Negombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka
Only 20 minutes drive from the main Katunayake airport, Negombo tends to attract tourists at the beginning or at the end of their holiday. As such there is a tourist area known as Negombo Beach, whereas Negombo Town is more for everyday commercial life for the 120,000 local inhabitants.
Note also the development of Negombo Beach North, an area known as Palangathure, which is quickly developing into an area of new hotels and affordable restaurants.
The region is distinctively catholic with over 80% of the population of this creed, whereas in Sri Lanka as a whole the dominant religion is 80% Buddhist. With the abundance of churches, it is no wonder that Negombo is often referred to as “Little Rome”, and was visited briefly by the Pope in January 2016.
The Catholic origins can be attributed to the Portuguese who once inhabited this corner of Sri Lanka. Names such as Silva, Perrera and Fernando are today still common local surnames, and Portuguese words have been adopted into the Sinhala language.
Outside tourism, an important source of income is fishing. Visiting the Negombo Fish Market early in the morning is a major tourist attraction. You can also see them drying the fish in long rows alongside the market. Adjacent to this is the Dutch Fort which has now been converted into a prison. Negombo is Sri Lanka’s second largest fishing port.
The beach of Negombo is certainly not the best in Sri Lanka. Dangerous under currents can make it dangerous for swimming at certain months of the year, but a common tourist activity is to take a ride on a catamaran. Other activities include a ride along the Dutch canal or bird watching on the marshlands.
Since the coastal area has been developed to cater for tourism, the great expanse of accommodation on offer means that the tourist is spoilt for choice. Similarly restaurants have also been developed to cater for foreign tastes varying from sushi bars to pizzerias.
The property is located in an area called Palagathura junction which is basically located at the north end of “beach Rd” which is the main strip with all the bars & restaurants.
In the last 12 months Palagathura junction has been transformed and now comprises of some of the best bars & restaurants in Negombo. However with a huge difference than the rest of Negombo, better quality and lower prices than the established bars like Lords, Rodeo & Serendip which are situated near to Jetwing Blue.
Situated above Petit Restaurant which is a family run business specialising in seafood, curries, burgers and snacks.
On the opposite side of the road is the delightful family restaurant run by 2 twin brothers – Sunnys Restaurant with its modern setting and interesting attached art gallery. Sunny specializes in seafood and Sri Lankan rice & curry.
On the same side of the road, close to the junction is Machang which is a new bar/restaurant, this is a franchise owned by Lion beer so here you will find the cheapest beer prices on the whole strip. You can sit upstairs and watch the world go by.
Opposite Machang is Bee Beach, again newly opened and has a lovely beach setting, its great here for sunset watching and they have great seafood, chinease food, pizzas and their highly recommended Sri Lankan rice & curry.
Just to the left of Bee Beach is Coco Beach, again a delightful modern beach setting. Prices are slightly higher than its neighbours, here they specialize in seafood where you get to choose what you want and how you want it cooked, its open clean kitchen gives confidence of its high standards.
Just to the left of Coco Beach is the newly opened Bamboo Kitchen, again modern design that you don’t often see in Sri Lanka and out the back a relaxed beach setting, great food, good value and at weekend they do buffets from just 800 rupees per person.
Palagathura Junction is now a new buzzing scene of Negombo and if you are looking for something late at night where you can drink with the local boys and its cheap. I mean cheap! Where its just 350 rupees for gin & tonic or 300 rupees for beer then it has to be Macerena which is just the other side of Bee Beach. Macerena however doesn’t get busy til after 11pm and at weekend its normally open til the early hours.
