Neil Island, Andaman

Monday 18 December 2017

Unawatuna, Sri Lanka


  • Stay at Unawatuna rather Galle as most buzz is around the beach specially in the evening and later. This will also help in watching the sunrise from shore with a short walk.
  • Evenings in Unawatuna get wilder. Torches come up and restaurants extend their seating to closer to beach. Make sure you get one of those front benches to enjoy the ambience.
  • Scuba and snorkels are available although the water is not ideal for these activities. Still it is worth a go. Weligama is half hour drive and is perfect for surfing activities.

Unawatuna is a quintessential beach. It has an independent personality and proximity to Galle is just a coincidence. It has the buzz of Calangute and the serenity of Kovalam. It has a long beach line and yet the curve ensures everything is within eyesight. When we first visited it, our hearts were won over and over again, so much that we had to come again just to say goodbye.

Surfing @ Weligama

Weligama is a paradise. For surfers it has everything - a shallow and long beach, instructors and a large set of beginners and experts. You can watch and learn. While it was difficult for me to balance on the board, younger and fitter ones were easily able to manoeuvre around. Surfing is hard work for beginners but once you are through the basics, its real fun and an individual game. The training and board for an hour costed us LKR 2500 which was pretty reasonable.

Evening @ Unawatuna

We visited Unawatuna for the first time after my first stint with surfing in Weligama left me dead tired and seeking for rest. When our cab navigated the narrow lanes that leads to Unawatuna for the first time, I was astonished as it seemed to go for a mile. Sri Lanka was never so dense. Even the first glance of the beach told us there would be no shortage of booze, food or even adventure sports - such was the versatility.

Morning @ Unawatuna

We settled in a shack and ordered around. It was a pleasant day. We took break in between by roaming around and asking hotel room rates and charges for scuba diving or snorkeling. The rates were reasonable and lower than those in Galle. We stayed till late evening and decided to come again the next day.

Sunrise @ Unawatuna

The next morning we executed our plan of jogging on the sand while the sun was rising. It's a phenomenal sight, watching the sun rise from the sea right in the middle of the viewing range from Unawatuna. Few shops were open and we settled for coconut water drink at one of them. Ride back was easy as we figured that the other end of beach runs tangentially to the highway that goes to Weligama.

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