Arugam Bay Sri Lanka

[Pointbreak]

Just back from three weeks in Arugam Bay - now i have to get out the wetsuit again!

I went there to learn so i probably have a different perspective than many. For me it totally rocked - there were waves every day except one. Arugam bay isn't really about surf forecasts and tidal charts and swell - its pretty much there all day every day. In the middle of the day its a bit too hot and wind is a problem, except for the beginner breaks. Otherwise you could do it dawn to dusk.

Waves aren't big. Everyone kept wondering when the big swell was going to come in but in three weeks, it never did. So 3 foot on the small points and maybe 5 on the big ones. Nice clean waves though and some really long rides were possible. A lot of guys were disappointed and kept talking about "Indo". Of course you could always pop over to the Maldives and do a reef charter. Met some guy who did that and said he got perfect, big powerful barrels every day. Wouldn't have done me much good though.

Every break is a point break there, which was great for me because you didn't have to paddle out - just walk up the beach to where you want to start, and step in. Generally there is an outside point which gets bigger and an inside point which is pretty small. So groms on the inside and everyone else on the outside.

Oh yeah and every wave is a right.

Generally sandy beach access or maybe stepping out between some big rocks, no clambering over reefs except for one spot (i managed to fall and get dragged across it. good thing the reef's dead). Not much risk for the newbies. Sometimes you do pick up the wave pretty close to some big rocks but the waves are always pushing you way from them so even being a few feet away is OK.

No rips, no sharks. I heard someone got stung by a jelly but i only saw these little floating spikes one day which you you could hardly feel and wouldn't get out of the water for. Its weird - the place is practically hazard free!

There are five major breaks: "The Point" (the one right in front of the town, and some a tuk-tuk ride away: Pottuvil Point, Crocodile Rock (which has no crocs), Peanut Farm, and Okanda. If you want the big waves, go for the Point (crowded), or outside point Peanut Farm, or Okanada, which is about 40 minutes away. Okanda had a pretty big wave - 7 foot plus the day i was there - but it was pretty messy. Nearly got killed trying to paddle out to it like a dumb grom.

The scene is pretty mellow, and everyone is European or Ozzie. The locals have one rule: always drop in. Which sucks but that's just how it is. Nobody got that worked up about it and even though they were good they mostly stayed at the inside Point, so you could always go somewhere else. It was a real mystery to me why people would fly 10 hours, take a 10 hour bus ride, and then crowd the point right in front of the hotels rather than take a tuk tuk 20 minutes away where there might be nobody. The tourists were the usual mix - mostly cool though. It wasn't much of a scene after hours - there were a few parties which really seemed to piss off the locals but it wasn't anything big. Actually there isn't much to do at any time of day other than surf. The place is a small fishing village with pretty much nothing happening. I should also mention its not the nicest place for women tourists, there are some "cultural differences" which aren't too cool.

Its expensive to get there (450 pounds airfare minimum) but dirt cheap once you arrive. Like 5 quid a night for a hotel and 1-2 quid for a meal including drinks etc. You can rent really bad boards for about 2 pounds a day, most of which had been broken in half at least once. You couldn't rent a decent short board, strickly beat up learner boards. I think i got the only board which was not broken - a 7'6" mini mal which served me prettty well. Some people were selling boards there pretty cheap though - like 250 bucks.

So sorry if someone wants detailed descriptions of the waves or descriptions of amazing rides and all that - this is a newbie perspective. It worked for me - took me the whole three weeks but at the very end I could catch waves and make some basic turns. I'll remember seeing wild elephants from the beach and my first wave at peanut farm.

Now back to Croyde...

[mattyp76]

hey mate - sounds like a great way to learn!
i am planning a trip there next june/july - i believe thats when they get the most swell

did u have any non surfers with you?
sounds like you could always go look at wildlife etc

i am from australia, i live 15mins from bells - its very cold here at the moment

loved your report - makes me keener to go - i am trying to organise a group and my wife to go - otherwise i will go alone for a few weeks

cheers

[Hazy_daze]

Hey, sounds like you had an amazing time! Ive always wanted to go to A-Bay ever since I saw one perfect barrel shot which just sold the entire place to me, it looked incredible!
Anyway, I was just intriqued with the whole lady thing?

I should also mention its not the nicest place for women tourists, there are some "cultural differences" which aren't too cool

What sort of differences are we talking?

Now back to Croyde...

Yeah, thats pretty unlucky, the surfs total balls at the moment and has been for what seems like eternity![/quote]

[k mac]

whats it like after the tsunami ? did you see a lot of evidence of the devistation and that is it all cool after boxing day ? .....im just intrested

[moncho]

I was there about a month ago... it's looking pretty good considering the whole place was flattened less than a year earlier. A lot of the bars, beach huts and that kind of tourist stuff is back on its feet again and you won't have any trouble getting there or getting a place to stay.
For the locals tho it's a different story; they haven't rebuilt the school or the hospital yet and everyone's pissed off about the way the Government's handled the aid. On the beach there are hundreds of brand new shiny fishing boats that some charity bought for the village which just sit unused - most of the fishermen are either dead or spending the days rebuilding their houses. To make things even more fun the army are strolling around with AK47s over their shoulders - the govt has reclaimed all land 10m from the water's edge (where *everything* is) and are trying to kick everyone out of it so they can build some sparkly new expensive hotels. This would completely suck, Arugam Bay is amazing because of its completely chilled, grass-hut, laid-back, stoned vibe... any upmarket tourist resortage would drain all the soul from the place (and it'd be too expensive for all the surfing travellers who can only pay a few dollars a night to live).
If you're a charitable soul you can pitch in and help rebuild stuff -- they love you for it. And they feed you if you do
I'm gonna go back one day for sure... it's paradise

Here's the remains of the school (the boat was washed up there by the wave)


Local rasta - this guy was awesome


Sunset


Sunrise

[k mac]

oh my ....id love to do some sort of help somewhere ...and that seems like a place i might have to consider ...looks like you had a cool time there . how much isit to get over there ?

[moncho]

Hazy - about the 'cultural differences'... it was pretty rubbish being a girl in Arugam Bay, a lot of the local men are total perves. Sri Lankan women don't really go out of their house much but the guys are hanging around all day just waiting to spot a white girl - you get heckled just walking along the street. You can't bare your shoulders or knees and wearing a bikini is as good as being butt naked. Expect to be groped where the sun don't shine if it's crowded and you might want to brush up on a few self-defence moves if you're heading over there - there's a fair bit of assault and rape of female tourists who haven't got their wits about them. I travelled alone for a bit and on more than one occasion I had to escape from a tight spot - once this guy followed me to the toilet in the dark, grabbed me and tried to drag me out into the street. Luckily he was a tiny little bloke and it wasn't too hard to push him over and run like fleshin'

You won't be able to do much sunbathing either unless you want these handsome chaps loitering around perving on you (don't know what's going on with the helmets):

[moncho]

Flights to Columbo are about £550. Once you're there you can live on well under a fiver a day all-inclusive

If you want to do some volunteering there's loads to do, just turn up and ask around, they need all the free manpower they can get. If you've got some experience in building stuff it helps, but it's not necessary. If you want any more info PM me

In case you haven't had enough of my holiday snaps, here's another one - this is the building site I... er... 'helped' on: