If you want to learn how to go to the surfer’s paradise of Sri Lanka, the best place to stay there, what to eat and other interesting facts, have a look at my last article about my trip to Sri Lanka.
Arugam Bay is one of the famous spots for surfboard on the East coast of Sri Lanka. It’s also popular with the excellent seafood, natural scenery and nice places to chill out.
I’m not a big fan of water sports and Arugam Bay came as a last spot at the end of my journey but I enjoyed to the fullest spending one lazy day on the East Coast, trying fresh seafood and walking on the beach.
If it’s your first time getting on the surfboard, Arugam Bay is claimed to be beginner surfer’s heaven. You can find a lot of Sri Lankas giving lessons to the newbies.
But before you challenge yourself with the waves your first challenge will be…
Getting there
My last article left us in the small city of Nuwara Eliya. I have to tell you that if you want to reach Arugam Bay using just local buses/trains you won’t be able to do this in one day. On top of that you should be quite enthusiastic because this journey takes forever.
How long is "forever"?
Nuwara Eliya - Nanu Oya; Nanu Oya - Badulla (train); Badulla - Monaragala (bus); Monaragala - Arugam Bay (bus)
The journey it’s long and tiring but again, if you are traveling with a train you have the chance to enjoy magnificent views.
The guys from King Fern Cottage arranged an early tuk-tuk from Nuwara Eliya to Nanu Oya so that we saved some time in order to catch an early train.
The tuk-tuk cost us 600 LKR (200 LKR each). Me and my partners in crime (the two Slovenians) were stuffed at the back seat along with our backpacks. We couldn’t look funnier than this:
Next step was to catch the train from Nanu Oya to Badulla.
As I mentioned before after a few journeys with the train you’ll forget about 1st/2nd class and you will enjoy the privilege to travel with the locals in 3rd class. The ticket from Nanu Oya to Badulla will cost you only 80 LKR. The train was supposed to depart at 09:30 am but instead of that we left Nanu Oya with a bit of a delay - 11:00 am :D
I guess that there’s no need to mention that the train anyway is ridiculously slow :)
Me and my Slovenian friends
showing a lot of enthusiasm in the train to Badulla :)
The journey to Badulla was full of splendid landscapes of tea plantations and green hills.
Unfortunately the weather wasn’t with us that day, so we had a lot of rain and haze.
The journey seemed to be endless. We arrived in Badulla at 15:00h. Half of the day was already gone and we still had to take 2 more buses to reach the East Coast.
From the train station of Badulla you can just walk to the bus station, avoiding the offers for tuk-tuk and taxi. We took the bus from Badulla to Monaragala at 15:45. Ticket will cost you 103LKR.
After a whole day of travelling we arrived at Monaragala at 18:20. The last bus from Monaragala to Pothuvil (Arugam Bay) had left at 17:30.
We had no choice but to find a place to sleep in Monaragala. Of course it wasn’t difficult because the locals would start with the offers the moment you step into the bus station.
A guy offered us a room for 1600 LKR which was the absolute budget hotel (600 LKR each).
The place was located just a few hundred meters behind the bus station so it was perfect for us.
It won’t be a lie if I say that our accommodation was kind of weird. It looked like a mix of a hotel and night club. At the evening there was a colorful lights dancing of the walls full of paintings.
The next day we took the first bus from Monaragala to Pothuvil ( # 303) which departs at 06:55 am. Ticket will cost you 198LKR.
Driving in Sri Lanka is crazy but wait until you get on that bus. The driver doesn't care at all so most of the time the bus will be in the opposite lane while he is beeping the horn furiously :D
Driving in Sri Lanka is crazy but wait until you get on that bus. The driver doesn't care at all so most of the time the bus will be in the opposite lane while he is beeping the horn furiously :D
The information that you will read in many posts is that the bus doesn’t go to Arugam Bay itself but that is not true. You don’t have to take a tuk-tuk.
We reached Pothuvil at 09:50. We stayed in the bus and at 10:15 the bus departed to Arugam Bay. The ride is only around 15 min.
Finally, after 1day and a half of changing trains and buses we were in Arugam Bay!
Where to stay?
The most popular and cool place in Arugam is called “Watermusic”.
The charming cabanas (wooden houses) are located right on the beach under the palm trees. The stuff is quite helpful and I loved the atmosphere here.
Our cabana was divided in two parts. We had an open air bathroom (make sure you check this one out) and a upper deck perfect for watching the sunset and drinking beers :)
Our accommodation at Arugam Bay
Our accommodation at Arugam Bay
The whole room cost us 3000 LKR (1000 LKR) each but you might have to bargain a bit to get this price ;)
Other lovely place to get a good breakfast (western style) and enjoy a peaceful moments is Happy Panda. The owner is a nice smiling lady (I don’t know where she is coming from) that will make sure you have the best possible coffee in Sri Lanka (which is not an easy task).
Things to do in Arugam Bay:
Surfing
Of course this is the main activity here. Excited to meet the waves? Just walk around and look for someone who can teach you. We found Mr.Take It Easy, an expert local surf teacher, during one of our walks at the beach. The guy told us some interesting facts about surfing and I truly regret that I had only one day in Arugam Bay.
Stay Lazy
For my whole 10 day journey in Sri Lanka that was the only day that you could see me like this:
Life as a permanent vacation ;)
Check the fishermen’s village
Go all the way on the beach and explore the life of the local fishermen.
Try the most typical drink in Sri Lanka: The King Coconut
It’s sweet and refreshing and you can find it everywhere on the main street. You can also try a homemade chips or other small treats that the locals sell.
…or ask the locals for the hidden liquor store and buy cheap beer from there ;)
Eat a lot of seafood
If you haven’t tried the seafood in Sri Lanka this is the right time to do so. You can choose to buy fresh seafood from a street stall and after that the restaurant will grill it for you. This is what we did on my last evening in Sri Lanka. I think the better option will be to buy fish straight from the fishermen and to make your own barbecue.
Spend time in a good company
Isn’t this one of the most essential parts of each and every trip? ;)
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loved it !!!
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