Best of Negombo

On the west coast just north of Colombo, Negombo is a city of both commerce and leisure. The town’s thriving fishing industry dates back centuries, and its golden sand beaches and seaside resorts make a great bookend for a trip to the capital. Vestiges of the European presence in Sri Lanka survive around town, particularly in the many ornate Portuguese churches that have helped earn Negombo the nickname of “Little Rome.” Given the abundance of seafood, Negombo not surprisingly has some excellent restaurants. 

It’s worth rising early to see the action at the open-air fish market, where fishers pull their outrigger canoes onto shore and unload a huge variety of seafood. At makeshift stalls on the sands, vendors and buyers haggle over tuna, mackerel and anchovies, while at the dry market nearby fishmongers lay out neatly halved fish on mats of coconut fiber to dry in the sun. Outside of Negombo, you can see the labor-intensive production of raa (also called toddy), an alcoholic drink made from the sap of palm trees. Workers climb the trees to collect sap, which is then left to ferment in a pot for a few days before distributing to local taverns.