The Rocky Southern Coast of Sri Lanka

Luxury Hotels in Sri Lanka

An unbroken string of tiny towns and hotels stretches out to the east of Galle. The busy road which hugs the coastline passes through Unawatuna, Dalawela, Thalpe, Habaraduwa, Midigama, one right after the other; each offering tourists an insane number of places to stay and things to do.

We were on this road constantly, en route to places like Alanthgama, where we hoped to see stilt fishermen, or Weligama. This village is set up around a gorgeous circular bay, with a lushly forested mini-island as its centerpiece named Trapobane (also the name Arthur C. Clarke lent Sri Lanka in The Fountains of Paradise). You can rent the villa on Trapobane by the day for an obscene amount of money; it even comes with a full set of personal servants to help you indulge your tackiest private-island fantasies.

We spotted a couple other islands up and down the coast. One just past Midigama, where there’s supposed to be great surfing, and another in the bustling town of Matara, where we switched buses once. Matara’s island is just across from the bus station, and occupied by the picturesque Parey Duwa Buddhist temple.

Matar Temple Island

Most of the coast is rocky, but every so often you’ll spy a bit of golden sand that’s good for a dip. The waters here are rougher and rockier than on the beaches of Trinco, for example, but that makes for more dramatic scenery. Although the coastline itself is heavily developed, it stretches out for so long that finding a small bit of private sand isn’t impossible.

Our best day along the coast was spent at the Wijaya Beach Club, in Dalawela. Pizzas which could almost compete with those of Palermo (almost), and a tiny but excellent beach. While we ate, we watched the waves where six sea turtles were struggling to swim back out into the ocean. Every once in awhile, their heads would poke above the water. They kept getting swept toward the rocky shore, but eventually made their escape. Nobody else in the restaurant had seen them, and they all must have thought we were crazy, staring out into the ocean and randomly cheering.

Location of Trapobane on our Map

Location of Wijaya Beach Club

For 91 Days in the Newspapers

This Post Has 3 Comments

  1. Ishaq

    Dear Jurgen and Mike,Nice work guys…loved every second of reading your Sri Lankan travels.But still you should have visited the below mentioned sites 1 – SRIPADA ADAM`s PEAK – It is one of the best ever climbing experience especially being at the top.2 -St.Anthony`s Church ( Kochi Kade ) in Colombo – Considered one of the miracle church over there3 – MAJESTIC CITY (Colombo) – Popular Shopping Mall4 – ODEL – Another popular shopping place in Colombo

  2. Matthias

    Hy How are you,wie gehts. Ich bin der Deutsche mit den langen Dreadlocks den ihr in Galle und Unawatuna getroffen habt. Tolle Seite die ihr habt. Bin sogar auf einem Bild zu sehen,toll. Bin wieder in Deutschland und vermiss das Reisen. Ihr dürft weitermachen (Neid). Wie sagt man so schon “Neid ist die ehrlichste Form der Anerkennung”. Macht weiter so und lasst es euch gut gehen. Gruß Matthias

  3. Henk Bos

    It was great taking a look at your journey from time to time; we enjoyed it!
    We were lucky to be able to take a picture of two fishermen who rushed ashore when they saw us doing that, just to ask for some money…. 🙂

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