Its greatest potential attraction for eco-tourism was the marsh land or mangrove, Kadolana, which was partially dredged and filled to develop a hotel for a German hotel chain. Many locals believe it to have been cursed for being built at the doorstep of the Wella Devalaya.[citation needed]
Over sixty species of endemic birds, including terns, egrets, herons, sandpipers and kingfishers, as well as
rarer species such as the lesser whistling duck, the Asian palm swift, the white-breasted waterhen, the Loten's sunbird and the black bittern have been sighted in the locality by the ornithologist, Clive Byers. These birds are mostly sighted in the remaining marshy area and Rumassala Hillock. Off the coast of Unawatuna, beneath the Indian Ocean lies a number of coral reefs, shipwrecks, and a great variety of fish and turtles. The turtles still wade onto the shore to lay their nests and eggs, and at times, as if to lay first claim to the sandy shore now invaded by the tourists and dotted by restaurateurs, even go right into the beach front restaurants . The Rumassala coral reefs at the east end of the Galle Harbor attract divers, but are now endangered due to possible port development.[citation needed] Eco treks in the shrub jungles of Rumassala are also available
