Delft Island

Why Visit

One of the most distinctive landscapes in Sri Lanka, unlike anywhere else on the island, and still reachable only by boat.

A remote island in the Palk Strait, reached by boat from Jaffna, known for wild ponies descended from Dutch-era stock and walls built from coral.

History

Delft Island — known as Neduntheevu in Tamil — was held in turn by the Portuguese and then the Dutch, who used it as a base for raising horses and cattle in the 17th and 18th centuries; the wild ponies that still roam the island today are descended from that Dutch-era stock, left to run free once colonial administration and organised breeding ended. The distinctive coral-stone walls dividing the island's fields into a patchwork of small enclosures were also built during this colonial period, using coral rubble drawn from the surrounding shallow waters — a building technique suited to an island with little other stone. A ruined lookout structure known as the Queen's Tower, along with the remains of a Dutch fort and an old Portuguese-era church, are scattered across the island, largely unrestored, and a giant, centuries-old baobab tree — again introduced from Africa via early trade routes — still stands near the island's landing point.