Hustler’s Paintball is a bit out there but it offers a great paintball experience with expert guidance, good gear and a built in river bath afterwards.
Recently I went through a post that was published in the AHAMU section, regarding the best paintball arena in Sri Lanka. This has been a question for me as well as I like paintball and didn’t know any place that gives perfect experience. The paintball centers in Excel World & Guruge Nature Park (Ja-Ela) did not fascinate me at all. After a serious amount of Googling and research, finally I found the answer for me. It is the Hustler’s Paintball Center in Hanwella.
The Place
Hustler’s Paintball Center is run by the same people who do the Excel World Paintball Center. Shane is the person who handles entire operations you’ll need to contact him well before you plan on going there.
The Paintball Center is located near the Kelani River where you can actually have a good river bath as well. They have several fields (actually 3 or 4) that they use for the game depend on number of participants. They have open fields for an open fire game & also some fields with wildings and rocks.
Shane, well he claimed to be an ex-soldier in US army which seemed obvious to us because of his anatomy and the way he speaks. He, as a custom, gives all the instructions and training regarding the game and its rules before the game. It’s his game and his rules, you better listen to him or you might have to get out. Seriously!
The Game
To get the best out of the experience you need minimum of 20 people, divided into two groups of 10. Less people means less satisfaction because there’s less targets to hit. Shane provides all the necessary armor and gear. You get a mask, a power gun, 100 paintballs and the protective outfit.
There’s different styles of battle you can play. We picked both “Last Man Standing” and “Capture the Flag”. Last Man Standing continues until one team is completely annihilated. Capture The Flag ends when one side captures the flag from the other side’s base.
One hit gets you out of the game, so you’ll have to wait till others finish the game until you can respawn. Getting hit gives you a bit of pain and some bruises as well, but believe me, it’s worth it.
Shane will also provide jet skis and ATV rides on demand, which doubles the fun.
Price
It’s about Rs. 1,500 per head (without lunch) including the gear mentioned above. You get 100 balls you can play as much as you want till you run out of balls (he he). If you want to keep going it’s Rs. 500 for another 100 rounds. An ATV ride is Rs. 1,000 per head. It’s worth it.
