Sri Lanka - Hikkaduwa in Feb.

[bakers]

anyone been this time of year? do the waves get above head high?
done a bit of reading and get a bag of mixed advice, some sources say its best Nov - March, others say it doesnt really turn on until April but you sacrifice perfect shaped waves for bigger waves.

[Leven]

April is the Eastern side of SL.. I was there a few years ago...don't be expecting Indo style bazzas! It's good fun, but rarely above 6ft to be honest.

[bakers]

sounds awsome! aslong as there a decent size ill be happy, heading onto thailand then indo after from there!

[Johnny_rad]

Surfed it from November to March. Had waves most days, never really got bigger than 6ft tho. Jan/Feb was quite busy. Few other good, less busy spots on the south coast worth checking. Out of those months I hear the East coast is where it is at.

[knarfboy]

Further south is a lot less hassley.

Check out Welligama for a nice beach break - longboard heaven.

Plenty of reefs nearby to there to check out too.

[bakers]

masasive kook question coming up here but when you say 6 foot do you mean the wave face is about 6 foot ? i struggle to get my head round sizing up waves. ive seen some pictures where people commenting rekon the wave is about 5 foot, but i would have said the wave is more like 10 foot.
i may try my hand at longboarding when im away, ive gotta be honest its never interested me until i recently watched endless summer, it made it look a lot of fun.

[dixie]

ive stayed in hikkaduwa for a few wekks in april.....end of season....good waves, hot, storms every night (awesome sparks)

but be warned one peak, skilled locals all over it. expect feb to be even busyer

i got back from sri lanka this morning...stayed in weligama. ( less tourists.....beack break on door step) beginer wave that DID get big
£1.50 gets you to mirrisa 10 mins in tuk tuk (right hand point)
£1.50 gets you coconut point (left hand deep reef) or plantations the righthander 150m away.
an extra £1 gets you to lazy left reef at midigama all waves ok for intermediate + surfers.

hikkaduwa is about 1.5 hrs north of weligama....... for me weligama all the way !!!

[ATTMFKH]

^^ My mucker's out there just now - doing the Somalia anti-piracy thing. Boat down Suez , Arabian peninsula, across Indian Ocean to Lanka - that's where they stop over for a few days, then reverse the journey & repeat - lucky f*cker gets to surf out there everytime he stops off

[swiggy]

lucky f*cker gets to surf out there everytime he stops off

Not sure a few days of surfing in sri lanka is really worth spending weeks cooped up on a boat trying to fight somalian pirates

[ATTMFKH]

lucky f*cker gets to surf out there everytime he stops off

Not sure a few days of surfing in sri lanka is really worth spending weeks cooped up on a boat trying to fight somalian pirates

£300/d might swing it for you Swiggy...... btw these are huge boats with gyms / training areas, good chefs, lots of hardware to play with , and the trick is not to fight the Somalian pirates wouldn't be my gig but hey

[KSA1]

ive stayed in hikkaduwa for a few wekks in april.....end of season....good waves, hot, storms every night (awesome sparks)

but be warned one peak, skilled locals all over it. expect feb to be even busyer

i got back from sri lanka this morning...stayed in weligama. ( less tourists.....beack break on door step) beginer wave that DID get big
£1.50 gets you to mirrisa 10 mins in tuk tuk (right hand point)
£1.50 gets you coconut point (left hand deep reef) or plantations the righthander 150m away.
an extra £1 gets you to lazy left reef at midigama all waves ok for intermediate + surfers.

hikkaduwa is about 1.5 hrs north of weligama....... for me weligama all the way !!!

I'd agree with this. SW is far nicer than Hikkaduwa - stay in Weligama, Midigama or Anhangama. It's easy to get to now that the new road is open and although it's pretty busy everywhere now, there are some decent waves around and loads of mellow longboard waves in Midi and Weligama. Loads of cool local people and good places to stay too.

[dreadlockpasta]

so how hard is it to get about with a board?I have been on packed Indian trains and buses and wouldn't contemplate it with a board.
Also how easy is it to pick up 2nd hand mini mals ,for the g.f. ?cheers

[KSA1]

so how hard is it to get about with a board?I have been on packed Indian trains and buses and wouldn't contemplate it with a board.
Also how easy is it to pick up 2nd hand mini mals ,for the g.f. ?cheers

You could take a board on the train, but vans from the airport are cheap enough to do distances and local tuk tuks will carry surfboards most places.

You can rent boards most places for a couple of pounds a day - generally they aren't brilliant though. There are boards for sale in Hikkaduwa and there used to be a few in Weligama too, but they won't be cheap and there won't be much choice. You're much better off taking one with you and if you don't want to travel on with it, you can sell to a guest house to use as a rental board - Aruna at Sunbeach in Weligama is always looking to buy, as are many others.

[bakers]

slamming i cant wait to go now. picking up my prescription for all my injections tomoz, the malaria tablets are so exspensive!!!!

[Caine]

Hi there,

sorry for hijacking this thread but may be ur answers will be helpful for others as well.

I am tempted to book a flight as well in February but somehow I have the feeling that I will be bored when I am out of the water.

Actually the last months have been so stressful at work that I want to have a very relaxed holiday. I dont want to travel through the country.

Just find a nice place with consistent waves, relaxe, do other sports or a daytrip now and then.

So I would like to know what of daytrips can u recommend? Are there some decent yoga classes available?

Is there some nightlife around or do I have to count mosquitos on the ceiling of my room after sunset?

[JayP]

Bored out of the water in sri lanka?? I doubt it very much. I had plenty of reservations before going to spend a month there in May 2010. Thought it might be a bit religous and intense. How wrong I was! Its an amazing country, the people are chilled and friendly (apart from at the odd line up). What surprised me most I think was how much they love the coconut whiskey (arak) otherwise known as "loony juice!" There is soo much to see and do. And as for nightlife - if you are in Hikkduwa you won't be disapointed. We popped over there off season (in A bay the rest of the time) and bumped into some of the best partys you could ask for! (admittedly it was the anniversary of the end of the war but the beach partys were off the scale!)

My advice is go!!!!! I doubt very much you'd regret it!

[Monkey_Alan]

Its pretty consistent. I've been down the west coast of Sri Lanka a few times (Midigama and Hikkaduwa) and surf is generally shoulder to head high pretty much every day, sometimes a bit bigger, occaisionally a bit smaller. Biggest Ive seen it is double overhead on Hikkaduwa reef. Its usually offshore in the morning and evening, sea breeze (onshore) conditions in the middle of the day

By the end of march the trade winds start to turn around and most people then surf the east coast until the trades switch back later in the year

Hikkaduwa will be pretty busy in Feb. The locals are all over it and you will be competing for waves against some very good travelling surfers too. As mentioned above there are loads of quieter spots down the coast from Hikkaduwa right round to Welligama

[bakers]

sweet, well excited to go now. i bought the stormriders guide to the indian ocean recently, it has loads on indo and other well known places and just 1 not very informative page on sri lanka which caused me to have my doubts.

[ATTMFKH]

^^ if you're taking that board I sold you , remember and take the de-gas widget out before you let the baggage monkey's stuff it in the plane

[bakers]

ok whys that though? by the way im absolutely loving that board its incredible!

[ATTMFKH]

ok whys that though? by the way im absolutely loving that board its incredible!

Another one I should have kept

When you take the board out of a cold cargo hold , into hot Lanka sunshine, the air inside the board will expand rapidly - there's been a few boards that have gone bang - the de-gas widget should cover it as that's what it's for & I fitted a brand new one .......but ................ why take the chance - take it out - no probs.

[bakers]

so glad you told me that, i had no idea, be gutted if that board exploded!!!

[dreadlockpasta]

so we have been down the coast from Hikkaduwa to mirisa and still got a week exploring left.is there anywhere worth exploring further east towards tangalla?cheers

[robbie.]

Spent a month in Sri Lanka december/janurary this year.
Generally speaking, I thought the waves were pretty crap- small, lumpy and weak most of the time. Ram's at Midigama however is a sick place to stay and has the only wave worth travelling to SW Sri Lanka for right out front. Short, bowly, barrelling righthander. Hikkaduwa was cool, and the waves were fun but it's overrun with kooks.

Surfing aside, Sri Lanka is an amazing country to visit and there's plenty of other stuff to do!

[dixie]

eh what about kabalana......plantations,,,,,coconut point,,,, all great waves

[tynemouthmatt]

Thinking of Sri Lanka for my honeymoon in August. The Mrs to-be wants a nice hotel & we are looking at staying somewhere around Weligama. Anyone ever been to this area at this time of year and is there any surf? or is it all about the East coast?

[Leven]

It'll be pretty much flat...a couple of months later and you might be alright. East Coast is the place for swell in August....Take the Mrs to Indo instead!

[tynemouthmatt]

It'll be pretty much flat...a couple of months later and you might be alright. East Coast is the place for swell in August....Take the Mrs to Indo instead!

Think i've persueded her we should go to Arugam Bay. I already tried the Indo suggestion, no going to happen

[Leven]

Have a nose through here:

http://www.facebook.com/aragum?fref=ts


It's not a secret anymore, and there's a few things happening that should keep her happy! Does she like tea? She'll be happy if she does! I've been to SL a couple of times, it's really friendly, really chilled out and relaxed, but with enough to do to keep your interested too. Curry to die for!

[ONDA SRI LANKA]

To make sure your trip to Sri Lanka is a success get in touch with ONDA in Colombo to buy a brand new surfboard or accessories! www.onda.lk