Help and questions

Yes. It is a public park and free to enter. You only pay for food, drinks, kites or parking.

No. Galle Face Green is in Colombo. Galle is a different city about 120 km to the south, famous for its old fort.

About an hour before sunset (sunset is between 5:49 PM and 6:31 PM, depending on the month). Food starts from about 4 PM. January to March is the driest time, and from December the sea is usually calm.

Between about 5:49 PM (in November) and 6:31 PM (in July). Our guide has a table for every month.

Please don’t. The waves and currents are strong, there are no lifeguards that we know of, and people have drowned here.

Yes, there are public toilets on the green. One Galle Face mall, across the road from the north half of the green, also has toilets for shoppers.

The park managers say trained security staff patrol the green. It is busy until about 10 PM and quieter after that. Keep children and bags close, and use PickMe or Uber to get back.

It is about 35 km, 45 to 75 minutes by car. PickMe, Uber, an airport taxi or bus 187 to Colombo Fort are the main ways.

The official meter rate is 110 rupees for the first km and 90 rupees for each km after that. Use a meter, an app, or agree the price first.

Yes, for most visitors. Use the meter or an app, or agree the price before you get in, and keep your bag inside. At night, an app ride is safer.

Yes. Every foreign visitor needs an ETA (electronic travel authorisation), a kind of online visa, before they arrive. Apply only on the official website, eta.gov.lk. Since 25 May 2026 it is free for 30 days for people from 40 countries, including the UK, the USA, Australia and India.

Galle is the easiest: a fast road, an old fort by the sea and a beach nearby. Kandy is best for temples and culture. Sigiriya is the most famous sight, but it makes a very long day.

Yala for leopards, Udawalawe for elephants on any day of the year, and Minneriya for big herds of elephants from about July to October.

A small, independent team in Colombo. We write simple guides, check the facts and show the date we checked them.

No. Galle Face Green is run by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, and we are not part of it. We are an independent guide.

We can’t help with that, because we don’t run the green. It is run by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, and a company it owns, SLPMCS, looks after it day to day. For events or filming, contact SLPMCS at info@slpmcs.lk. Drones also need approval from the Civil Aviation Authority. For lost property or a crime, contact the Fort Police station (+94 11 243 2635) or the Tourist Police (+94 11 242 1052). In an emergency, call 119.

No. We are an independent guide, not part of any place we write about. Each place has its own website, and we link to it on our page about that place.

No. GalleFace.org only gives information. We don’t sell tours, rides or tickets, and we don’t take bookings.

Please email us at hello@galleface.org. Tell us the page and what is wrong, with a link to your source if you have one. We check it and fix it.