Sri Lanka - Surfing into 2017

Katie enjoying the pool at 123

Christmas and New Year were in Sri Lanka.  Our friends Nicola and Ewan had completed their big house just west of Tangalle on a beach called Unakurua. Nicola and Ewan were joining us after Christmas and we were in the house for 10 days with nothing to do but eat, swim and surf.

Chris's mum, Doreen was also joining us for the break - to relax, and the enjoy the beach and the Sri Lankan food

Bandula's truck meant riding in style.
Doreen loved the open sides which gave us a good breeze,
and bucket seats to take the bumps from the road!

On our previous visit Kate and I had some surfing lessons with Bandula, who runs a small bespoke surf school and who is the Number 1 Attraction in Tangalle according to Trip Advisor. Trust me, his reputation has been well earned.

This visit we had booked in with Bandula for five lessons for Kate, Lucy, Ada and I. Most days the lesson was at 10am when Bandula and his team would pick us up. This meant that I had plenty of time to get in an early morning surf and Unakurua has a great right hand point break. 

Unakurua point break.
Within 5 minutes walk from 123 you were in the water

Between a morning surf, a family surf and an afternoon surf I was able to spend 4-5 hours surfing each day which was great.  That said I stupidly tried to paddle back in from a surf at the private beach below the house only to get a foot full of sea urchin spines.  It was good I was surfing because my walking was a feeble limp and I eventually had the last of the spines cut out of my foot a month later. Stupid, and memorable!

Sunset at 123 with the pool and the
Unakurua point break in the background

Ewan and Nicola’s house, named 123, is amazing.  It is the ultimate indoor/outdoor house.  So much so that the indoor furniture, most of which Ewan had made for the house, is covered in outdoor fabrics. The view is amazing, they have an excellent cook and Doreen, Ada and Lucy can vouch for the infinity pool with a great view of the surf break. 

Ewan, Kate, Nicola, Ada and Doreen (Chris's mum) at
Tangalle Rest House, a great place for a cheap meal
and a cold beer opposite the fishing harbour

Even better the number one restaurant in Tangalle, Break Point is a 4 minute walk away.  It has no menu but the patriarch is a local fisherman and the son and mother cook up the days catch.  It is simple, the food is excellent and the view is almost as good as the house at 123.  It has become very popular with tourists to the area and it isn’t cheap by local standards.  That said, it is definitely worth a visit.

Luck showing Kate how it is done

The family surf session was at a beach which goes by many names.  To the locals it is Hirikiadeya, the British expats in the area call it Horseshoe Cove and many of the tourists know it as Blue Cove.  It has three breaks, beginner, intermediate and advanced.  The first time we were there a few years ago there were one or two surfers in the water, this time there were 60 but it doesn’t feel that crowded on the waves.

Kate responding in style

When I sea kayaked through there on a previous visit the sea turtles, like most sea turtles were very shy and would dive and swim away after they saw me.  At Hirikeyadiya the turtles now know that the surfers will leave them alone and then pop up in the line-up and have a good look at you, even letting you stroke their shells.

On the opposit side of Unakurua Bay looking back to
123 on the point.  Despite a couple of good beach huts it is uncrowded 

In the last 12 months the beach has developed with new accommodation and restaurants and the approach road even has a Canguu (Bali) style coffee shop/surf store, Café Zoe!  Development has certainly moved east from the busy beaches to the west of Weligama.

Galle lighthouse

The day before Christmas we went to Galle in search of the organic markets that Kate had discovered on the internet in the hope of organic supplies for Christmas Lunch. To be honest the market was a bit of a disappointment and certainly not what I had in mind.  Kate was able to find a few things but it is always good to wander around Galle.

The ramparts of the Fort in Galle

Our visit to Galle was topped off by the opportunity to catch up with good friends from Mumbai, Swati, Jonathan and their two kids Rishi and Anoushka. Our two families have become a little synchronized, last year in the pre-Christmas emails we both discovered that we would be in the same part of Slovenia and we spent a day together at a large Slovenian cave system.  This time we discovered that they were staying just outside of Galle and we were able catch up at the beach.  It is moments like this that you realize that the world is crazy big and crazy small.

Ewan and I doing our best David Beckhams
(minus the tatts} in Sri Lankan sarongs

Our visit appropriately culminated at New Year’s Eve which was spent at the Last House which was last house designed by the renowned architect Jeffery Bawa and is now part family home and part B&B.  The house is spectacular with the indoor outdoor living style that Ewan reflects in his designs.  The owner is famous in the area for his locally made fireworks which are enthusiastically choreographed by the staff.  There is nothing quite like the sight of improvised Katherine Wheels breaking loose from the tree to which they were nailed and spinning across the lawn.

Unfortunately it was all over too quickly and we had to return to Dubai but Kate and I were making plans to go back before the flight had taken off.