Bentota
By Dharshana Jayawardena.
Depth: 8 to 12 Meters
Hundirangala on a rainy day!
The day of the clean up: Command Center
This is Hundriangala! One of the most dived sites due to it's close proximity to the shore. Though not a spectacular dive site, it's a quite a happening
place and congregated by both denizens of the deep and human beings. This is where the very first midnight dive (organized by www.DiveSriLanka.com
and Scuba Sri Lanka - see pictures below) in the history of Sri Lanka happened. It was also the target for the Valentines 2004 cleanup (Left). The
pictures below are from the midnight dive. In addition we have seen Cuttlefish, Huge Porcupinefish, Lionfish, and schools of Snappers during the day.
Top Right: Feb 14 2004. Master Scuba Diver Trainer Eric Fernando (SSL) directs the Clean Up operation from the boat. Two boats were dispatched with about 10 divers.
31st Night 2003. Painstaking decorations by Bran at the Scuba Sri Lanka
dive center at Lihiniya Surf Hotel in Bentota.
December 31st 11.45 PM. Divers heading to Hundirangala with great
anticipation.
Left: December 31st 11:50 PM. Divers about to descend to Hundirangala!
Precisely at 00:00 AM January 1st they uncorked an empty champagne
bottle in symbolic celebration and shook hands and greeted each other.
For the next half an hour they explored the rock formation and observed
the nocturnal marine life of the rocky reef. The spirit of this excursion was
to help increase public awareness about the threat to our fragile reefs
and emphasize the "Leave nothing and take nothing" ethic when dealing
with our ocean environment.
Several local news papers publicized this event.
A Scribbled Leather Jacket Filefish greets 2004!
A loving couple of Indian Vagabond Butterflyfish hussing and fussing
around their home. Where's the Kiribath? (Traditional Milk Rice)
An Indian Goatfish.
A Sleeping Parrotfish, perhaps oblivious to significance of time.
A Squirrelfish
Don't we all agree that the night dives are the best? We at
www.DiveSriLanka.com do! The reef is a lot more interesting during the
night and the fish seem a lot more accessible. Also the colors appear as
they should. What beauty!
In addition this night dive was a special one. Starting at 11:40 PM 31st
Night 2003 it ended almost an hour later when the boat reached the
shores of Bentota safely. Never in the annals of Sri Lanka have SCUBA
enthusiasts been under sea during the transition of a year! What a
feeling!
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