Ellawala Waterfall Cycling Tour from Ella

Lovely guide but bikes very poorly maintained.

We booked the Ellawala waterfall cycle trip for our family of 4 (kids age 10 and 8). Fun trip, nice guide with good English. We were staying near the start of the trip and it was no problem to arrange to start from our hotel approx 15km out of Ella. Saw farm land, wild fruit, tried cinnamon from the tree (stalk of the leaf). However, I messaged ahead of booking to check they had suitable sized bikes for kids as we are keen cyclists (kids cycle a lot and compete) and have had problems previously in other countries getting bikes to fit. They arrived with 4 adult bikes. Our eldest managed in the smallest but they had to drive a Tuk Tuk back to Ella to get 2 more bikes for our 8 year old to try. The bikes they brought were a toddler bike with stabilisers and another very heavy kids bike but still too big. We had the stabilisers turned around so they weren’t on the ground. We started our tour almost 2 hours late and she cycled the first part on that. Her pedal fell off on the first hill and later the front tyre exploded as it had been over inflated. The general condition of all of the bikes was very poor. Brakes weren’t fully working on any, tyres bald. I don’t think even any simple M-checks for safety had been done never mind general maintenance. The helmets provided all fitted poorly, some with no way to adjust. Our 8 year old swapped to the bigger bike but had to stand to pedal or sit on the cross bar. She couldn’t touch the ground at all without jumping off. She ended up walking down most hills as the brakes didn’t work or the levers too big for her hands. She had to jump in the Tuk Tuk that followed us a few times too. The off road support vehicle promised was a Tuk Tuk. You can’t swim at the waterfall as too dangerous. There are signs up saying not to and a life guard appeared with a rescue float. It’s very beautiful and you can paddle. The guide did make the most of it and he was lovely. This review is absolutely no reflection on him. He very much made the most of all the problems and gave us a good tour. The business owners really need to up their game on the quality of bikes and maintenance/safety. It was one of the most expensive things we did in Sri Lanka. Very western prices and the service provided didn’t reflect the price at all. A shame as we were happy to pay the price thinking the tour would be safe and professional. Definitely an experience.

Response from the operator: J32887U03 Thank you for your detailed feedback. We're glad to hear you enjoyed the tour and that our guide made the experience as enjoyable as possible despite the challenges. However, we sincerely apologize for the issues with the bike sizes, maintenance, and safety. Your concerns are taken very seriously, and we will be addressing them to ensure future guests have a smoother and safer experience. We appreciate your honesty and hope to have the opportunity to provide you with a much-improved experience in the future.

via Tripadvisor