Dehiwala

Overview

• Coastal suburb directly on Galle Road
• Own railway station on the coastal line
• Home to Sri Lanka's National Zoological Gardens (est. 1936)
• Close to Mount Lavinia Beach
• Borders Mount Lavinia
• Established residential area with growing apartment development

Dehiwala sits on Colombo's coastal edge along Galle Road, just south of the city and bordering Mount Lavinia. It falls under the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council and is one of the older, more established suburbs in the Colombo area — a town of around 15,000 residents, with its own railway station on the coastal line and a mix of long-standing residential streets and newer apartment developments closer to the beach.…

Dehiwala sits on Colombo's coastal edge along Galle Road, just south of the city and bordering Mount Lavinia. It falls under the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council and is one of the older, more established suburbs in the Colombo area — a town of around 15,000 residents, with its own railway station on the coastal line and a mix of long-standing residential streets and newer apartment developments closer to the beach. It's also home to Sri Lanka's National Zoological Gardens, founded in 1936 and one of the region's best-known attractions — home to thousands of animals across hundreds of species, with a walk-through aviary, a reptile house, a butterfly garden, and daily animal presentations. Nearby Mount Lavinia Hotel has an even longer history: built in 1806 as the British governor's residence, it's been operating as a 275-room hotel since 1947, making it one of the oldest in the country. Being right on Galle Road gives Dehiwala easy access up into central Colombo and south toward Mount Lavinia, with Nugegoda, Boralesgamuwa, and Nawala all within a short drive as well.