Negombo Lagoon and Mangrove Boat Excursion with Dutch Canal and Fish Market

The Negombo lagoon and the canal that runs into it are the working heart of the town. The Dutch cut the canal in the 17th century to move cinnamon south towards Colombo; the fishermen were here long before that and are still here now, casting nets from low wooden boats in water rarely more than a couple of metres deep.

You are collected from your hotel by tuk tuk for the short hop to the water, then spend around two hours on a boat that moves slowly enough to actually watch things. The route runs through open lagoon and into the mangrove channels, where the roots grow out over the water and the branches close in overhead. This is nursery ground — juvenile fish, crabs and prawns shelter in the root systems, which is exactly why the fishing here has held up.

Birdlife is the constant. Kingfishers hold on the branches, egrets and herons stalk the margins, cormorants dry their wings on the stake poles, and eagles work overhead. Water monitors slide off the banks as the boat passes. The boatman will cut the engine where it is worth being quiet.

You also pass the Dutch canal itself, which is still lined with craft and used daily rather than preserved for show, and there is a short stop at the Negombo fish market, where the morning catch is sorted on the sand and much of it laid out to dry.

It is an unhurried outing rather than an adventure — the appeal is the quiet, the birds and seeing a working lagoon from the water. Early morning and late afternoon are noticeably better for both wildlife and light.