Review Author: Kandis R

Review Date: 21 Mar 2019

Review Body: We enjoyed the excellent service this dive crew does. Felician did a great job emailing me before the trip and when we got there we felt like we already knew them. He is very educated in diving activities, knows all the reefs, can answer any question about any gear or mix. One of my own gear hoses had an issue and he immediately fixed my regulator by putting one of his pressure gauges on for me. The captain Raj was so helpful on the boat with putting on our gear and setting up tanks. They use a GPS to always know where to go. Felician took us to a unique dive site where a ship is sunk that has 8 vehicles attached to it. They are bullet proof cars from ex presidents of Sri Lanka. SO many fish on that wreck. Thisara is one of the divemasters. We were diving with him, and we saw a fish caught on a hook that was attached to the reef, he immediately got the hook out of the fish and let it swim away. Dinuka the other divemaster helped us with carrying our gear back to the hotel, both are excellent divemasters and they showed us hundreds of nudibranchs , so many eels, and puffer fish, cuttlefish everywhere. And when you get back from diving, their cook makes some really good coffee and you can order lunch the way you like it. I have dove all over the world. I think this shop was the friendliest crew I have ever encountered. They set up our gear, they took it apart, they carry it to the boat and out of the boat, they washed it, hung it up and stored our gear over night. On the last night we were there, we went back to have a visit with the crew and ordered some dinner. Of all the places I have traveled, I think the people of Sri Lanka are the most friendly, kindest and considerate and appreciative people I have ever met. We were very sad to leave and I hope to go back someday. Thank you Felician, and to your wife, and the dive crew, Thisara, Raj, and Dinuka and to the friendly cook, you guys all made our dive vacation GREAT!!!! Kandis from Colorado, America

Review rating: 5

Review Author: absoluteseemant, India

Review Date: 05 Jan 2014

Review Body: Hi , we travelled to stay & dive at Trincomalee in August 2013 with Feli & SLDT. We went again to another terrific holiday over New Year's 2013-14 to stay & dive with them at Negombo. We were 10 of us in the Group & stayed at the charming & superb "The Beach Lodge" right next doors under the care of Royston, Mr. Thesee & the great Chef, Miguere !! But that's another great review.. Feli, Renu, Sashaa, Raj, Shanta, Dilshan & everyone else at team SLDT were spot on & great to dive with as always. Highly recommended outfit to dive with and a huge amount of experience back them up. Friendly to the core too.. we were happily invited for Feli's Birthday bash the day we landed & enjoyed the trip with a lovely evening at the dive shop, eating string hoppers & chicken curry.. we landed at the fag ended of the retreating North east monsoon over Sri Lanka & saw a few windy days at Sea.. visibility was low-ish in the nearby sites but spectacular in the Last Frontier sites further away. The fish life was amazing - fully loaded. As was the shallow, 10 mtr deep wreck close by. Saw massive cuttle fish mating action at deeper sites, huge shoals of snappers throughout, eels, baraccuda shoals etc etc. The group loved SLDT and their friendly yet efficient approach towards diving & knowing the sites out of the so many there. Negombo is charming with lovely paces like Lord's, Sameeha Hotel (for authentic SL biryani's & kebabs) the entire stretch is full of amazing shops & eateries where sea food lovers will delight & there's lovely cuisine for the veggies too. we enjoyed a quaint get tigether on our "private Beach Lodge beach" and were treated to a lovely BBQ by the superb Team there. Boats at SLDT are great & Feli took out the RIB for the long haul ride to The Last Frontier. All in all , a great experience. Thanks all at team SLDT for yet another Absolute Adventure. Pictures soon over our page.. www.facebook.com/absolutescubaindia

Review rating: 5

Review Author: 361prakashg, Sri Lanka

Review Date: 26 Jan 2015

Review Body: My wife and I are recently certified Open Water divers with limited experience. We decided to dive with Felician's team after receiving recommendations from several experienced divers in Sri Lanka, who spoke highly of his knowledge and experience. Most of them were of the view that this was "the best" dive center in the country. I must say that our experience diving with them far exceeded the already high expectations we had of them before going there. Everything was handled in a very professional manner. Briefings were clear and in great detail. Dive was conducted exactly as briefed. Although we used our own equipment, we found that their equipment were well maintained and regularly used. Felician is highly respected in the local dive community as a Tec Dive instructor who is hired even to train Sri Lankan Navy divers, but he was very patient and had all the time in the world to help us deal with minor buoyancy control problems we had due to limited experience. Diving with Felician feels like diving your dad. The dive site we visited was the reef known as "The Last Frontier" in Negombo. It is over 10km off the coast and a 45 minute boat ride away. Probably due to the distance from the coast, underwater visibility was excellent and we saw an amazing variety of marine life. Feli took the trouble to give us a fairly long debrief to show us the catalog and help us identify the marine life we observed underwater. By the way, a solitary whale paid a surprise visit to the area during our break between the two dives, and we had great fun manouvering with it in our boat. All in all, it was a great day of diving. We cannot wait to return. Many thanks to Feli, Renu and Sashan, and the other boys in their team.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: James w, Texas

Review Date: 31 Jan 2016

Review Body: I have been diving during this holiday in The south coast of sri lanka Unawatuna and in Hikkaduwa, diving was just a business good for some beginners. All dive boats were full. more divers than fish. But since the trip adviser reviews about Negombo was so great I was tempted to try out a dive. I met Renu the only female padi instructor of sri lanka functioned as the manager logistics who gave me prompt information. signed me up arranged gear requirements, paper work done. Following morning I returned at 0830 hrs my gear was ready, boat guys loaded the stuff to the boats.. In many other places you have to carry your own gear. Pre departure briefing was done by Sashaa a very young padi staff instructor. Emeregency oxygen carried on board with demand valve as well as continuous flow system. In the south we just departed with out a safety demo !! The detailed briefing was really done in professional manner. Boat boys were really helpful while kitting up on the board. Pre dive safety check is a must unlike other places. Used acronyms like in our padi course !! Dives were well planned and exactly as they briefed us the dives were conducted. The last frontier Moray ell rock the best dive site. Excellent visibility 30 m plus. Many Honey comb morays in pairs and giant morays many in each hole. cleaner shrimps cleaning the teeth of giant morays. Plenty of christmas tree worms. We did the same again though they have more than 25 dive sites. It was really worth. The boat dive was a bit bumpy but it really worth the long boat ride, Next day in calm seas we dived the car wreck which is off colombo.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Russwareing, UK

Review Date: 02 Jan 2018

Review Body: I had the pleasure of diving with Sri Lanka Diving Tours over the Christmas break….the centre was in the middle of a re-furb, but that didn’t stop the Owner/Operator Feli from providing an excellence service during my few days diving. Communications with Feli prior to diving were prompt and all information requested was provided, similarly the centre arranged my travel to and from the centre on diving days via a local Tuk Tuk driver (who was always prompt when collecting in the morning). The boats were hard boats catering for about 6 divers comfortably with 3 available for use depending on the numbers diving. The boats were crewed by very capable skippers and crew who took time to make the journey as comfortable as was possible…all crew helping to kit up and helping divers back into the boat (I would caution anyone prone to seasickness to take tablets prior to going out as we had a few choppy days and a couple of cases of seasickness)….most dives required a 45 min journey to the site. The dive sites were appropriate for the area (as in there are no big coral reefs, it’s largely flat coral covering an area of the sea bed with quite a lots of life), we saw a lot of honeycomb eels (some of the size of the giant moray’s found in the red sea), massive cuttlefish (mating), plenty of large octopus and the usual reef fish….the guides taking time to point out interesting life. If you are in the area and looking for a great experience, then check out Feli and Sri Lanka Diving Tours and you won’t be disappointed. Russ

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Joy L, South Korea

Review Date: 08 Jan 2016

Review Body: I arranged my diving trip with Feli (owner), who gave very detailed safety instructions before going on the boat. The waters did not go our way that day and was super choppy that we took double the time to get to the dive site. We went on one dive for 58 minutes at around 15 meters and I was able to practice using the new strobe light I had bought, and took an excellent photo of a nudibranch. It was too bad that by the time we got up, the waves were so strong and we all got sea sick (all three of us)----and the boat captain was nice and turned back to the dive shop. At the dive shop, we received a partial refund from Feli's wife for not completing our second dive, which was so unexpected and kind of the company to do. Thank you, Sri Lanka Diving Tours!

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Ravjit

Review Date: 14 Jan 2015

Review Body: Me and my wife were in Negombo for our first PADI open water dive. After a brief but informative theory class Feli, our instructor felt confident to let us venture into the open waters under his watchful eyes. Despite not so great visibility at 40 feet, it was a wonderful experience. Feli was calm, confident, knowledgeable and most importantly very encouraging. He made our experience a memory to cherish. Probably some pre diving instructions like a light breakfast, good hydration etc should be given as a hand out at the time of booking which I discussed with Feli and her supportive wife Renu and son Sasha--all expert divers. Already looking forward to our next diving holiday with Feli and team.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: N_N07, Sri Lanka

Review Date: 26 Apr 2019

Review Body: So I lost my wallet with all my belongings while travelling via public transport. Somehow, the lady who found my wallet managed to contact Sri Lanka Diving Tours as it also had my PADI license in it and Feli, Saasha (my dive master) along with the team and they were nice enough to trace me back. Thanks to the human side that your team had, I now have my wallet with the belongings. You guys were next level with the Open Water Dive Course as well as some of the dives that I followed it up with. But beyond that, its amazing to know that you guys have that beautiful human touch to you. Thank you so much Guys! Keep rocking..

Review rating: 5

Review Author: AccidentalTouristTG, Thailand

Review Date: 23 Dec 2014

Review Body: Had a great day's diving with this family-run company. The weather and conditions were not ideal, but from the start our day was very well handled in a calm, very professional and attentive manner. In spite of unseasonal rain and the resulting relatively poor vis, we saw an amazing abundance of marine life, including octopus and stingray. I was very happy to pass the 200 dive mark on such a good day. Plus, they very kindly organized a tuk-tuk trip for us the next day at a great price, just to be helpful. Highly recommended.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: kwilsonwww, Colorado

Review Date: 07 Mar 2019

Review Body: I have completed two courses (Advanced Open Water and Enriched Air) and six dives with Felician at the Sri lanka diving tours Negombo location and greatly enjoyed the experience. Felician's remarkably deep experience combine with his relaxed demeanor to be an excellent instructor, and the theory learned in the manuals and videos was underscored well during our practice dives. The visibility is lower than Cancun, but the abundant marine life and chance to dive a very interesting wreck made for excellent dives.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: SteveS580, UK

Review Date: 11 Jan 2016

Review Body: Although i'd read some reasonable reviews on Trip Advisor local tour guides did their best to put me off saying the vis was poor and not much to see and diving much better in the south. As it turned out the diving was really good despite the general opinion that the bottom was badly damaged by the Tsunami and is only just recovering. The currents were strong and the vis near the surface poor though at depth vis improved greatly and the range of fish and plants etc was great. Boat was very small, more of a speedboat than anything i've been on and only really room for 4 which probably accounted for it being relatively expensive. Ride out to the dive area was fun if you don't mind a harsh lumpy ride. Did 2 dives with about an hours break in the middle. Dive master very professional and good value. Sadly our new GoPro Hero didn't work so no photos. Went by Tuck Tuck from Marawila which is about 25km. Driver stayed with us all day including running my wife around various places as she didn't dive and we all went to eat and shop before going back to hotel. All of which for an excellent price. Overall a fun day out which i'd highly recommend!

Review rating: 4

Review Author: Noddy24011982, UK

Review Date: 07 Jan 2017

Review Body: We dived with the team at negombo I had regular email contact with Renuka I found her very helpful and informative. Due to an oversight on my behalf I needed to change the booking last minute and this was accommodated without and issues. Thank you. The dive shop was in the process of refurbishment and as you can imagine it was a work in progress but still easily accessible for the office, toilets ect. Renuka was kind enough to show me the development that was taking place including the new beach client accommodation being built. I will most definitely be coming back to stay there. The equipment was fine some of the wet suits and fins had clearly been well used but still did the trick. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable. We were collected from our hotel and drive to the dive shop. The boat ride to and from the site was rough and they dive shop recommended taking a nausea tablet for those who were more sensitive. The dive itself was good saw plenary of fish, corals ect it was my nieces first ever dive and the location was ideal. Overall a good dive shop, staff and equipment. Would use again.

Review rating: 4

Review Author: Andrew M, UK

Review Date: 06 Jan 2014

Review Body: We booked for my daughter and I to dive and my parents, wife and son to go snorkelling recently. It had been pretty choppy for a couple of days before hand and the snorkelling guide was quite apologetic about the visibility so took them on a tour of Negombo water ways and canal before having a 40 minute snorkel. This turned out to be significantly better than he had implied it would be, although the visibility wasn't fantastic it was not too bad. The dive team were really supportive and helpful as it had been a couple of years since we had dived. The first dive was on a decent wreck with good fish life. The second was on a reef. The visibility in both cases was reasonable and the fish life good. The coral architecture was pretty limited on the reef. I didn't have great expectations based on some previous comments and I think the diving was slightly better than I had anticipated. Fili and his team were not only really helpful with the diving but in lots of other ways as well. They were relaxed and friendly at all times and very professional throughout.

Review rating: 4

Review Author: Emma9876543

Review Date: 07 Jan 2019

Review Body: Our group of seven experienced divers spent ten days diving with Feli and his team in Negombo and Batticaloa. Feli was very accommodating when we were planning the trip and his team of dive guides and skippers were competent and fun to work with. His shops in Negombo and Batticaloa are the only technical dive centres on the island and can support the whole range of diving needs, up to teams of rebreather divers. The reef and wreck dives off Negombo were also excellent, with amazing diversity and abundance of marine life including octopus and cuttlefish. A new shipwreck, the ‘We Ling’ or car wreck includes 10 armoured cars belonging to former Presidents! It was easier to discuss trip details and gear requirements in person than via email, so don’t expect to have everything finalised before arrival.

Review rating: 4

Review Author: E7291MJpatricks, South Africa

Review Date: 17 Feb 2017

Review Body: Diving with Sri Lanka diving Tours was pleasant experience. The staff are friendly and helpful. E-mail communication was good and questions answered promptly. The dive center is under construction and should be completed next session. Hence the loss of one star. The accommodation upstairs looks beautiful with view of the ocean. Central location for restaurants. I would recommend securing one of the sea-view rooms if you plan diving with this dive center. The diving was good. The boat ride can be somewhat rough for the 8-16 Km out. The marine life is good but sadly the coral has disappeared and was disappointing. We had our own equipment so can't comment on rentals. Overall enjoyable dive weekend with Sri Lanka Diving Tours

Review rating: 4

Review Author: Ritwik J

Review Date: 13 Feb 2018

Review Body: Pros: 1) Excellent Dive Crew led by Feli and Sashaa - very friendly and accommodating 2) Very knowledgeable about local dive sites as well as dive techniques Cons: 1) The Dive Center is under renovation / construction thus repair work in progress and all facilities need to be done up - e.g. Toilets / Showers 2) Dive boats need to be more comfortable Overall : Will always dive with them considering their kindness and expertise.

Review rating: 4

Review Author: The_Miri_Epicure, Malaysia

Review Date: 20 Feb 2014

Review Body: I did one days diving with Feli. I watched him with some newly qualified divers & conduct some scuba reviews. A nice friendly guy who comes across as a caring Instructor. He runs a safe, well organised outfit. The diving was OK. The reefs we visited had no living hard corals, but with a surprisingly large amount & variety of fish I am not reviewing him on that. Diving is what it is. Sometimes good, sometimes not. He did warn me he was conducting training and I may not want to come along. Some of his rental kit needs attention ( perished Reg hose, leaky tank valves, and reg mouthpiece tied instead of cable tied on). I will be diving with Feli next year when i plan to visit HMS Hermes and other deep wrecks on the East coast.

Review rating: 3

Itinerary Day 1

Itinerary Summary: Today you will be learning the basics of diving.

Itinerary Description: 9 AM: Start with lessons in the pool. Learn to handle equipment Practice basic behavior and safe diving practices in pool to build up diving foundation Learn how to react to common problems and how to be a safe and relaxed diver.

Itinerary Day 2

Itinerary Summary: Diving adventure with pickup and two dives

Itinerary Description: 8:30 am: Pick up from your accommodation to the harbour. 9:00 am: Boat transfer to the dive sites. 8:30 am Pick up from your accommodation to the harbour. Do two dives with a break and snacking time in between. 1:00 pm: You will return to your hotel.

Itinerary Day 3

Itinerary Summary: Today you will do 2 more dives in order to be more comfortable in the open waters.

Itinerary Description: 8:30 am: Pick up from your accommodation to the harbour. 9:00 am: Boat transfer to the dive sites. Do two dives with a break and snacking time in between. 1:00 pm: You will return to your hotel.