Sep 28, 2024
Great experience - If you love animals and want to experience something exciting and action-packed, this is a great excursion.
The guides are very nice and can also speak German
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 8, 2024
Great value tour! - We had a jam packed day on this trip- we had a wonderful time seeing and experiencing plenty without feeling rushed. It was great value for money!
Dinesh picked us up on time and got us from place to place safely.
We saw crocodiles, monkeys, monitors, frogs and plenty of birds on our boat safari and our guide was friendly with a great eye for wildlife. Best part was enjoying fresh coconut water in the mangroves with the crocs.
We then visited a beautiful temple and had a tour, a mask factory and a turtle conservation centre. The gentleman working at the centre was so kind and radiated wonderful energy and I could tell he really cared about the animals.
Mask factory was good for souvenir shopping.
The tsunami museum was a really harrowing experience- held in a home damaged by the tsunami we were shown around by an amazing lady who survived the disaster. I won’t say too much but it’s a very human experience and she has a real and deep story to tell and an important message.
Lunch was a buffet and was delicious and the restaurant was clean with friendly staff.
We were given an hour and a half to explore Galle and this was enough time to do a loop of the fort and then last visited the stilt fisherman.
Overall a great day-
Recommend bringing enough money to souvenir shop and small notes to give donations to the various stops. They don’t ask for much and it definitely all helps.
Thank you BTM!
Review provided by Viator
Sep 8, 2024
Great day trip - Very interesting and detailed tour. Our driver, Dinesh, was great. Really enjoyed the river safari. We were there early so were the only boat on the river. Our guide said it gets really busy. Only thing I didn’t like was when we asked if we wanted to hold a baby croc and a man appeared holding one, he wanted 500 slr. I prefer to see the animals in their habitat. The guide was fine when I said no. I was worried about visiting the turtle sanctuary but the guy seems to look after them really well and yes it would be nice if they were in bigger tanks but he does release them back into the wild. The temple was very interesting. The tsunami museum was thought provoking. We didn’t go to see the fishermen as it’s a really long day and it was hot!! Lunch was lovely.
Take plenty of cash for ‘donations’
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aug 16, 2024
Galle day trip - This was our third and final excursion in Sri Lanka and arguably our favourite.
We loved learning about the history and culture of Sri Lanka. The guide at the tea plantation was so knowledgable. We enjoyed the tea tasting and purchased a few packs of tea as gifts for friends back home.
Visiting Galle Fort provided us with an insight into the history of Sri Lanka. Also, seeing the stilt fisherman was a fun and enjoyable experience. Finally, our favourite part of the trip was visiting the turtle sanctuary, where we got to release baby turtles into the sea, which was a truly remarkable experience!
Thanks again to Sam for all his hard work organising this trip for us.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 8, 2024
Absolutely brilliant - Absolutely great these trips, driver brilliant made us feel safe. Looked after me when I wasn't well. So friendly. Brilliant for the money
Review provided by Viator
Apr 26, 2024
Great and Memorable Trip - Great trip that provides good value for money. Really friendly driver who collected from our hotel. Comprehensive itinerary takes you to great locations. The highlights are the river safari and turtle hatchery, providing such amazing and memorable experiences. Unfortunately our vehicle experienced tyre issues but the driver remained calm, polite and apologetic, we were quickly transferred to a different vehicle to swiftly get us on our way again, we understand these things happen so reassured him we didn't mind. Our only recommendation to improve would be to receive some information on the history and story of the Galle fort instead of it just being a quick walk round by ourselves. Would highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 16, 2024
Very strong experience - We enojoyed the whole day trip, but the river safari was for us the highlight of the day. Our river guide Harinda was very nice, very skillfull in finding the animals and explaining the jungle stuff. His excitement about the local nature and ability to describe the nature relations made it an unforgetable experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 13, 2024
Beautiful day of discoveries - Great day of discoveries of all kinds
Departing from Kalutara we first took a slow boat ride on the river and in the mangrove where we could see different animals
Then different stops - visits to Galle where we were able to walk - visit the fort as we wanted,
The included meal was good (buffet)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 10, 2024
Recommended day trip - River safari on the Kaluganga, went on a boat trip through the mangrove jungle and saw lots of animals, including crocodiles. Several museums about handicrafts, a very moving tour through the tsunami museum, up close with the animals in the turtle rescue center, Galle and the huge fortress, pretty alleyways in the city, nearby stilt fishermen show off their skills.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aug 21, 2024
An okay trip. - Saying that the driver is a ‘guide’ is massively misleading – you will be driven from one destination to another, and the only information you will be given, if any, depends on the people at each of the attractions. Similarly, saying that entrance fees to various attractions are included is also misleading – except for the river safari (I imagine), entrance to all of the places on the itinerary is free and the staff expect you to tip.
River safari first thing in the morning is the absolute highlight – our boat guide was absolutely amazing, we saw lots of different birds, lizards, caymans, crocodiles as well as monkeys (purple-faced langurs), which we were able to feed. We were also offered a king coconut and some fruit as a snack.
Gem museum is more of a tourist trap than an actual museum.
Turtle conservation project was great as well, with a real feel-good atmosphere. There is no entry fee, but there is a donation box.
The wood carving centre had a lot of history, with many stories about the culture behind the masks, although the museum part felt massively rushed, and with the museum staff constantly with you, it felt like we just needed to move on. Again, the museum is free, and you are expected to tip the person showing you around. The shop however was slightly different, with much of the art work found in the museum being for sale.
The lunch was a buffet in a local restaurant. The food was okay-ish… although on a spicier side. Drinks were extra.
Tsunami Photo Museum is run by one of the tsunami survivors in a simple building that was rebuild after the disaster. Still, it’s not much of a museum – more like two large outbuildings with printed photos stuck to the walls and very basic descriptions in broken English, although hearing from the person who lived through it was interesting. Similarly, the entrance is free, and you are expected to tip the person showing you around.
The Buddhist Temple seemed interesting, but the person who was meant to show us around didn’t show up. Again, free entrance, and you’re expected to tip.
Stilt Fishermen… not sure what to say about that. We turned up, looked at them posing on the stilts and left. At no point were we offered to try it as the description suggest (if you do want to try it, I’d suggest bringing a change of clothes as you will get wet…)
Finally, Dutch Fort Galle… we were dropped off, told to have a look around, which we did for about 30 minutes and left.
One final note on the driver (although he’s not the only one we met that was guilty of that) – if you’re a woman, prepare to be ignored, even if you’re the one whose name is on all the bookings. From the moment he laid eyes on my husband, he only ever spoke to him, constantly asking if he’s happy, keeping the doors open for him, etc. Really shameful behaviour.
Review provided by Viator