Overview
Bentota is a resort town on Sri Lanka’s southwest coast. Its long Bentota Beach stretches north, where it becomes a sandy strip known as Paradise Island, parallel to Bentota Lagoon. Coral-rich dive sites include Canoe Rock.
Description
On Bentota River Centuries-old Galapota Temple has a large Buddha statue Southeast is Lunuganga, the estate and gardens of architect Geoffrey Bawa. Northeast is his brother Bevis's Brief Garden.
Bentota began life as a settlement built around a small Portuguese fort on the estuary of the Bentota River. In the 19th century, the British converted the fort into a rest house, where civil servants would come to relax in the grounds under the shade of the tamarind trees. Still welcoming those who crave a break, it’s now one of Sri Lanka’s most popular beach resorts.
Bentota is spread along Sri Lanka’s west coast, with a cluster of hotels to the north that gradually thin out as you travel south. The lengthy stretches of golden sand are shaded by corkscrew palms, the occasional granite outcrop, and little else.
While this is a popular beach resort, there are no beach bars or restaurants lining the sand, just hotels, villas and luxury resorts tucked behind the palms at discrete distances for each other.