Hambantota Cruise Port

Hambantota, Sri Lanka

If you are visiting Sri Lanka on a cruise, there are two ports that you will likely visit with the countries major cruise port been in its capital city of Colombo and its second offering been the port of Hambantota.

Located on the southern coast of the island, and without giving too much away for this review, the port has nothing at it for tourists and nothing within easy walk but what it does give you is easy access to the stunning scenery and wildlife so prevalent on the island and it is to one of the numerous national parks that most visiting there on a cruise will head out to on a shore excursion.

If you have booked a cruise calling into the port of Hambantota and want to find out what awaits you or if you are trying to decide whether an itinerary with a stop in the city is right for you or not, this is the guide for you as I take you through every aspect of visiting Hambantota on a cruise ship and break it down into what the port does well with, what it struggles and with and every other aspect you need to know based on my own experiences of visiting there in 2024.

Cruises To Hambantota

Our Visit

I was fortunate enough to visit the port in 2024 onboard the Celebrity Millennium cruise ship on an itinerary sailing from Singapore to India via Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

The area around the port is home to quite a few luxury resorts and hotels and there is a central area of Hambantota complete with a beach but none of those are within walking distance of the port, so despite our tour for the day not setting off until noon and our ship arriving at 7am, me and my wife deciding to have a lay in and have a late breakfast.

Those who are long term reason of this website or viewers of the CruiseHols YouTube channel will know how much I hate to stay onboard a cruise ship whilst in port, so that perhaps tells you a lot about my thoughts of Hambantota as a cruise port of call.

Thankfully, we had a shore excursion booked and it turned out to be one of our best ever shorex experiences as we visiting the Yala National Park and went out on a jeep safari.

Both me and my wife love animals so the chance to go out on a safari was something we just couldn’t give up and whilst it was one of the more expensive excursions we have ever done, it was well worth it.

It was quite a drive between the port and Yala, but that was interesting in its own right as it gave us the chance to see how locals lived their lives, and we even saw plenty of wildlife along the way including some giant crocodiles and many birds of prey.

Hambantota Cruise Guide

In this guide I will take you through all of the important aspects of a cruise port of call and tell you about my experience of them when visiting Hambantota.

Type of Cruises Available

Hambantota offers little to no facilities, so you only have a couple of options when it comes to visiting the port, either cruising on a round-trip itinerary from India (or of course on a World Cruise) but for the vast majority, it will be on a repositioning cruise that most will call into the port on.

There are few different offerings when it comes to those, including an Indian Ocean crossing such as I did, repositioning between the Middle East and Asia and also a crossing between South Africa and Asia.

These routes are well serviced by plenty of different lines giving you plenty of opportunities to sail with your favourite line or onboard your favourite type of ship.

Hambantota Cruise Port Location

The port is located on the south coast of Sri Lanka, around a 10-minute drive to the centre of Hambantota and around a 20-minute drive from the coastal part of the city and its beaches.

For those heading out on excursion, it is around 1 hour -1 hour 30 minutes to the Yala National Park whilst the Bundala National Park is around 30 minutes away if you want to see a great variety of birds.

Hambantota Cruise Facilities

Some cruise ports offer airport style facilities including large terminals and some just offer the basics of what you need but then there are some ports where there is just nothing there- with Hambantota been one of them.

I have been unlucky, if that the right word, enough to visit two such ports after my day in Le Verdon, but whilst there weren’t any shore excursions that grabbed my attention in France, at least its Sri Lankan cousin had something to offer to get me off of the ship.

So, in terms of facilites there is a currency exchange truck that pulls up to the ship and some tuk-tuk drivers waiting at the port gate for those wanting to stay local.

Hambantota Attractions

This is a tough one as even visiting Hambantota, the place you are docking at, is actually a 10-20 minute journey away, so in many ways, even that is excursion of sorts, especially as when we visited there was no shuttle offered- only to the port gate.

Hambantota Shorex

The main shore excursions offered at the port are to head out to a number of nearby national parks with Yala National Park and Udawalawa National Park been amongst the most popular for those wanting to head out on safari to see animals such as Elephants, Leopards, Bears, Crocodiles and lots more.

A similar excursion s to head to the Bundala National Park which offers more wildlife spotting but this time with a focus on birds.

There is a nearby elephant rescue centre where you can get up close to these beautiful animals whilst another option for those wanting to explore the natural beauty of southern Sri Lanka is to head to the Sinharaja Rainforest, where shore excursions include a guided walk.

Other options include guided coach tours of the city and surrounding areas or you can hire a TukTuk to take you from the port gate and to a nearby beach, hotel resort or just a drive around the city.

Best Time To Visit Hambantota

With so few ships heading there, the best time to visit is basically when there is a line and ship offering an itinerary you want to do.

The bulk of lines will offer sailings to the port in the northern hemisphere winter months, with the most options often been between November and February.

Transport

The only transport on offer is the shuttle to the port gate and the Tuk-Tuk’s that wait for you there.

Hambantota Cruises From UK

If you want to visit the port directly from the UK, it is possible, but it will either need to be on a World Cruise or on a partial World Cruise sailing between the UK and Australia.

Hambantota Cruises From Southampton

Whilst few and far between, the widest range of opportunities to be able to sail to Hambantota from the UK is to set sail from the country’s leading cruise port of Southampton.