Sri Lanka Surf Trip

19 Aug Sri Lanka Surf Trip

As I hadn’t been through a full winter in Cape Town for over a decade, it didn’t take much persuasion for Jono to convince me to plan a trip in search of some sun, waves and warm water in the middle of the winter months. So early in the year we threw around a few ideas and finally settled on Arugam Bay in Sri Lanka.

As the Bay has a reputation for being crowded during the season, we took a gamble and booked for the end of June, early in their surf season. We got lucky, apparently it had been small in the weeks leading up to our arrival, and it was so when we got there, but the swell jacked in the middle of our stay and we got to enjoy some solid 4 foot plus waves for a few days.

Arugam Bay is a right hand point break on the east coast of Sri Lanka. It reminds me of Jeffrey’s Bay, my favourite wave, except with 29 degree water!

Arugam Bay… Endless, warm, right hand walls

It is quite a trek to get there from Cape Town. After arriving in Colombo, via Dubai, we still faced an 8 hour, 350km drive from Colombo, across the island, to Arugam Bay.

Boards survived the plane ride… drive time… #photobomb

Driving across the island of Sri Lanka

Driving across the island of Sri Lanka

We arrived late in the evening, keen to rinse the travel out of our system and cool down. A brief evening surf before sunset took care of the travel cobwebs, but hardly cooled us down! A few ice cold Lion Lagers however took care of that part! The next morning we settled into what would become routine for the rest of the week. We would wake just before 5am to be in the surf as soon as it was light enough. Back for breakfast after 7am before lazing around eating, drinking coffee and just generally relaxing the rest of the day before an evening surf. In this way we avoided the busiest of times, as well as the windier parts of the day… Island life at its best!

Beach in front of PJ’s… looking towards the point

Enjoying one of the smaller ones at Arugam Bay

Arugam Bay Sunset

To minimize admin, we booked an all inclusive package with True Blue Surf Travel and stayed at PJ’s in Arugam Bay. PJ’s is a small guesthouse run by Pete. He and his assistant laid on first class service, always prepared to go the extra mile. The guesthouse location is about as close as you can get to the point. All surfers arriving by tuk-tuk to surf get dropped off right outside the front wall of the guesthouse. Pete cooks a mean dinner; the beers are cold, rooms comfortable, modern, with A/C, wi-fi and clean. We stayed in the two ground floor rooms, which were recently renovated. As a bonus, they  were more than happy to supply us with ice and glasses every evening so we could enjoy a few Jameson’s that we picked up at Duty Free on the way in.

Chilling on the veranda, downstairs at PJ’s

View from Upstairs at PJ’s, Arugam Bay

Sri Lankan street entertainment

While it may not be the gnarliest of waves, Arugam Bay serves up endless right hand walls, with warm water, mostly friendly locals, reasonably priced fare, and a unique island experience!

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