Whale watching in Mirissa

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
7
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
2
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
6
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
4
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
2
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
57 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
314th/457
Top 70%
continent
Asia
country
Sri Lanka
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$70 (typically $50 - $90)
Time of year visited
December
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Boat trip Wildlife - Dolphins Wildlife - Whales
All Tags
Wow Factor
Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100.
⭐⭐
Summary

Mirissa is one of the only places in the world you have a good chance of seeing Blue Whales, the largest animal to have ever lived, as well as Fin Whales (second largest) and Sperm Whales (the largest toothed predator). 

You’re practically guaranteed to see hundreds of Spinner Dolphins, Bottle-nosed Dolphins coming to swim with the boat and Pilot Whales (to the extent that many operators will refund you if you don’t) … but, ultimately it’s worth a roll of the dice for the chance to see a Blue Whale.

 

Chances of seeing a Blue Whale – the waters off Mirissa often host the largest number of Blue Whales, so you’re in the best place for them. But … I think a lot gets lost in translation for your chances of seeing them. The tour operators talk of refunds if you don’t see the whales, but that includes Pilot Whales which, although really cool and 2/3 times the size of a Bottlenosed Dolphin, are less than 1% the size of a Blue Whale. We, for example, didn’t see any of the Blue / Fin / Sperm whales.

 

Which operator – I visited Dec 2022 when it was very quiet so only 2 boats operating, but I could see 60+ moored. With that many, you will for sure get bad practices of how operators approach, scare off and change the behaviour of the whales. So it makes sense to go with a responsible operator. I went with Raja and the Whales – Raja sticks to the international standard, really cares about the whales and is great for a chat about just about anything whale related (breakfast and other foods included, they’ll pick you up at 6am). Others highly recommended were Kumara and the Whales and Jetwing Eco.

 

Time of year – December and April are the best time for chances of seeing the whales.

 

Where to stay – heaps of options in town. I stayed at JJ‘s Hostel, which was like an upmarket backpackers with nice private rooms.

 

Highlights
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#1 Seeing up close the Pilot Whales coming up for air. So close you can loudly hear them breathing

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#2 Bottlenosed Dolphins playing alongside the boat throughout the day

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#3 The beautiful views all along the southern Sri Lankan shoreline

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#4 The hundreds and hundreds of Spinner Dolphins jumping and spinning from the water

Experiences nearby
Wow Factor Score Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100. LowHigh
  • Elite, unmissable
  • World-class, downsides
  • Meets the Wow Factor
  • Worth it
  • Meh
  • Gash

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Diving with bull and tiger sharks by Beqa Island

Scuba diving at Wolf and Darwin Islands in the Galapagos

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences - from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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