tangale. Local residents and drivers will help you find the right bus at the station: just name the place you need, you will be directed to the right bus. They are sent in the daytime every 5-15 minutes, cost about 60 rupees. The entire journey from the airport will take from 3 hours. Upon arrival in Beruwela, the hotel can be reached on foot or by tuk tuk.

  • By train

    

    To get there by train, you will also have to take Route 187 to the railway station Colombo Fort Station. The railway station is located next to the bus station, and Route No. 187 goes directly to it. At least 10 trains to Beruvella depart from the railway station during the day, you can check the schedule in advance on the website railway.gov.lk. Depending on the location of your hotel, you should either go to Beruwala railway station (located in the north of the city, see Beruwalarailway railway station on the map), or Aluthgama (closer to the southern beaches and Aluthgama Beach). You do not need to buy tickets in advance, just go to the ticket office and buy a ticket for the nearest train, you can even go to the cheapest third class. The train journey time is almost 2 hours.

From other cities of Sri Lanka to the resort in most cases will have to get with a transfer to Colombo in the same way as the above described route from the airport. The only exceptions are Colombo and the beaches of the south and West Coast: Hikkaduwa, Unawatuna, Matara, Tangale et al. From these places it is easy to reach directly by buses or by the southern branch of the railway.

Transport in Beruvel

There is no public transport here, and to move around the city or to neighboring beaches you will have to use the services of tuk-tuks or rent transport. A tuk tuk within the city limits can be driven for 100 rupees, 200 rupees to Bentota. You can rent a motorcycle in Bentota, but you will have to look for a rental car through the hotel or tuk-tukers. The price for a simple Motobike starts from 700 rupees per day. Learn more about renting motorcycles in Sri Lanka here.

There is another option to move to the nearest beaches – a bus. On the Main Road Galle rd, local intercity buses constantly run from Colombo to the south and back, and you can move from beach to beach on them. But for this you first have to walk from the hotel to Galle Road, which is far from some hotels. Travel to Bentota costs no more than 40 rupees.

Attractions in Beruvel, what to see

Beruvela is not the place to go for the sake of attractions. In the city there are a couple of ancient temples, a large mosque, and nothing else. Also from Beruvela you can visit the modest sights of Bentota, everything is close by. It is still quite easy to take a bus on the Main Road Galle Road, and go to Colombo, Hikkaduwa, Ambalangoda, Galle to walk and get acquainted with their sights during the day. See more about them:

If you want to get acquainted with the really worthwhile sights of Sri Lanka, then they are not in this part of the country (on the south-west coast). The most important historical monuments and natural attractions are located in the center of the country in Cultural Triangle and mountainous Sri Lanka (Nuwara Eliya, Ella, haputala etc.). But unfortunately, you will not find inexpensive group excursions there in Beruvel. You will either have to go on your own by bus or rented transport, or purchase an expensive individual guided tour by car.

And here are the places that you can visit in Beruvel and nearby on your own by tuk-tuk or bus:

• Sapugoda Sri Maha Viharaya Temple

  

  It is an old Buddhist temple built during the reign of The Last King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha of the Sinhala dynasty in the 18th century. The founder was the revered monk Sapugoda Ananda. This is a whole temple complex with a large white stupa, a sacred Bodhi tree, and several traditional temple buildings.

  🕐 Working hours: during daytime.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: the temple is located in the center of Beruwala in residential areas on Temple Road (temple on the map).

• Ambalangoda mask museums

  

  10 kilometers north of Hikkaduwa on the coast is the most famous place in Sri Lanka, where traditional wooden masks are made-the town of Ambalangoda. It houses two museums of masks. In one of the museums you can see the process of their manufacture in a craft workshop, find out what types of masks are, what they are dedicated to and what they are used for. Of course, you can buy your favorite mask. Prices for them are not very low, but this is due to the fact that each mask is made by hand from Kadura Wood in compliance with all the traditions of manufacturing.

  Learn more about Ambalangoda and mask museums here…

  🚶 How to get there: the farms can be reached by rented transport, with a tour, or by bus (Ambalangoda on the map).

• Attractions in Galle

  

  The city of Galle (gal) with its fortress and other attractions is quite possible to explore not only with a tour or a hired guide with transport, but even independently. Any tourist can easily allocate one day, during which you can take a bus to Galle, take a walk there and see its sights, and return back in the evening. Learn more about Galle here...

  🚶 How to get there: almost all buses from Bentota South go to Galle. They go often, are inexpensive. To find the bus one has to go to Galle Road and find the nearest bus stop (they are marked with signs). If you can not find a stop, you can either try to stop the bus at an arbitrary place (sometimes stop), or get to the bus station in the center of Bentota. Drive 1-2 hours.

• Attractions in Colombo

  

  As well as in Galle, in Colombo you can go for a day by bus. One day is enough to see the most basic things in Colombo, but it is better to leave early in the morning. It is best to go directly to the center of Colombo in the Colombo Fort area or in Pettah, where you can see a lot just by walking. Learn more about Colombo attractions here...

  🚶 How to get there: all buses from Bentota North go to Colombo. Go often, cost about 75 rupees for regular, and 150 for air-conditioned. To get on the bus, you need to go to Galle Road and find the nearest bus stop (they are marked with signs). If you can not find a stop, you can either try to stop the bus at an arbitrary place (sometimes stop), or get to the bus station in the center of Bentota. Drive 1-2 hours. We do not recommend riding a rented motorcycle, because the traffic in the city is very difficult.