Tea tasting  in the he Handunugoda Tea Estate and Tea Museum.

© martin SC photo/Shutterstock

Handunugoda Tea Estate

Top choice in The South


This exquisite tea plantation in the hills above Koggala offers (free) highly informative tours of the estate. You'll sample and learn how they produce over 25 varieties of tea here, including the fabled Virgin White tea, a delicate brew made from the tiniest and newest leaves. Where the average large plantation worker will pick 23kg of black tea in a day, the workers here manage but 150 grams of virgin white leaves. It's 6km inland from the coastal highway; signposted from the 131km post.

Handunugoda is owned by Herman Gunaratne, one of the legends of the island's tea industry. Be sure to pick up a copy of Gunaratne's autobiography, The Suicide Club: A Virgin Tea Planter's Journey, which is a remarkably entertaining and insightful read about his life, tea and Sri Lanka, from the waning days of the British Raj to today.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The South attractions

1. Kataluwa Purwarama Temple

2.5 MILES

Rarely crowded, this feels like the temple time forgot. Dating from the 13th century, it has some recently restored murals, including some large ones…

2. Koggala Lake

2.7 MILES

Next to the road, Koggala Lake is alive with birdlife and dotted with islands, one of which features a Buddhist temple that attracts many visitors on poya…

3. Martin Wickramasinghe Folk Art Museum

3.04 MILES

This interesting museum includes the house where respected Sinhalese author Martin Wickramasinghe (1890–1976) was born (the traditional southern structure…

4. Bandrawatta Beach

5.01 MILES

This lovely natural cove beach is well away from the main highway, has sheltered swimming and also a surf break further offshore. Look out for stilt…

5. Taprobane

5.25 MILES

Just offshore – you can walk out to it at low tide – is this tiny island. It looks like an ideal artist’s or writer’s retreat, which indeed it once was:…

6. Kottawa Conservation Forest

6.26 MILES

This 14-hectare wet evergreen forest about 19km northeast of Galle has walking tracks, but traffic noise (and rubbish) are an issue and you'll probably…

7. Yatagala Raja Maha Viharaya

7.12 MILES

Just 4km inland from Unawatuna, the Yatagala Raja Maha Viharaya is a quiet rock temple with a 9m reclining Buddha. The mural-covered walls are painted in…

8. Mirissa Beach

8.09 MILES

A vision of tropical bliss, Mirissa Beach boasts powdery pale sand, while its azure water is framed by an arc of coconut palms. The west side is the…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "sri-lanka/thalpe-koggala/attractions/handunugoda-tea-estate/a/poi-sig/1494506/1319097",
      "destination": "The-South",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "Sri-Lanka",
      "region": "The-South",
      "position": "superzone"
    }