This is not the official website. Not the official site What that means

Photo Credits

We do not own a camera on the Madu Ganga. Every image here is used under a Creative Commons licence or is in the public domain, and every photographer is named.

  • Ramsar wetland since 2003
  • Written on the south-west coast
  • Prices re-checked monthly

Not the official site Madu River Boats is an independent travel guide. We do not own boats, sell tickets or operate tours. Booking links go to GetYourGuide, an authorised reseller, and we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices, times and rules are checked by hand and can change — always confirm on the operator’s own channels before you travel. Updated August 2026

Mangrove canopy against the sky on the Madu Ganga

Every photograph on this site comes from Wikimedia Commons and is used under a Creative Commons licence or is in the public domain. Nothing here is stock imagery bought from a library, and nothing is generated.

Images have been resized and re-encoded to modern formats for performance. No image has been altered in content — nothing has been added, removed or composited.

Where a licence requires attribution, the photographer is named below and linked to the original file page. Where a licence is share-alike, that obligation passes to anyone reusing the image from here: your reuse is governed by the original licence, not by our terms.

PhotographPhotographerLicence
Madu River, (44305923611) Hugh Llewelyn CC BY-SA 2.0
Mangrove tunnel (7576613314) shankar s. CC BY 2.0
Balapitiya mangroves (7567865130) shankar s. CC BY 2.0
Kothduwa Island in Madu Ganga Knthabrew CC BY-SA 4.0
Kothduwa Temple, Sri Lanka 2015 (Unsplash) Christian Löhner CC0
Fish therapy Lawanga Ranwala CC BY-SA 4.0
Traditional preparation of cinnamon bark in Balapitiya, Sri Lanka, 20260207 0852 9188 Jakub Hałun CC BY 4.0
Cinnamon farmers Salix Oculus CC BY-SA 4.0
Turtle Sanctuary, Kosgoda (9824634943) Antony Stanley CC BY-SA 2.0
Hawksbill-sea-turtle1(js) Jerzy Strzelecki CC BY 3.0
A water monitor (Varanus salvator) has climbed up from the creek Dan Lundberg CC BY-SA 2.0
White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis, Sri Lanka 1 Malitha Daminda CC BY-SA 4.0
Brahminy Kite flying, Sri Lanka 1 NimansaM CC BY-SA 4.0
Mouth of the Maduganga estuary, Sri Lanka Julie Anne Workman CC BY-SA 3.0
Madu Ganga, Sri Lanka briandemel CC BY-SA 4.0
Nightfall on the madu river Duvindu Nayanajith CC BY-SA 4.0
Madu Ganga Kalaiarasy CC BY-SA 3.0
Balapitiya (7567691172) shankar s. CC BY 2.0
Bentota beach in evening Rambukwelladk CC BY-SA 4.0
Galle Fort lighthouse Leuchtturm (35113214702) Flashpacker Travelguide CC BY-SA 2.0
Hikkaduwa beach beauty Dinusha Chathuranga CC BY-SA 4.0
Colombo Skyline Jan 2022 XKillSwitchXxx CC BY-SA 4.0
Fishermen practicing traditional stilt fishing near Galle, southern Sri Lanka, 20260207 1419 9452 Jakub Hałun CC BY 4.0
WaterSkyMangrove Y. Mataraarachchi CC BY-SA 4.0
Madu River, (44258168212) Hugh Llewelyn CC BY-SA 2.0
Madu River, (44305921171) Hugh Llewelyn CC BY-SA 2.0
Madu River (44305920071) Hugh Llewelyn CC BY-SA 2.0
Balapitiya beach Deshan98 CC BY-SA 4.0
Standup Paddle - Madu Ganga Estuary - Srilanka - Kumaran SUPindia CC BY-SA 4.0

Reusing these photographs

If you want to use one of these images, do not take it from this site. Follow the link to the file page on Wikimedia Commons, read the licence that applies to that specific file, and follow it. The requirements differ — CC0 asks nothing, CC BY requires attribution, CC BY-SA requires attribution and share-alike.

If you are one of the photographers

If you would like your attribution written differently, or you would prefer we stop using an image, write to contact@maduriver.boats and we will change it or remove it. We would rather hear from you than not.

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