Kalpitiya

A narrow palm-fringed peninsula between the Puttalam Lagoon and the Indian Ocean, famed for dolphin watching, kitesurfing and a historic Catholic shrine.

Overview

Kalpitiya is a slender peninsula and fishing town reaching north between the calm, mangrove-lined Puttalam Lagoon and the open Indian Ocean. Once a sleepy string of coconut estates and fishing villages, it has become one of Sri Lanka's top spots for dolphin and whale watching and a world-class kitesurfing destination, thanks to steady seasonal winds over its shallow lagoon. The peninsula also holds the old Dutch fort at Kalpitiya town and the much-loved St. Anne's shrine at Talawila, while quiet beaches and offshore sandbanks draw those seeking a slower coast.

History

The peninsula was an important point on ancient Indian Ocean trade and pearl-fishing routes and passed through Portuguese and Dutch hands, the latter building a small fort and church at Kalpitiya in the 17th century to guard the entrance to the Puttalam Lagoon. Catholic missionaries active on the coast from the early 1600s founded the shrine of St. Anne at Talawila, which grew into one of the island's largest pilgrimage sites. In recent decades tourism built on kitesurfing and marine-mammal watching has transformed the local economy.