Reef, rock and wreck sites along a bank several kilometres long, with pods of spinner dolphins that run into the hundreds off…Reef, rock and wreck sites along a bank several kilometres long, with pods of spinner dolphins that run into the hundreds off the peninsula in season, plus sperm whales and blue whales offshore in the Gulf of Mannar. Kalpitiya was a Portuguese and then Dutch fort town controlling the pearl and cinnamon coast, and the fort is still standing. The Bar Reef was declared a marine sanctuary in 1992 and is the largest protected reef in Sri Lanka. Anchorage: The Kalpitiya lagoon is a sheltered inland sea behind a long peninsula, and the reef lies outside it. Hazards: The reef bleached badly in 1998 and again in 2016, so expect recovery rather than a postcard; current on the outer edge. Meer