If you are looking for a whale you cannot search for a whale in a pond. You must go to deep waters.
Prashant Iyengar
But even in deep waters there are no guarantees of whale sightings, as anyone who has ventured out on a whale-watching trip must know. Nature always has the upper hand and may surprise, delight or disappoint. Yet whatever you see, or don’t see, a day out on the water is always a pleasure.
I can never resist the opportunity for a whale-watching trip, or indeed any outing by boat. So when I saw that it was possible to do trips from Mirissa, near our hotel in Weligama, I immediately built that into our itinerary.
It meant an early start of course. Champi picked us up at 6.00 and drove us to the dock in Mirissa, arriving soon after sunrise. There was some confusion about which boat we were booked on, if any, but that was resolved in favour of a smart catamaran, the Opal.
Boarding late meant we had little choice of seats, but we lucked out in sharing a table and sofas with a friendly young couple, he English and she South African, who told us they were currently living in Hanoi and teaching English there. By some coincidence his father was from the north east, and though he himself grew up in Ipswich he was a Newcastle fan!
We set off and soon after were served coffee and a breakfast of fresh fruit, sausages and scrambled eggs. After breakfast I alternated my time as we travelled out to sea between chatting with our companions and climbing to the upper deck to take photos. There were quite a few local fishing boats, and at one point we came pretty close to a huge container ship.
Fishing boats in Weligama Bay
When we were some distance out dolphins were spotted, quite a few of them. I tried to get photos using the burst setting, with some limited success, then just stood watching them for a while. I believe these were Spinner dolphins.
Spinner dolphins
Spinner dolphins get their name from their habit of leaping from the water and spinning up to seven times in the air before falling back into the water. But although they were lively enough we didn’t see them perform like that. We also saw yellow fin tuna jumping out of the sea, but they were impossible to photograph!
We continued further out to sea in search of whales but despite lingering in what we assumed were promising areas (given how many other boats were there) we didn’t see any.
However we did come across another type of dolphin, the larger Risso’s dolphin, and I was a bit more successful in photographing them.
Risso’s dolphins
Eventually the search for whales was abandoned and we turned back to shore. We had already been out longer than we’d expected so we thought the planned stop for swimming might not happen. But not far from the port they dropped the anchor and announced that those who wanted to swim could do so.
We’d already decided against swimming as it’s a pain being stuck with wet swimwear afterwards, so we just sat and watched the fun. And we were close enough now to the port for me to take some photos (on full zoom) of the colourful fishing boats moored there.
The fishing port in Mirissa
It wasn’t long before everyone was back on board, at which point we assumed we’d head back. But no, it transpired that lunch was also included and we were served rice with prawns and tuna in a nice spicy sauce, and vegetables, followed by the traditional Sri Lankan dessert of watalappan, a delicious coconut milk custard spiced with cardamom and cloves.
Then we did head back to the port. Once we were finally back I grabbed some closer shots of the fishing boats, this time from the land side.
Fishing boats, Mirissa
Champi then drove us back to the hotel. We were nearing the end of our tour and it was time to say goodbye to him. Despite our reservations about his guiding he’d been a great driver and had really put himself out at times to ensure we had a good trip, so of course we tipped him well.
Thanks to the dolphins I have plenty of animals to share with Terri’s new Animal of the Month challenge, even if I don’t have the hoped-for whales. And it had been a fun outing despite their non-appearance.
I visited Sri Lanka in February 2026
37 Comments
equinoxio21
Dolphins are fine. They’ll always remind me of our house in Africa. Glad you enjoyed your “sea-faring”.
(Finding a “Geordie fan” in Ceylon… such a small world)
Sarah Wilkie
My mother-in-law used to say that wherever you go you’ll meet a Geordie! I’m not sure that’s true, and this guy wasn’t technically one, but it was nevertheless a fun coincidence and we enjoyed chatting about football with him as well as other stuff 🙂
Image Earth Travel
I think whales are shyer than dolphins.
Not sure if I ever mentioned, when I lived on our boat, we used to do a lot of diving and snorkelling, especially in northern Queensland.
One time, we were snorkelling, and a pod of around 40 dolphins came to us and swam past/in and out like they were playing with us. It was such a stunning and beautiful experience that I’ve never forgotten that feeling of completeness with nature.
Your post brought that memory back, so thank you!
Sarah Wilkie
Oh wow, that sounds an amazing experience! I had a similar one snorkelling with sea lions in the Galapagos, but not so many and it was a relatively brief encounter, but like you I’ve never forgotten it. I’m pleased my post brought back such a special memory for you 🙂
Rebecca
Whales are elusive creatures– I, too, have gone on whale watches where I saw many other sealife (e.g. dolphins), but seldom a whale. Or, at least, the fin of a whale, but it disappears as quickly as it appears. Whales are certainly fascinating creatures, and it’s a real treat to see them in the wild!
Sarah Wilkie
You’re so right Rebecca 😀 I think we’ve been relatively lucky as this is (I think) only the second time we’ve drawn a complete blank, but the dolphins were an excellent consolation prize!
grandmisadventures
I love the dolphins and the colorful boats! When we lived in Florida there were always pods of dolphins swimming near the shore of our neighborhood. They are such a delight to watch
Sarah Wilkie
You’re right Meg, dolphins are always great fun to watch 🙂 And I loved the colourful boats too!
wetanddustyroads
Well, you might not have seen whales, but there were so many other amazing things on this boat trip that I’m sure you weren’t too disappointed. Oh, by the way, that container ship looks huge – it seems like you were quite close to it. Love the dolphins and colourful boats.
Sarah Wilkie
I was a bit disappointed not to see any whales but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the trip! We were quite close to that ship but of course I was using zoom 😀
the eternal traveller
Even without whales this sounds like a lovely outing with pleasant company and nice food.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, that sums it up perfectly – thanks Carol 🙂
Teresa
Nevermind about the whales…you can see it somewhere else. This was an amazing experience anyway.
Sarah Wilkie
You’re right Teresa 🙂 We’ve seen whales elsewhere and will no doubt see them again!
Marie
Pity about the whales but still a lovely outing …. I just love those boats….
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Marie 🙂 I loved the boats too and would have liked to have spent more time mooching around the port and taking photos, but we’d already kept our driver waiting while we had lunch on board and I knew he had a drive ahead of him back to Colombo after dropping us off at the hotel.
EgÃdio
Nature is unpredictable. Great shots even if you didn’t get to see whales.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, unpredictable indeed 😀 And it was still a fun outing!
Susanne Swanson
Still a wonderful and colorful day! I love seeing dolphins, even if no whales. For some reason, I’m reluctant to go on a whale tour boat, as I don’t want to ‘stalk’ them! But I LOVE seeing them randomly in the wild as happens here in the Pacific NW. I was lucky to see killer whales in Hood Canal, and gray or humpback whales (not sure which) recently in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Susanne 🙂 Yes, it’s always lovely to see the dolphins, and I was pleased to get some photos of them. I’m happy to go on a whale-watching trip if I’m sure it’s ethically done (e.g. waiting for the whales to come to you rather than stalking), and I trusted our tour company, Selective Asia, not to recommend any that weren’t.
Monkey's Tale
Oh too bad. We were lucky to see Blue Whales in Mirissa, but we’ve also been on many trips that we didn’t.
Sarah Wilkie
We had some great Blue Whale sightings in Baja California 😀 On the whole we’ve been very lucky – this is only the second time we’ve drawn a blank on a whale watching trip, having done many!
Sue
Shame about the whales, but it sounds like you had a good time, regardless!
Sarah Wilkie
We did – thank you Sue 🙂
Sue
😊
Anne Sandler
Sarah, I love those colorful fishing boats. I guess we have the same whale watching luck. The last time out, we just saw the backs of a couple whales, but no breaching. Great images of the dolphins.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anne 🙂 We’ve been lucky on the whole with whale watching trips – we’ve done quite a few and only been unlucky once, hunting for Orcas in the San Juans. So I guess we were due another blank!
Terri Webster Schrandt
Hi Sarah, wow, what a wonderful excursion! You had me at cozy table with breakfast. Seeing the dolphins must have been fun!
Stay tuned for the monthly challenge and possible subthemes. I know you have tons of pics from many places!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Terri, it was great fun 😀 And I’ll certainly join in with this challenge again in the future, even if not every month.
Wandering Dawgs
Sarah, even though you didn’t see whales this looks like a fun way to spend a day on the water. Dolphins are always fun to see but hard to photograph. Your photos are great, especially the Risso’s dolphin. I love the colorful boats!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Beth 🙂 I loved the boats too – I would like to have spent more time photographing them once back on and but we’d already kept our driver Champi waiting as we’d expected to be back much sooner, not knowing that lunch was included in the trip!
restlessjo
I’d enjoy that too, Sarah. I’m not very successful with dolphin photos. They’re always lovely to watch and by the time I’ve got my camera ready the show’s over xx
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Jo 🙂 My camera was right at hand throughout the trip in the hope of seeing and photographing whales, and it’s quite easy to switch to burst mode which really helps in these situations, though you do end up having to delete a lot of near duplicates – not to mention shots of an empty sea!
margaret21
That does sound like a Grand Day Out. Even without the whales.
Sarah Wilkie
It was indeed a Grand Day Out – thank you Margaret 🙂
bushboy
That’s a good adventure. Come to Australia now, the Humpback Highway is in full swing. Around 50,000 to 60,000 whales pass up the coast here close to shore.
Sarah Wilkie
I would love that – humpbacks are possibly my favourite whales because they breach quite often and are perhaps slightly easier to photograph!