Unawatuna & Jungle Beach · Sri Lanka · Reef
Jungle Beach
A calm reef below Rumassala Mountain for snorkellers and divers
Photo: Kavindu96 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Jungle Beach is a sheltered reef below Rumassala Mountain, used for both snorkelling and diving. The calm water and shallow coral suit beginners and families, while the reef runs far enough and deep enough to give experienced divers a longer swim.
0Where it is and how deep
6.0120° N, 80.2392° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The reef starts in 4 m off the beach and stretches nearly one kilometre, dropping to about 10 m in its deeper sections. The water is calm, and coral reefs with colourful reef fish cover the shallows, while advanced divers head along the deeper parts of the reef.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good |
Season follows Unawatuna & Jungle Beach: The south-coast season runs from October to April, and whale sharks occasionally pass from January to March.
Dive videos
Underwater Sri Lanka - Unawatuna. Jungle Beach. Reef and Coral Fish. Diving and Snorkeling tour. · Walking Rabbit - Virtual Tours on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Can snorkellers join a trip to Jungle Beach?+
Yes. The reef starts at 4 m in calm water, and the site is used for both snorkelling and diving.
Sources
- Unawatuna Dive Sites — Pearl Divers
- OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap
Photo credits
- Forested headland enclosing a turquoise cove with a small sandy beach, a ship on the horizon beyond by Kavindu96, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Unawatuna & Jungle Beach
Pinnacle
A pinnacle with manta rays, scorpionfish, lionfish and morays
Reef
Black and red corals, with whale sharks sometimes seen in February
Wreck
Around 20 iron cannons spread across the seabed
Wreck
A shallow wreck on the Goda Gala reef with open sections
Reef
A resident giant Napoleon wrasse that gives the reef its name
Wreck
Groupers in the engine room and morays all through the wreckage
Wreck
An 1871 steamship sitting upright with a bow like a Viking ship
Similar dives elsewhere
Five minutes out, around 5 m, in a bay that stays calm
Sand at 5 m, coral to 9 m, and room to get buoyancy right
Sheltered reef beside Suzy's Wreck for courses and intro dives
A large field of plate coral between the two islands