Kalutara with a private driver

Kalutara is about 43 kilometres south of Colombo and the first genuinely beach-resort town on the southern coastal highway, positioned where the broad Kalu Ganga river meets the sea. The iconic Kalutara Bodhiya — a hollow dagoba (stupa) that can be entered and circumambulated inside, unique in Sri Lanka — sits on a promontory above the estuary with views down the coast and across the river mouth. The beach stretches several kilometres south from the river mouth and is wide, clean and less developed than Bentota. Kalutara has been a beach destination since the colonial era — the old Inspection Bungalow at the river mouth dates to the 19th century — and the town remains popular with Colombo families for weekend breaks, giving it a livelier atmosphere than the quieter resorts further south.