{"id":14880,"date":"2022-02-19T10:00:05","date_gmt":"2022-02-19T10:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.tickettoridegroup.com\/?p=14880"},"modified":"2025-10-17T18:10:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T18:10:00","slug":"what-are-the-waves-like-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tickettoridegroup.com\/blog\/what-are-the-waves-like-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the waves like in Sri Lanka?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sri Lanka is a small teardrop shaped island that sits vulnerably in the Indian Ocean just below India. This means that the endges of the same swells which hit Indo, tickle the W, SW, S, SE, E and E Coasts of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

The result? Consistent, welcomed, finely groomed swell, with a bit less punch.<\/p>\n

So what are the waves like? How do you get there? What\u2019s the food like? Where should\u00a0you stay? Well here’s all you need to know.<\/p>\n

Travel<\/h2>\n

Coming from the UK the best way to get to Sri Lanka is on a direct flight from London Heathrow to Colombo Bandaranaike with Sri Lankan Airlines. We aren\u2019t in partnership with them or anything, they genuinely provide a great service, serving decent in-flight food, ample beers and are the only direct option from the UK.\u00a0 They also allow a generous baggage allowance of 30kg with no restrictions on the number of boards you can take.<\/p>\n

When you arrive into Colombo, you can jump on a bus from the airport to the train station (around \u00a31) then take the train down to your intended destination (less than \u00a32). \u00a0It’s a beautiful journey but a bit of a faff with a board.<\/p>\n

If you are carrying boards then you should just get an air-conditioned taxi from the transfer desk at arrivals, as they are government approved with a fixed rate. This would take you to our Surf House in Ahangama<\/a> in about 2 hours straight down the new highway and costs around \u00a350 .<\/p>\n

When you get to your intended location, dish out your international driving licence and hire a moped. The are cheap and a great way to get to the different surf spots, cost around \u00a34 per day and petrol costs around 90p a litre. You won’t find bikes with racks attached to them here, so put your board in a bag and sling it over your shoulder, or sit on it. Always have your international driving licence on you as the police are becoming increasingly eager to make a quick buck in fines from tourists.<\/p>\n

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Seasons<\/h2>\n

Like all equatorial countries, Sri Lanka has two seasons; the monsoon season and the dry season. But Sri Lanka uniquely experiences\u00a0two<\/b>\u00a0monsoon and two<\/strong> dry seasons throughout the year. The monsoon season brings with it wild, relatively un-surfable waves, whilst the dry season is sunny all day with clean swell rolling in, complimented by light winds until the midday trade winds pick up. This might sound a bit gnarly and confusing but it isn’t and it actually means it is sunny with good surf somewhere on the island all year round.<\/p>\n

To put it simply, UK Winter (say October – April) is the West Coast’s Dry Season (the time to go) and the UK Summer (April – October) is the East Coast’s Dry Season. So if you’ve got holiday to take over Summer you’ll head to Arugam Bay. If you’re trying to escape the January Blues you’ll come and see us in Ahangama.<\/p>\n

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Credit @surf_srilanka<\/p><\/div>\n

Surfing<\/h2>\n

So the important question is, what are the waves like? Well to summarise, it’s never flat, always fun and rarely scary. It’s a mellow version of Indonesia, with an equal balance of beach and reef breaks. This makes it the perfect destination for those learning to surf, beginner-intermediate surfers wanting an introduction to surfing that’s not-so-scary, part-time surfers and your average joe shredder.<\/p>\n

That being said, Sri Lanka isn’t soft and has been on the map of travelling surfers since the 70\u2019s, there are slabs, points and good a-frame reef break setups. I\u2019m hardly giving away any secrets here, but here are a few of the places to check out.<\/p>\n

Hikkaduwa: \u00a0<\/strong>Hikkaduwa is broken up into the reef, which has a left and a right and the beach. The beach break is my personal favourite as it has punchy peaks up and down it with less people surfing as they are normally on the reef. Most people see it as a close-out but what I see is a very smashable end section. It’s also a good choice for beginners on whitewater. The reef break is the crowd-drawer which is an A-frame where the big ones break off of a predictable boil. The lefts are long and have a good lip to them and the rights can barrel. High tide is a bit weird as it gets back-washy. We take riders here for a day trip and sometimes end up overstaying our welcome as the nightlife is as appealing as the waves. If there’s enough juice in the waves for former European champ Grishka Roberts, then you’ll have fun.
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Fun in the sun \u2600\ufe0f board shorts, sunblock and a nice small wave board #freedom #freesurf #surfing #surfsrilanka #holidays #happyplace \ud83d\udcf7 @michelle_marks @quiksilveruk @mattashapes<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Grishka Roberts<\/a> (@grishkassurfsafaris) on