Negombo

Introduction

Negombo is located at the mouth of a lagoon with the same name, about 37 kilometres north of Colombo. It has nice sandy beaches and good hotels. Most tourists use the town for the first or the last night of their stay in Sri Lanka as it is only about 7 kilometres from Bandaranaike International Airport.

The old Dutch fort gate built in 1672, the Dutch Canal which was then a supply route to the Dutch administration, and some old churches are a few of the attractions in the city.

Getting There

By Plane

Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB IATA also known as Katunayake Airport), ☏ +94 11 225 2861. Closer to Negombo than the capital Colombo. Bandaranaike International Airport (Q60900) on Wikidata Bandaranaike International Airport on Wikipedia edit

Getting there: Taxi costs Rs 1500 which can be booked at taxi counters in the departure hall. A trishaw will cost Rs 400–800. Besides, most hotels in Negombo can arrange pickups, but usually it's a pricey option: Rs 1500 to 2500.

There used to be a free shuttle bus from the Arrival Terminal to Katunayake bus stop, but it's no longer available. This bus now goes to Colombo. You may try your luck asking the driver to drop you off at Katunayake, but he may ask for the full fare to Colombo, anyway.

Otherwise, it is 15-min walk to the "Airport" bus terminal. A regular bus fare to Negombo bus terminal is Rs 22 (May 2015). Then take bus #905 to Negombo Beach for Rs 12.

By Train

Negombo lies on the Colombo-Puttalam line. The Negombo Train Station is located in the city center. See the Sri Lanka Railways website for schedules.

By Bus

Buses leave the main Negombo Bus Station to Colombo every 30 mins. The journey costs Rs 75 and lasts one hour to one and half, depending on the traffic.

To Kandy: buses depart every 30 minutes from the main bus terminal, Rs 220, 3–4 hours.

To Sigiriya/Polonnaruwa: one bus daily at 14:00 from the main bus terminal. Trip lasts 4 hours to Sigiriya and 6 hours to Polonnaruwa.

To Anuradhapura: buses depart from Periyam Mulla junction bus stop in Negombo, journey takes more than 5 hours.

Getting Around

By Public Transport

Trishaws or "tuk tuks" are a common way to travel around. Be sure to negotiate your price ahead of the ride. These days, drivers tends to charge "fixed price" for tourists (e.g. Rs 200 from the Negombo Bus/Train Station to hotels in Lewis Place Street) and especially from Lewis Place it is difficult to catch the passing ones carrying locals if these "stationary" drivers are around.

Sleep

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafes are available in all the cities and these are cheap and easy to access. Most hotels have internet access as well but are relatively expensive. There are various internet service providers (Sri Lanka Telecom, Dialog, Mobitel etc.) providing different packages: ADSL broadband, dial-up, WiFi. Please contact a service provider to learn more about the packages and prices.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

The country code for Sri Lanka is 94. Remove the intercity prefix (0) before the area code when dialling internationally into the country (i.e., 0112 688 688 becomes +94 112 688 688) when dialling from abroad). The two next numbers after 94 represents the area code, they are different for every district.

The use of GSM cellphones is widespread and the coverage is good. Dialog and Mobitel are two operators that have sales offices at the airport inside the arrivals lounge. Dialog Mobile has the widest coverage in the country including rural areas and has the best quality GSM / 3G / HSPA +/4G network. Mobitel also has a 3G/HSPA+ network. All the mobile operators are having same call rates due to floor rate tariffs. Therefore it is advisable to go to the network which offers you the best quality. All Mobile Operators offers cheap IDD Call rates. If you want to surf internet, best way is to buy a HSPA dongle and a Mobile Broadband connection. Dialog Mobile, Mobitel, hutch, Etisalat and Airtel offers prepaid Mobile Broadband services which can be activated and used immediately. Dialog is the Vodafone Roaming Network in Sri Lanka and offers the best range of Value added services for Roamers and the rates are cheaper. Etisalat and Airtel also provide cheap roaming rates specially to India.

Post

Sri Lankan Post is the national postal company. Each city/town has a main post office and the villages will have access to sub post offices, either at the village or nearby village. Local post, through normal mail, is cheap and fast. However, to ensure that the post has reached recipient, it is better to send by registered post which will allow you to have a reference number which you can later use to check with your post office that your mail has reached its destination. There are local courier services. Aramex and Pronto are some of the ones in Colombo and they deliver mail the same day or overnight. For better tracking and fast services companies like DHL, or TNT provide a good service but are more expensive.

External Links