A great place with a gorgeous lighthouse. And beyond the palm trees — no land till Antarctica.
Some people tell and write that this was the southernmost point of Eurasia. Not true, the southernmost is in Malaysia.
But in Dondra you will find a cape with the southernmost point of the island.
And if you look at the map, behind these palm trees — only water till Antarctica, we checked it with a compass)
An amazing lighthouse
The cape has an awesome high lighthouse, still operating. The most beautiful one of those that I saw.
It is hard to believe that it was opened in 1889 because it is in excellent condition.
Probably the secret is that all the building materials to the last brick were imported)
Spacious, neat well-kept area. Surprisingly, only a few tourists there, even on weekends.
The lighthouse is closed to public. But the area erounf is just amazing. Plenty of room to sit and chill. The cape is perfectly blown by the wind, palm trees give a good shadow, so this is a pure pleasure.
Free admission. At the gate there is a tent with drinks, ice cream and some snacks.
This gave us a bonus of 20 minutes in silence while Leo was eating cookies)
There are 2 beaches nearby where you can swim with a view of the lighthouse. The first one is almost 2 km far, and the second — only 100 meters. So we chose the second.
Hummana Beach
Very cool. The water is turquoise, no big waves, pleasing landscapes.
Sea lion.
Juice Bar on a tree
On the right side of the beach (closer to the lighthouse) there is a cool juice bar. It has tables set on a tree)
There is a huge hammock by the water.
And the crowd of chipmunks running around)
Everything is fine there, only the fruit shakes are served with salt (!) — in Sri Lanka it happens sometimes, so make sure to ask not to add salt and sugar to your drinks.
And we were fooled a little bit with a check. There are no prices on the menu. We were told that all the juices cost 300. And when it came time to pay, they suddenly occured to be 350 worth.
Unpleasant, but could’nt spoil the mood.
How to get to Dondra
Dondra Lighthouse on the map:
We chose one of the most budget-friendly and authentic options: first we reached Matara on a crazy bus for 20 rupees per person (we live between Mirissa and Matara). There, at the bus station, we took another bus, which goes to Tangalle (another 20).
Then we took a tuk-tuk to the lighthouse, not to walk almost 2 km in the sun. The price seemed fair — 150 rupees, so we did not even try to bargain.
On the way back we hired a tuk-tuk for 500 rupees to Matara. From there, took the same bus to our house.
This way, you can get from many other points on the coast, from Unawatuna, Hikkaduwa and so on. You can take the bus to Dikwella / Tangalle, skipping Matara.
Have a nice trip! Ciao!