The great drop
One long plunge, seen from the road.
Mahesh Malaka Udawatta — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Travel Local — CC BY 2.0 · Nandun Narayana — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dilu753 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sampathbandaraliyanage — CC BY-SA 4.0
Diyaluma Falls drops about 220 metres down a sheer cliff near Koslanda in Badulla District, at the edge of Sri Lanka's hill country. It is usually ranked the island's second-highest waterfall, after Bambarakanda Falls. It is the last fall on the Punagala Oya, which feeds the Kuda Oya and through it the Kirindi Oya. The Sinhala name is usually read as rushing water, or as liquid light. Surveyor and writer R. L. Brohier recorded a folk tale set here: a young chieftain exiled to the highlands, with guards on every pass, lowered a rope of plaited vines for his bride-to-be, but she struck the rock face on the way up and died. The grieving gods sent a stream over the cliff to hide the spot behind a curtain of liquid light, and the falls took that name. Most visitors first see it from the road below, sliding down a dark rock face in one long drop. From the Poonagala road out of Koslanda, an unmarked path through tall grass reaches the top in about half an hour, per visitor guides. A chain of natural rock pools sits just before the edge, with a smaller cascade, Upper Diyaluma, a short way upstream. The fall stands beside the A4, about 5 km by road from Koslanda and 13 km from Wellawaya. Ella is 38 km away via Wellawaya, roughly an hour's drive past Ravana Falls. Allow half a day to walk to the top. Lipton's Seat lies under 6 km north as the crow flies, but about 44 km by road.
One long plunge, seen from the road.
Just above the drop.
A smaller fall upstream.
Koslanda–Wellawaya road (A4), Badulla District
When the water is low and calm many visitors swim there, but there are no barriers or ropes at the edge of the drop. After heavy rain the water rises and the current strengthens, so keep out of the pools near the edge then, and never jump into the rock pools.
It is not required, but the path is unmarked and runs through tall grass, so many visitors hire one of the locals who offer to guide at the car park; recent visitor guides report fees from about LKR 600 to 3,500, so agree the price first. Wild elephants roam the area, so do not walk alone or after dark.