Bentota River Safari: Mangrove Wildlife

Embark on a unique Bentota River Safari to explore mangroves and spot rare wildlife. Enjoy a 2-hour lagoon safari with free pick-up and drop-off included.

Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Bentota River - The renowned Bentota River, located in the southern region of the country, empties into the Indian Ocean, creating a lagoon at its final stretch. This river and lagoon offer the most extensive range of water sports among all the beach resorts in Sri Lanka. Popular activities include jet-skiing, windsurfing, parasailing, and…
What's Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Local guide
  • Bottled water
  • GST (Goods and Services Tax)
  • All taxes, fees and handling charges
  • Local taxes
  • Environmental Management Charge (Reef Tax)
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

The Bentota Travel Mart ( BTM ) offers the Bentota River Boat Safari for visitors staying in Bentota, Induruwa, Kosgoda , Ahungalla, Balapitiya, Ambalangoda, Aluthgama, Beruwala, Maggona, Kalutara, Waskaduwa and Wadduwa. Complimentary pick up and drop off services are provided for these areas.
For an exclusive and novel experience of a lagoon safari,…

Location
Bentota
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(99 Ratings)
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Louisewy4276qu
Aug 19, 2025
Fun and fascinating River Safari - Excellent trip. Picked up by Pasidu and Dinesh in two cars. River safari lasted a couple of hours and we saw alligators, kingfishers, lizards and a lot of monkeys. Our guide gave us lots of opportunities to feed the monkeys fruit, which my children really enjoyed. We had a really refreshing snack of real coconut water and a lovely sweet pineapple. Great guide, very thorough and knowledgeable. Went onto the Turtle Hatchery, which was interesting and informative. It was a bit sad to see such big turtles in such small spaces, but the alternative for many is worse. Overall, this was a fab tour and Bentota Travel Mart excelled again!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Bomberharris_11
Aug 12, 2025
Wonderful experience! - 5 star experience from start to finish : lovely pick up from our hotel in 2 cars for our family of 6 and a smooth ride to the riverside . Met by our super guide Harindra who took us out in his boat where we saw multiple kingfishers , monitor lizards, chameleon,baby crocs ( and we held one - all very carefully done) , monkeys and a variety of beautiful native birds . . Harindra was very knowledgeable and a super spotter ! All the family from 5 to 75 had a fantastic time : even when it rained ! Many thanks to This travel company for showing us more of this wonderful country 🙏😀
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Catherine
Aug 12, 2025
Excellent trip. - Again booked through Bentota travel mart. Excellent communication, drivers and guides. Our river guide was fantastic, we saw fruit bats, large monitors, fed monkeys as we went through the mangroves on the Bentota river. Our guide had brought pineapple and coconut from his own garden and shared great knowledge of the area and its wildlife. Well worth the trip.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tonyvf5398lb
Aug 8, 2025
River Safari - This turned out to be the highlight of our Sri Lanka holiday, as our guide took his time to show us the amazing camouflaged animals in the mangroves, while always respecting the animals themselves. Much more than we expected and highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Vicky
Jul 24, 2025
Definitely recommend - Was a brilliant trip. We saw far more than we expected and the river tour guide was superb. He really spent the time pointing out different animals and telling us about the area. There were 9 of us and we all really enjoyed it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rickhi4583tf
Jul 14, 2025
Very good and nice experience - Very friendly guid on the boot. Explains a lot about the Nature and Country. Taxi drive very kind and helpfull, also with the kids!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gaellenirm
Jul 3, 2025
Memorable - A comfortable boat with sun visor, a competent guide and a magnificent view: we were a group of 8 for a walk of nearly 2 hours on the water, during which we observed alligators, monkeys, snakes, iguanas, varans and bats. The value for money is excellent, and the nature, impressive. As is often the case in Sri Lanka, the water is unfortunately heavily polluted. The excursion consists of sailing and stopping as soon as an animal is spotted, with a highlight where the monkeys are fed by hand, an experience that is both rare and memorable. I highly recommend this activity, especially since the coconut offered at the end of the walk was very appreciated.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alina
Jun 15, 2025
A must for every tourist - It was a breathtaking experience! We got to know the mangroves and met many native animals. Among them the kingfisher, several crocodiles, a Sri Lanka Tree Frog and a great many west purple-faced langurs. Our driver was well prepared so we could even feed the monkeys. Afterwards we got a fruit plate and a coconut. Don't miss this!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Daniel_b
Apr 28, 2025
Superb wildlife experience - We loved this! Never seen a mangrove forest up close and it felt like an unanticipated bucket-list experience. Our guide Hari was a lovely guy, very knowledgeable about the ecosystem and with a genuine passion for nature. We saw a chameleon, huge monitor lizard, baby crocodiles, and various birds including kingfishers and a sea eagle, and fed mango to some langur monkeys. Absolute bargain at the price. Highly recommended!
Review provided by Viator
B2279jgroyh
Mar 19, 2025
Private tour of the mangroves - We booked this Safari via Trip Advisor and had great communication telling us when we would be picked up from the hotel and a picture of the Tuk-Tuk that would be transporting us. The boat safari itself was really enjoyable and our driver/guide was very knowledgeable. He was really keen to ensure our expectations were met. All the boat drivers share information with each other and are considerate of each other so we got to see lots of animals. Our Tuk-Tuk driver even waited at a supermarket whilst we picked a few soft drinks up. We would definitely recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $20
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).