Muthurajawela Bird Watching Tour From Colombo & Negombo

In all respects, a tour with Thilanka was over and above any expectation that I have ever had for a guided tour. What makes Thilanka's personalized tour most special is his passion for and knowledge of Sri Lanka's natural environment (and history, too), which he generously shares in the tour in 'bite size'. Combined with his extraordinary attentiveness to the client's preference and interests, the whole experience is truly unique. His flexibility, reliability, and generosity shine through from the beginning to the end of the program. Sign up if you are visiting Colombo/Negombo!

Very relaxing time with knowledgeable guide. Saw many birds including the featured King Fisher plus Herons, Camerons, Eagles, Anhingas and more.

Booked the tour spontaneously because I had a day off while travelling for work, and I can safely say: it's a recommendation. The communication with the tour operator and the driver, Roshan (who made the drive so much more enjoyable and endured all my lame jokes), was easy and quick, and the tour in itself is definitely worth it (especially if you like birds and even if you don't: spending a few hours on a boat is always a delight, especially in a place that's so quiet and away from the city). Ranil, who guides the tour, is brilliant – his excitement is contagious and he can spot birds from what feels like miles away.

Very professional tour. Our driver Ranil was on time and very nice. He provided water and Sri Lankan cookies. The tour guide with Muthurajawela by boat company was very friendly, knowledgeable and provided fresh watermelon, bananas and fresh coconut juice. Would highly recommend and would do it again!

A wonderful experience with an English speaking skipper/guide guide who was very knowledgeable about the birds and other wildlife around the waterways and lagoon. Our group of 4 had booked a private tour. Well worth it. We saw 22 different species. The fresh coconut and watermelon prided as refreshments was much appreciated.

My son and I took this trip and had a really good time. We were collected on time from our hotel in Negombo and our driver told us all sorts of useful information about Sri Lanka. We learned a lot. The boat tour was excellent, just us and the guide. We saw birds , monkeys, a small crocodile. He was very knowledgeable. Would recommend this trip

It was a great bird watching tour! We started early, 0530am, and got to the marsh just in time for sunrise! My driver Gayan was at the hotel 15 minutes before the scheduled pickup, so we had time to get a quick breakfast and tea! The boat captain was awesome, very knowledgeable, and quick to spot lots of tiny birds in the distance! We got to see 6-8 Kingfishers and some naughty monkeys! A delicious coconut, some bananas, and a smooth ride made the experience worth repeating!

Unfortunately this tour did not deliver what was advertised. It was not a bird watching trip. No expert naturalist, old noisy boat, the boat driver asked if we could help identify birds. An expensive 1.5 hr boat trip up the marsh

I chose an early start to hopefully catch the early birds 😉 the drive was interesting catching fish markets and early church goers. Unfortunately not many birds about but I did see peafowl with a male dancing, bee eaters, pelicans, pond herons and egrets

A great day out on the water with many beautiful birds and animals spotted. The team were so accommodating and shared great local knowledge. Definitely worth checking out to see some of the beautiful Negombo wildlife

It was a wonderful experience we enjoyed it all. Interesting all the way round ..well worth a trip complely different feel to rest of Sri Lanka We saw lots of birds including a rare Pied kingfisher...water and fruit provided . A lovely sighting of a family of monkeys in the trees looking down at us Thank you

We would recommend this birdwatching tour . We were picked up on time by the driver from our hotel, a good transport experience, we were even bought a local Sri Lankan snack on the way home. The guide was very friendly and knowledgeable as he lived just on the side of the lagoon. We had an early start to try to catch the birds early morning and we felt like we were the only boat on the lake. A very peaceful couple of hours among the mangrove inlets and on the lagoon. We saw a wide variety of birds including 2 types of kingfisher . Snacks were provided during the trip.

Terrific tour to Muthurajawela wetlands about an hour from the port of Colombo. A private driver met us promptly at the gates of the port terminal. Braneta was our resident bird guide who enthusiastically showed us the birds while navigating through wetlands by boat. He was very knowledgeable and knew the spots to go to find various species of birds. On the way back to town, our driver made an additional stop so we could purchase some needed camera equipment before heading back to the port. We would highly recommend this tour.

This bird watching boat ride experience was just amazing. The guide was friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. I sighted and photographed close to a dozen Sri Lankan birds. Highly recommended!

Really nice experience, Roshan picked us up at the hotel. The ride was very comfortable and Roshan was friendly. The tour was amazing, really nice guide and beautiful nature.

A really great trip by boat. The best sweet guy really paid attention to the animals we saw. And stopped the boat if we or he saw anything. Delicious melon and coconut ate and drank on the boat in a beautiful shady spot among the mangroves. I will definitely recommend this and also our nice taxi driver Roshan who stopped along the way to get us a sandwich and water. We certainly liked this. Our great thanks for this. Patrick and Nina

Great tour. If you want to see many birds, you should come in the morning. But even if you come later, you will have great nature and beautiful mangroves. Roshan was our driver to pick us up from the hotel. All very well organised Thank you

We had a fantastic tour seeing water monitors, and a large variety of birds (even in low season). Our guide was enthusiastic, knowledgeable and skilful in navigating through the Mangroves. The driver picked us up and dropped us back to our hotel in Negombo and was polite with very good English. We would really recommend the tour, the scenery is beautiful and there is plenty to see to keep even the little ones happy for a few hours

Picked up at the hotel by a very friendly driver who waited during the boat trip and dropped us at a different place on our request. The boat trip started at a very nice and idyllic place. After a short paddle through a narrow brook, we entered the Muthurajawela marsh and saw many birds, monkeys, fishes and a water monitor lizzard (varaan in Dutch) during a 2-hour wonderfull trip. The shipper was super friendly and answered all our questions. He even 'protected' us when 'being ambushed' by a group of hungry monkeys during a watermelon and coconut break in a small lagune. Even our daughters - who weren't eager to do this trip - were impressed. Really recommended!