Sri lanka to Goa - dec/jan - tips please!

I am looking at arriving in Sri Lanka on the morning of Friday 28th December and would like to spend that day perhaps in Colombo. I would also like to go to the elephant orphanage in Pinnawala, kegalla. Ideally if I could visit here on the Saturday and then head south to Hikkaduwa.

I have not yet chosen my accommodation in Hikkaduwa but would ideally like to be close to the beach in somewhere simple where I can relax and do some diving. I will be here for New Years eve so would like to know if there is anywhere in particular worth going or if its best to just be on the beach. Whilst I am in Hikkaduwa I really hope to see some turtles – is there somewhere specifically worth going for this?

On the 2nd January I am heading off to treetops to do a 3 night, 2 day jungle walk. I will the head straight from here to Colombo and then travel directly to Goa.

At this point I have a couple of options as my booking with Bhakti Kutir starts on the 6th January. I have looked at either flying from Colombo to Goa, or if possible I would prefer to take the passenger boat from Colombo to Tuticorin on the 5th and then make my way to Palolem. However I can’t seem to find much information out about the boat crossing and at the moment I am not sure how easy it will be to travel from Tuticorin to Goa. If anybody has done this or has any idea of the best routes it would be great to hear from you I have the whole of Saturday, Saturday night and Sunday to make this journey so maybe if there is anywhere well worth staying for that night it would be great to know

I will be staying at Bhakti Kutir from Sunday 6th – Wednesday 9th. I will then go from here on the Wednesday to ‘Vivenda Dos Palhocos’ in Majorda, so that I can visit the market in Anjuna on the Wednesday and then I will be flying home early on the Saturday morning.

If anybody has any tips of places to stay, things I should do and in particular the best way to get from Colombo to Goa I would really appreciate it.

Also if there are any recommended dive sites or companies I should go with this would be great to know. I completed my PADI advanced in July but it is still all very new to me so would want to feel in safe hands!

Thanks!!

I would not advise u to take the boat route as this is not very popular and would consume too much of ur time, as travelling from Tuticorin to Goa itself would take long. It would be better if u take the ariel route to Goa.

Goa has a range of accomodation from 600-2000 rupees and since u will be arriving in goa on 6th January, most of the domestic rush would be over too, so finding an accomodation would not be a problem

Cheers and have a nice trip
Arif