Bentota

Bentota is best known as Sri Lanka's water sports hub — surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, water skiing and scuba diving all happen here, with the sheltered lagoon offering mild, year-round conditions even outside the diving season.

Bentota's own dive site list is short but substantial: Canoe Rock is a large, sprawling formation that takes several dives to properly explore, rewarding repeat visits over a single quick look. Bentota also doubles as a convenient access point for diving the nearby Beruwala sites, making it a practical base for divers who want water sports variety on the surface and a choice of dive profiles underwater.

The season runs November to May. Combined with Bentota's resort infrastructure, it's one of the easiest west coast regions to base a mixed-activity beach and dive holiday around.