Five-star Wadduwa, about 30 km south of Colombo, Colombo
The Blue Water
Geoffrey Bawa's beach hotel at Wadduwa, opened in 1998, where a long arcade leads from the entrance through a coconut grove to the Indian Ocean.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- Architect
- Geoffrey Bawa, with Milroy Perera
- Opened
- 1998
- Building
- Three floors among coconut palms
- From the airport
- About 1 h 30 from CMB, our estimate
The hotel
A late Bawa by the sea.
Ajit Wijesekera of Union Apparel commissioned the hotel from Geoffrey Bawa in 1994. Building began in 1996, with Milroy Perera working alongside Bawa, and The Blue Water opened in 1998 on the beach at Wadduwa, about 27 kilometres south of Colombo. Jetwing ran it for its first decade; Union Resorts took over in 2008. The building rises only three floors, and the hotel calls itself five-star.
Bawa went back to the simple rest house plan he had drawn for the Serendib Hotel in 1967 and made it larger, with wide courtyards. A tall entrance porch hides the railway line. From there a straight arcade crosses a garden court, passes the lobby and runs through a coconut grove to the sea, past water, frangipani and terracotta floors. The architectural writer David Robson calls the sequence formal and controlled, in polished, light materials.
- The arcade The long colonnade that carries guests from the porch to the ocean, the spine of Bawa's plan.
- The spa Treatment pavilions modelled on local buildings, set in the gardens.
- The Deck An open-air lounge over the garden and the pool, for sunset.
Rooms & suites
Sea views and a Bawa Room.
Five categories, from the Deluxe Room to the Presidential Suite. The hotel does not publish room sizes.
- Room Deluxe Room The first category of room at the hotel.
- Room Bawa Room Named after the architect who designed the hotel.
- Suites Executive, Club and Presidential Suites Three levels of suite, the Presidential at the top.
Dining
Three restaurants and three bars.
Venues as listed by the hotel. No MICHELIN guide covers Sri Lanka. Shown for information.
- The Seven Seas Restaurant In the hotel
- Admiral's Room Restaurant In the hotel
- The Dragon Boat Restaurant Decorated in oriental style
- The Deck Open-air lounge Over the garden and pool
- The Clipper Bar and The Porthole Bar Bars In the hotel
Good to know
Before you go.
- The railway The coastal line runs along the landward side of the hotel. Bawa's entrance porch screens it from view.
- Management Jetwing ran the hotel until 2008. Union Resorts runs it now.
Getting there
Flying to Colombo.
Bandaranaike International (CMB) is about 60 kilometres north, through Colombo. Allow about an hour and a half by car on the expressways, our estimate. Private jets use the same airport, open around the clock.
- Malé 1 h 20
- Mumbai 2 h 20
- Singapore 3 h 55
- Dubai 4 h 40
- London 11 h 50 long-range jet
Questions
What guests ask first.
- Who designed The Blue Water?
- Geoffrey Bawa, working with Milroy Perera. The hotel opened in 1998.
- How far is The Blue Water from Colombo airport?
- About 60 kilometres, roughly an hour and a half by car by our estimate.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Colombo?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Colombo, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Colombo
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Shangri-La Colombo Five hundred rooms on Centre Road at Galle Face, opened in 2017.
- ITC Ratnadipa Opened in April 2024 with 352 rooms, and classified five-star by the national tourism authority in January 2026.
- Cinnamon Life Six hundred and eighty-seven rooms in the City of Dreams complex, opened in 2024.
- Taj Samudra Three hundred rooms on Galle Face Centre Road, open since the early 1980s.
- The Kingsbury On Janadhipathi Mawatha in Fort, a hotel since 1973.
- Cinnamon Grand Five hundred and one rooms on the Galle Road, a fixture of the city since 1975.
- Hilton Colombo Three hundred and forty-two rooms on Sri Chittampalam A. Gardiner Mawatha, opened in 1987.
- Cinnamon Lakeside Three hundred and forty-six rooms, opened in 1985.
- Sheraton Colombo On the Galle Road, rated five-star by Sri Lanka Tourism.
- NH Collection Colombo Two hundred and nineteen rooms, opened in 2017.
- Nüwa A hotel of 113 rooms and suites at the top of the City of Dreams resort, given its five-star certificate in May 2026.
- Sentido Heritance Negombo On the beach at Negombo with 139 rooms, some 13 km from the airport.
- Jetwing Blue The first Jetwing hotel, which began as a six-room retreat on this beach and now has two pools.
Staying at The Blue Water?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Colombo, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.