Tika Traveller

Discover Sri Lanka & Maldives From Those Who Know It Best

Blogs from Tikalanka are designed to enhance your knowledge of Sri Lanka and Maldives and keep you up to date with recent developments. We intend to post regular features on travel, news, lifestyle and accommodation as well as guest articles from current and past customers, which will give you first-hand experience of Tikalanka, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Category: Health

Fort Bazaar courtyard, Galle fort, Sri Lanka

TikaWeeks #50/2024: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 11th December 2024

Hot off the press! The much-anticipated swimming pool at Fort Bazaar within Galle fort will finally open on 15 December 2024. This very generous 15 metres by 6 metres infinity pool with attached shallow area is surrounded by a sundeck edged with tropical plants. In other Teardrop Hotels’ news, Wallawwa has partnered with the globally acclaimed Vikasa brand to provide exclusive wellness experiences, the estate roads leading to Nine Skies and Camellia Hills have been resurfaced, and Lunuganga now has a dedicated café for all daytime visitors.

TikaWeeks #47/2024: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 20th November 2024

Santani Wellness Kandy has been named Asia’s Best Wellness Retreat at the World Spa Awards 2024. This accolade reflects Santani's unwavering commitment to redefining wellness and its unique approach to "Human Sustainability”. Galle Literary Festival takes place in and around the southern town of Galle and its atmospheric fort from the 06 to 09 February 2025, inviting diverse voices in poetry and prose from around the world. In other news, Cape Weligama will reopen on 02 December 2024 following a deep refresh with upgraded facilities and services in celebration of its 10th anniversary.

Typical beach on the south and west coasts of Sri Lanka

TikaWeeks #44/2024: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 1st November 2024

As the nights draw in, our minds turn to brighter, sunnier and warmer climes – holidays in Sri Lanka! This is the peak season for us, with December to March being the busiest period of the year as our customers escape the short days and cold weather typical of a winter in the UK. With lots of our customers travelling to Sri Lanka soon, I thought a few travel tips would come in handy before you set off on a holiday of a lifetime.

Sir David Attenborough with gorillas in Rwanda (courtesy of the BBC)

TikaWeeks #42/2023: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 20th October 2023

Nature, carbon and humanity are inextricably entwined with 50% of man-made CO2 sequestered by nature – but the story doesn’t end there: 75% of food crops are dependent on insect pollination, 80% of registered medicines come from plants and 85% of the world's largest companies have a high dependency on nature across direct operations. Nature is at the heart of everything and considering the planet’s lifeblood while travelling is vital.

TikaWeeks #09/2022: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 2nd March 2022

Yesterday, the Sri Lankan authorities removed the requirement of a pre-arrival COVID-19 negative test result, which should aid the recovery of the island’s beleaguered tourism industry. This comes hot on the heels of Emirates no longer requiring a PCR test for transiting passengers through Dubai. Both are indications that countries are beginning to relax their pandemic travel requirements to encourage more foreign travel.

Quintessential Ceylon - a pot of tea overlooking misty mountains in the magnificent Hill Country at W15 Hanthana Estate, Kandy, Sri Lanka

TikaWeeks #01/2022: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 7th January 2022

Happy New Year and now back to the last. Our ‘Northern Tour’ of Sri Lanka started with visiting a few special places to stay around Kandy before heading northeast into the Cultural Triangle – Dambulla, Sigiriya and Habarana – and on to Nilaveli just north of Trincomalee on the east coast. We then drove straight up to Jaffna at the northernmost tip of the island before returning south to the Anuradhapura and Wilpattu region. Our last stop was in the Negombo area before I flew home.

Lunuganga, or Salt River, is Geoffrey Bawa's name for his private estate on Dedduwa Lake

TikaWeeks #50/2021: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 16th December 2021

Just returned from an 18-day research trip to Sri Lanka, which was a precursor to restarting our holidays by the New Year. Pathi and I travelled around the island meeting tourism colleagues, visiting current and new accommodation, and discussing the restart with our guides. Overall, the trip was a success and we are confident that a holiday in Sri Lanka will be a great experience despite the few extra precautions required due to COVID-19.

TikaWeeks #46/2021: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 21st November 2021

Tourism is beginning to pick up in Sri Lanka once again. More than 7000 foreign visitors arrived to Sri Lanka in the first two weeks of October, out of a total of 45,413 tourists for the year as a whole. Visitors are required to always carry their COVID-19 vaccination card when visiting tourist sites around the country – 12 to 18 year olds who have had at least one dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are considered ‘fully vaccinated’. There is now an online Health Declaration System at the airport to reduce cross-infection.

TikaWeeks #20/2021: Sri Lanka & Maldives update

Posted by John on 17th May 2021

From 12 May 2021, Sri Lanka has reverted to a 14-day stay in ‘Safe & Secure’ Certified Level 1 hotels for your initial period in the country as well as enforcing the previous, additional requirements of entry. As of 13 May 2021, on-arrival tourist visas in Maldives for those arriving from South Asian countries will be temporarily halted. This includes transit passengers from all other countries. This is academic since both Sri Lanka (Amber list) and Maldives (Red list) are “should not travel to” countries designated by the UK government.

TikaWeeks #18/2021: Sri Lanka & Maldives update

Posted by John on 8th May 2021

Yesterday, the UK government confirmed international leisure travel can gradually resume from 17 May 2021 and released the initial ‘traffic light’ travel list, which will be reviewed every three weeks. Both Sri Lanka and Maldives are on the Amber list, which means you should not travel to either country for leisure purposes, with Maldives on the more restrictive Red list from 12 May 2021. We hope that both countries’ COVID-19 situations will improve in the near future to allow leisure travel at the earliest opportunity.

Independent Tailor-made Holidays to Sri Lanka & Maldives