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Selina

Stormrider Guide to surfing Southeast Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, INDIAN OCEAN


Southeast Sri Lanka surf at Arugam Bay, Emi Mazzoni

Summary

+ Consistently clean and rideable - Consistently small and mellow
+ Laid-back friendly vibe - Crowded Arugam Bay
+ Amazing sightseeing and wildlife - Slow transport
+ Cheap - Intense heat and insects

Southeast Sri Lanka surf centres on Arugam bay and a series of intermediate friendly, long sheltered sand-bottom pointbreaks.

First surfed in 1964, Arugam Bay is no surf secret. Despite the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami disaster, the waves are still breaking better than ever, with consistently small, perfect righthand peelers that make Arugam Bay famous. The civil war kept the village in its most basic form, but these days, there are new roads, bridges and more accommodation options for the growing stream of foreign surfers searching for breaks along this southeastern coast.

When to Go

The main swell producer is the SW monsoon pushing constant 4-10ft SW windswell from May-August. Long-distance S groundswells arrive between March and November. Swell direction matters and S-SE is obviously better than S-SW. Bengal Bay does produce some rare NE swells in the 2-4ft range, but it’s mostly onshore. During the SW monsoon, light offshores blow up to 11am, before the low to moderate S-SE sea breeze starts messing up the outside sections. Tidal range is only 2ft max.

Surf Spots

Wave quality varies depending on sand build-up from point to point, which is heavily affected by river flows. Sangakamanda rivermouth is hardly ever surfed since access is difficult and wave quality not really worth it. Komari is a long walk from the end of the road, hard to find and gets blown out in the afternoon sea breezes. The best northern spot is Pottuvil Point, which can have 800m long rides from the tip to the beach, with a barrel in the middle in front of the huge granite rocks. Pottuvil Beach has a scalloped cove with point-style rights pushing wide and deep, making it a perfect beginners zone only 20mins tuk-tuk ride from Arugam Bay. The Main Beach is usually a close-out, but near the bridge, there can be a wedgy A-frame over the offshore rocks. The reform in front of Mambo’s guesthouse can be a beginner’s heaven, because it is always offshore, grooming tiny perfect walls, close to shore, making it simple to walk back up the beach. The southern point of Arugam Bay is a top-class wave breaking over an old coral reef, which can be dangerously shallow and sectiony at low tide. It’s very consistent and often crowded with occasional barrels in front of the corner, but the afternoon SE sea breeze messes it up. South of the landmark Crocodile Rock is a sandy point with mushy rights, requiring a 20 min walk to get to. Peanut Farm is the best quality option within easy travel of Arugam, where sucky rights break close to the rocks, while the beachbreak is perfect for beginners. Panama Rights only works when the rivermouth is closed, offering rocky rights and a tiny reform by the boats. Okanda, is about 1h by tuk-tuk from A-Bay and picks up as much swell onto a sucky outside sandbar below a whale-shaped rock. The super-fun walls inside the cove are always offshore. Yala National Park offers a huge unexplored surf area that’s consistent until the midday sea breeze sets in, but access should only be attempted by boat from Kumana. Ask the Rangers about surfing Yala Rights, but expect to pay entry fee and jeep hire. On the east side of Yala National Park, the most popular and expensive Block 1 entrance leads to Palatupana village, where there is a guest-house and a decent little right point off a rocky shore. Kirinda jetties hold some easy, small, but clean peeling waves.

Statistics
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
dominant swell N -E SE -SW SE -SW SE -SW SE -SW N -E
swell size (ft) 1-2 2 4 4 3 1-2
consistency (%) 30 40 80 80 60 20
dominant wind N -E N -E SW -W SW -W SW -W N -E
average force F3-F4 F3 F4 F4 F4 F3
consistency (%) 85 40 88 89 79 52
water temp (C) 27 28 28 27 27 27
wetsuit boardshorts boardshorts boardshorts boardshorts boardshorts boardshorts

Travel Information

Weather
Arugam Bay area is ideally located to avoid the ravages of the two annual monsoons that hit the island from opposite directions - the SW (May-September) and NE (Nov-Feb). This southeastern corner is the driest part of the country and it’s stifling hot in the summer before the SSE sea breeze kicks in. The desert-like weather cools nights off, making sleep without aircon possible after 11pm. Average annual precipitation hits 1,900mm (75in), with thunderstorms and rainy days are rare apart from occasional NE storms, mostly during the off-season time of the year. Our Trincomalee weather stats from 200km north are wetter than A-Bay area. Weather records show an average of 330 sunshine days/year! Boardshorts year-round!

Lodging and Food
Cheap beach guest-houses like Hillton cost $10-20/day for room with fan. Medium priced Hideaway is $30/day, on the wrong side but great food. A/C places include Siam Hotel ($20-40), Tri-Star ($40-60) or Stardust Hotel ($26-67) for doubles. Food is tasty, sometimes spicy, & around $5 for a full meal.

Nature and Culture
Yala National Park is the main wildlife sanctuary; enter from Okanda (cheaper than Tissama) but you need to rent a vehicle ($50-80/day). Check Kumana Bird Sanctuary. Many Hindu shrines close by like Katara-gama. Sri Lanka is a paradise: Sigiriya citadel, Kandy Perahera Festival, Ayurvedic massages. Full moon parties!

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