Whale Watching, Mirissa
Tail flipping blowhole vacating
This island looks entirely peaceful from the sea. Ship out at 7h00 with the Mirissa Water Sports Club (0 773 597 731). We saw a plethora of whales and dolphins. Too much really. Blue Whales, Bryde’s Whales, Sperm Whales, floating and gloating, rolling and cajoling. It’s strange how serene I feel, seeing just a crest of those mammalian bodies above a thousand meters of sea.
The whales hang out in waters over a thousand meters deep, the closest of which are off the southern coast, in Mirissa. To be quite honest, it’s a damn jungle out there, it’s so many. This is also a main shipping lane, so the strip is constantly populated. It’s either container ships or beasts the size of. There is some conflict. Some whales bear scars.
We saw a few Bryde’s Whales, cresting and blowing out air, finally turning tail and diving. I got one shot which was entirely sure of my Rs. 5,000 worth, but then came more and more.
Then came the dolphins. I had fallen asleep, trying to ward of the impending puke. The boat rocks quite rocky side to side. I was holding a plastic bag. Upon seeing their scurrying imminences, I was entirely distracted. They skirted close to bow, oblivious and strong, packs of muscle and curiosity.
As the boat idled people jumped in the water. I jumped in too. It was deep and infinite. Blue and cool. As I dove deeper it got cooler, as I poked my head above I could float with ease, buoyant and well at ease. There was no land in sight. We climbed to the second deck of the boat and jumped off from there.
The dolphins, of course, were distracted, only re-emerging after the rude land beasts had climbed up the ladder to our boat. By then I was tired. Went to the bow of the ship to dry out, chatted with some tourists. Then the Sperm Whales emerged, not one but many. Three abreast, two aside.
So many sea beasts, so many boats, so much wonder. My God this is a magical island. I’m lucky to be alive.
Today on the 
Janith has updated 
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Awesome!!! I want to go too…
Great post!
Top pics!
What an advert for our troubled Nation.
For years, we tried to establish a proper ‘All around our Island Cruise’ service.
Sailing from, say Hambantota to Arugam Bay and Trinco would be a good start.
Dive trips to HMS Hermes, The Basses and all the other unchartered waters of the East Coast would add another fine dimension for sure.
We purchased 3 vessels in 1997 for this purpose from the outgoing UK forces in HongKong.
But could not get a permission to operate any craft above 15HP at the time.
Chris Pattern’s launch had a few more, and luxury space for 24 Pax…..
Keep it up, and hope for a better future, mate!
sounds amazing! whats the cost like?
Rs. 5000
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Thanks for the details, this should be the next place to visit after the Jaffna..
beautiful! :D
Dem pics are purdy.
fuck that’s beautiful, I feel the travel-bug pull me again. I gotta gooo!!
God i missed this. I so badly wanted to head out on sunday but we needed to head back to Colombo.
Next time :)