As an island in the tropics, Sri Lanka has been blessed with pretty great weather all year round. Climate change certainly has had a say in creating certain inconsistencies, but for the most part, we experience mild to mostly tolerable weather save for the two distinct monsoon seasons; the Maha (October-January) and the Yala (May-August) monsoons.
The monsoon is why you hear most people refer to on- and off-seasons and these are largely related to the coast and only ever matter if you are travelling to visit the beach. Most Sri Lankans are well aware that you go down south starting from October and when June rolls around you start moving toward the east.
With just a few weeks left for the end of the season, The Sunday Morning Brunch took a quick trip east to catch the very last waves in Arugam Bay before our regularly scheduled programme of taking the train to Galle every weekend starts in October.
Before we share our version of the best way to travel in Arugam Bay, we have to say that it is not recommended to visit the bay toward the end of the season. Everything is at a crescendo, including the heat, with August easily being the hottest month of the season. While the vibes are immaculate, given how busy and buzzing things tend to get, the prices are at an all-time high. There are quite literally no places left to stay and with the weather getting increasingly more unpredictable and as the waves start to get choppier, your surfing dreams may get cut short more often than not during your stay.
However, in our case, because we were not looking to surf (we don’t know how to) and had a local friend who offered their humble abode to us for a couple of days’ stay, we were able to casually explore Arugam Bay at our leisure.
Locals’ perspective
During our two days in the bay, the majority of our time was spent hanging around near Maint Point Road, which is the road that leads to the bend that then leads you straight to Arugam Bay Beach. This is how you get to the famous surf spot and also Black Beach Arugam Bay, which is the perfect place for some photo ops ideal for Instagram. Most locals would insist that you walk up the coast and explore this area.
This area is littered with restaurants, bed and breakfasts, pubs, bars, surf shacks, and souvenir shops, anything that caters to the interests of tourists.
However, if you are a local and are looking to have some nice rice and curry, or perhaps some kottu and other street foods, then our new favourite spot Kumari’s Kade is the place to go. Just along Maint Point Road and right next to Krish’s Surf Shack, Kumari’s Kade is affordable and delicious and the host is lovely.
Krish from Krish’s Surf Shack, who was essentially our guide for the stay, shared that from what he had observed, Arugam Bay received a lot of tourists, but locals did not visit the area often, which he shared was to the detriment of Arugam Bay’s economy.
“In the long run, it is not a good sign for Arugam Bay to be this way – to only come to life during the season and for locals to almost never visit,” he said. “There is a misconception that Arugam Bay is very expensive and that it only caters to foreigners and the kids who study abroad who come back to Sri Lanka for their summer holidays. It is not that much different from down south, but somehow Arugam Bay has this label of exclusivity.”
He shared that because the bay was located on the far southeast corner of the island, locals felt that it was not worthwhile to spend about 6-8 hours on the road to get there. “It is not so commonly visited because you can’t do it over a weekend like Hikkaduwa, Weligama, or Mirissa. You can if you really want to, but for most families it does seem a bit of a task. Since it is so far from any train routes, it is quite challenging to get to the town, but if you make the effort, it will be rewarded. Look at this gorgeous coastline, these waves – there’s nothing better,” he said.
Arugam Bay is a surf town and that alone is enough to deter most locals from visiting. “We are an island country. Even though we are surrounded by the beach, how many people actually learn to surf? Not many children get into surfing even if they have lived on the beach their entire lives. In Australia or other countries where surfing is big and where people live on the beach, they live and breathe surfing. Here it is not considered as anything important and there are very few who pick it up as a sport because of the low potential to earn a living.”
However, the fact that people don’t pick up surfing as a sport and the fact that this is an island where it is not so commonplace could potentially be chalked up to Sri Lanka’s culture and most importantly the economic status of those who actually live on the coast. As Krish noted: “If you live on the coast, then you are probably not going to be the type to invest in sports, because your whole life you will be encouraged to do your best to get out of there to find better prospects or you have to spend all your time helping your family make a living,” he said. “Where would you find the time to surf?”
After all this, we ended up taking a single surf lesson to save face, but Krish’s perspective is certainly one that is shared amongst the majority of the surf shack owners along the coast.
However, while these were just some of the frustrations the locals had to share about Arugam Bay, and while they hoped for better infrastructure facilities in areas that tourists frequented, such as public toilets and an efficient Tourist Police, they all shared that the community was close-knit and had pride in having created a small ecosystem of their own which was wholly theirs, wherein they managed to survive thanks to their own diligence.
What we did
As Krish said, Arugam Bay is not only about pricey pubs, cafés, and restaurants. If you are a local like us who doesn’t know how to surf, then that is fine too, because there is still plenty to do.
Typically, if you are taking the time to visit Arugam Bay, it is likely that you will also visit the neighbouring Yala National Park, which tends to be a commonly visited attraction. However, if you are visiting Yala, that leaves you with nearly no time to do anything else unless you are planning to stay a few extra days.
What we would suggest is to take the night bus on a Friday to Arugam Bay. There is an Akkaraipattu bus that takes the highway daily. The bus starts at Maradana and for Rs. 3,000, you can go all the way to Pottuvil. We took the bus at 7 p.m. from Makumbura and arrived at Pottuvil at 3 a.m. There is some travelling involved before you get to Arugam Bay from here, but the bus halt at 3 a.m. is swarming with tuk-tuks, waiting to take you there.
Once you make it to Arugam Bay at 3 a.m., it is really up to you how you plan your day, but most bed and breakfasts provide check-ins at 3 a.m. and you can get started on your day as early as you like.
On our first day we took it slow, exploring Maint Point. However, towards the evening just before it became darker, we took a quick trip to Crocodile Rock. An ideal place to relax and engage in quiet activity, you will see a lot of tourists doing yoga and journaling until it gets dark.
The best way to travel in and about Arugam Bay is by motorbike. If you have an NIC, you can rent a bike for Rs. 5,000 per day. If you are staying for a few days, you can rent a bike and pay at the end of your stay. It is incredibly convenient and far less expensive than taking tuk-tuks from place to place. This is also advised as there is a fair bit of wildlife that could interfere with you on the roads. In addition to not travelling at night, it is also best to take something like a motorbike which takes up less space and has speed so that you can buzz away from an angry elephant on the road.
On our second day, we took a trip to Peanut Farm Beach, which is about 20 minutes away from Panama and then from there we went to see Elephant Rock.
Elephant Rock is ideal to visit during the season, as the rocks are all paved and you can actually step on them as you move up to a better vantage point, whereas when you go there off-season, the rocks are all covered up, making it very difficult to get to the top.
After we hiked the area, we made our way back to Arugam Bay and got a tuk-tuk to Pottuvil at around 9 p.m. in order to get our return bus back to Makumbura. The trip was a lot simpler than we thought it would be and surprisingly cheap, considering how far we travelled from Colombo.
We hope that Arugam Bay is a destination you would consider visiting as a Sri Lankan, if nothing else, at least to say that you have been to that corner of the island.