Arugam Bay beach

The big white sandy beach welcomes a large amount of surfers and offers a lot of space for camping sites. The beach is located in the southeast of Sri Lanka near Pottuvil, the only locality nearby where you can buy food and necessary beach equipment.

You can get to Arugam Bay (right to the beach) from Colombo by bus. As told before, it takes about 9 hours to get here, but there are several buses that drive at different times, so you can always adjust your schedule accordingly. If you don't like their schedule, there's another option - locals drive to the beach from the nearby Pottuvil: a rickshaw costs about 30 rupees, while an auto rickshaw costs about 50 rupees. Buses here come from Colombo more frequently. If you don't want to depend on public transportation, there is yet another, more expensive, option of renting a car or a bike.

When talking about weather and beach conditions, it is suitable for both surfing and swimming. The average height of waves is 1-1,5 meters, reaching 2 meters on rare occasions. Experienced surfers will feel comfortable and safe here as the wave is quite long and breaks off slowly. The bay also has calm areas where you can easily swim without fighting the rising waves. The descent into water is smooth and even, which is another advantage for those who just want to swim near the shore. And those who don't want to swim or surf can spend their time at the local bars and make new acquaintances. Families with children come very rarely here. Youth mostly comes here as well as the older people who like active leisure.

When is the best time to go?

The best time to travel to Sri Lanka is the period from November to April, when the weather is dry. In summer, the rainy season takes place in Sri Lanka, however, the prices this season are much lower. So if you are not afraid of rainfalls (which commonly take place at night, and by morning the ground dries up), a trip in the summer can be a great option for a budget holiday.