Koggala Beach Park | Distinctive Beach with Emerged Coral Reef Patches

Koggala Beach Park
Koggala Beach Park (Sinhala: කොග්ගල නිදහස් වෙරළ තීරය) is a popular shoreline in Koggala in Galle District, Sri Lanka. Opened to the public in 2007, the site is presently maintained by the Habaraduwa Divisional Secretariat.

The beach is popular among the locals as well as foreigners as a place to relax by feeling the sea breeze or watching the sunset. Common bathing, eating, playing, and parking facilities are available in the vicinity area. As it is enclosed by a small reef, the surrounding sea is shallow. The beach is also one of the few places in the country to watch Stilt Fishing.

Coral reef patches
The view of the Koggala beach site is distinctive from other popular beaches in the country due to the emerged coral reef patches that occur at or above the Mean High Water Spring (MHWS) level and are cemented to beach rocks in the vicinity (Katupotha & Sumananarathna, 2020). Upright branching and massive coral of these buried and emerged corals indicate that they have thrived on palaeo-bays or lagoons when the sea level was higher than at the present level (Katupotha & Sumananarathna, 2020).

Besides Koggala, coral reef patches have also been identified in the vicinity of Akurala, Hikkaduwa, Dadalla, Aranwala, Denuwala and Pallikkudawa beaches.

Koggala Beach Park Koggala Beach Park .
References
1) Katupotha, J. and Sumananarathna, R., 2020. Geotourism and geoheritage potentials: Vistas and unique opportunities of Sri Lanka. WILDLANKA Vol.8, No.2. pp. 050 - 099
 
Location Map
This page was last updated on 6 August 2023
Previous Post Next Post