Mirissa and Weligama, the back story

About Mirissa and Weligama, the back story

By the ULTIMATE Sri Lanka Editorial Team

Site Editor: Tara de la Motte

Weligama means “sandy village”, and its long, gently curving bay has become Sri Lanka’s best-known place to learn to surf. A few kilometres east, Mirissa is a small cove of palms and beach restaurants, with the harbour where the whale-watching boats leave.

Weligama bay

The bay at Weligama has soft, rolling waves over sand, ideal for beginners, and the beach is lined with surf schools and board rental. In the bay sits Taprobane, a tiny island with a villa that is one of the best-known sights of the south coast.

Mirissa

Mirissa is smaller and livelier, with beach restaurants that set out tables on the sand at night, Coconut Tree Hill at the eastern end and Parrot Rock, a little rock you can wade out to at low tide.

Learn to stand up on a board in Weligama in the morning; watch the sunset from Coconut Tree Hill in the evening.

Whales

The boats leave Mirissa harbour early in the morning from about December to April to look for blue whales, sperm whales and dolphins off Dondra Head. Choose an operator that keeps its distance from the whales.

When to go

The season runs from about November to April, when the sea is calm and the sun is out. From May to September the south-west monsoon brings rough seas and rain.

Our advice: stay in Weligama if you want to surf and in Mirissa if you want beach restaurants and the whale boats; the two are ten minutes apart by tuk-tuk, so it is easy to enjoy both.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Mirissa and Weligama, the back story before you go.