Sri Lanka December

[ross9]

Hi all - looks like I might have around nine days in Sri Lanka just before Christmas. Looking to cram in as many dives as possible but also see some of the topside.

A rough route I'm looking at is: 2 days Colombo for wrecks, 2 days inland for some hiking/scenery, 2 days Hikkaduwa, 2 days Galle/Unawatuna. Plus one spare day to add to one of these spots.

I've been using the excellent resource at Dive Sri Lanka! - Find out everything about SCUBA diving ship wrecks and coral reefs in paradise! to help figure this out. But does anyone have any advice on spots I might be missing or suggestions for other ways to cut up the trip?

Thanks!

 

[ross9]

And I should add, any recommendations for dive operators in all those locations would be appreciated. We'll be hiring all our gear.

 

[jaseUK666]

I dived with Island Scuba. Wrote a trip report:
Sri Lanka, December 2014 | Scuba Addict

 

[ross9]

I dived with Island Scuba. Wrote a trip report:
Sri Lanka, December 2014 | Scuba Addict

Great write up, thank you!

I've looked at Island Scuba, seem like a decent outfit. Would you recommend them? Sounds like you had all your own kit but did you happen to see what sort of condition their hire gear was in?

How did you find Colombo? We're not sure whether we want to spend that long there, but it appears to have all the best wreck diving on the west coast.

 

[jaseUK666]

Great write up, thank you!

I've looked at Island Scuba, seem like a decent outfit. Would you recommend them? Sounds like you had all your own kit but did you happen to see what sort of condition their hire gear was in?

How did you find Colombo? We're not sure whether we want to spend that long there, but it appears to have all the best wreck diving on the west coast.

I did use all my own kit but the shop kit looked decent. And yes, that is where all the wrecks are that are diveable at that time of year. It's rainy season then on the east coast. My trip from Kandy into the tea plantations was disrupted by the railway washing away. I didn't dive and reefs. They said they'd been overfished so stuck to the wrecks.

Island Scuba is in Mount Lavinia, so not Colombo itself, where I did spend the last night of my trip. It was ok, not as nice as Galle, but few places are.

 

[ross9]

I did use all my own kit but the shop kit looked decent. And yes, that is where all the wrecks are that are diveable at that time of year. It's rainy season then on the east coast. My trip from Kandy into the tea plantations was disrupted by the railway washing away. I didn't dive and reefs. They said they'd been overfished so stuck to the wrecks.

Island Scuba is in Mount Lavinia, so not Colombo itself, where I did spend the last night of my trip. It was ok, not as nice as Galle, but few places are.

OK that's helpful, thanks. I didn't realise we could stay out of Colombo and still see the good wreck sites.

 

[drk5036]

I went to Sri Lanka last Christmas. Did one day of diving with Island scuba and 1 day in Unawatuna. Both were fun, but the wrecks were better in Mount Lavinia. I brought my own gear but my girlfriend rented, no complaints.

I will say, you should be prepared to “take care” of yourself. The dives are deep, meaning they’re short or you’ll go into deco. My girlfriend wasn’t used to paying attention to NDL time. I assumed we would be matched as we both had oceanic computers, but I was on DSAT and she was PZ+. I made the call to go up as I had 2 minutes left on the second deep dive, and when I checked her watch she was already 3 minutes into deco. Coming from Thailand where most DMs will constantly check your air and time, here was much more “free” diving. In many ways I prefer it! Just remember you should actually know what you’re doing.

 

[ross9]

I went to Sri Lanka last Christmas. Did one day of diving with Island scuba and 1 day in Unawatuna. Both were fun, but the wrecks were better in Mount Lavinia. I brought my own gear but my girlfriend rented, no complaints.

I will say, you should be prepared to “take care” of yourself. The dives are deep, meaning they’re short or you’ll go into deco. My girlfriend wasn’t used to paying attention to NDL time. I assumed we would be matched as we both had oceanic computers, but I was on DSAT and she was PZ+. I made the call to go up as I had 2 minutes left on the second deep dive, and when I checked her watch she was already 3 minutes into deco. Coming from Thailand where most DMs will constantly check your air and time, here was much more “free” diving. In many ways I prefer it! Just remember you should actually know what you’re doing.

Good advice, thanks. I too much prefer the freedom of being trusted to guide yourself!

We've historically relied on rental computers but are planning to pick up our own ones before this trip. Maybe we'll start further south with some shallower dives to get used to them before we hit the deeper Colombo dives.

 

[jaseUK666]

.
I will say, you should be prepared to “take care” of yourself. The dives are deep, meaning they’re short or you’ll go into deco. My girlfriend wasn’t used to paying attention to NDL time. I assumed we would be matched as we both had oceanic computers, but I was on DSAT and she was PZ+. I made the call to go up as I had 2 minutes left on the second deep dive, and when I checked her watch she was already 3 minutes into deco. Coming from Thailand where most DMs will constantly check your air and time, here was much more “free” diving. In many ways I prefer it! Just remember you should actually know what you’re doing.

I was diving with a guide and a German guy. I had about 4 mins of deco on my OSTC, so the guide using his Suunto had about double that. I signalled that I'd stay down with him but he told me to go up and the German guy came up with me.

Next day the German guy didn't have a computer because apparently it wasn't working. Possibly something to do with having skipped half the deco. So yeah, they don't check your computer. They do ask if you're ok to go up, but quite reasonably expect you to know of you are or not.

They do have nitrox. The depths make it well worth it.

 

[ross9]

So I think we'll dive with Island Scuba in Mount Lavinia - they look a good outfit and the dives up there look good.

Any recommendations for dive centres in the south? It looks like Hikkaduwa has the majority of the best south dive sites and centres. Anywhere else further along to the south-east worth visiting?