Muthurajawela Mangroves and Wetlands

Sri Lanka’s largest saltwater coastal peat bog

With a name that translates to the “Swamp of Royal Treasure”, Muthurajawela is indeed a prized pocket – not of extravagant riches, but of ecological wonders. As the largest saltwater coastal peat bog in Sri Lanka, Muthurajawela is teeming with exotic biodiversity. From elusive crocodiles to the threatened grey slender loris, and even over 100 species of birds, the verdant wetlands also host a valued sanctuary of mangroves. So valued in fact, that Sri Lanka has become the first country in the world to protect all its mangrove forests.

The Muthurajawela mangroves and wetlands are reached via a 20-minute drive along the coastal road to the Muthurajawela Visitor Centre, where you will be escorted onto a boat that begins its journey through a Dutch canal built in the colonial era, before winding through mangrove forests and wetlands that open up to the vast waters of the Negombo Lagoon.