The rumbling of the Hummanaya blowhole is like a giant ogre’s tummy in hunger. It is a spooky sound enough to scare you without warning but it is indeed delightful to watch.
Though, you should be careful. Speaking to us was a guide, Nihal who warned us. “In 1995, there were 15 people who were sucked into the blowhole as it released a big jet of water!”
Nestled comfortably on Sri Lanka’s southern coast lies the village of Kudawella where the blowhole makes its home. The town lies between Dikwella and Tangalle (off the 183/3 culvert on the A2 Highway from Colombo to Kataragama). You have to walk for about 10 minutes up to the cliff at the shore to watch this natural wonder.
In geology, a blowhole is formed as sea caves grow landwards and upwards into vertical shafts and expose themselves towards the surface, which can result in quite spectacular blasts of water from the top of the blowhole if the geometry of the cave and blowhole and state of the weather are appropriate. The blowhole is located on a rock about 40 ft above sea level and this magnificent site was first discovered after a close scrutiny of photographs taken from the sea.
The waves of the Indian Ocean blow the sea water through a gap in the natural rock formation at a high pressure periodically, creating a fountain sometimes more than 100 feet high, with a humming and rumbling noise. It has been recommended that you can visit the blowhole when the weather is bad. This is because the pressure is higher when the sea is rough.
Therefore the effect is more specially during the off-season between May to September. There is even a special boat ride you can take to view the blowhole from the sea. The Czech government has been gracious to give funds to set up a fence around the blow-hole for the safety of spectators.
Approaching this place, you can find many resident vendors selling local fruits, thirst quenching drinks and the local favourite, fresh fried fish. In addition to this, you will also find souvenir shops with a variety of local handicraft and ornaments made out of sea shells and other marine findings.
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