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Date with dolphins, only if you are healthy
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Madhu Raj
The season has begun for a date with dolphins in Kalpitiya, but tourists can join the journey to the mid sea, only if they have a health certificate and strictly follow COVID-19 health guidelines.
Madhu Raj, Kalpitiya Environment Friendly Foundation president, says the season begins this week and will go on till the end of April or the first half of May next year.
He says local and foreign tourists are welcome to visit Kalpitiya for dolphin watching, provided they strictly adhered to the health protocol.
Boat operators have assured the foundation they will thoroughly disinfect the vessels before they allow the tourists on board, Mr. Raj says. Seating arrangements are made, maintaining the required physical distance, while there will be rules with regard to food.
He says boat operators have been advised to maintain a book for passengers to write their names, addresses and phone numbers.
The Wildlife Department’s Kalpitiya sector senior security officer, Manjula Kumara, says they have approved three entry points for dolphin watchers to get into boats. They are Kandukuliya, Kudawa and Ilanthadiya.
Outlining the health and safety measures, the officer says: “Every tourist should carry a letter from a health officer to the effect he or she need not be quarantined. For foreigners, the PCR report issued at the airport will suffice. Body temperature of every visitor will be checked at these points. The boat staff are required to undergo rapid antigen tests every two weeks.”
Some 116 boat operators have registered with the Wildlife Department to take tourists on dolphin-watching trips.
