On a grassy cliff at the southern tip of Sri Lanka, I clutch a Negroni as I step downhill toward the Indian Ocean. Snippets of jazz emanate from Cape Weligama's surf bars. On the horizon, a mass of rosy clouds matches the color of my drink.
There is traffic congestion at sea. Six surfers take advantage of the last rays of daylight to balletically slide onto the break created by the headland. These stick figures remind me of the fishermen in old Japanese prints. Their history and identity are dissolved by dim lighting and a vast stage.
But in reality, they only really started showing up on the south coast about 10 years ago. From December to April, when the first of Sri Lanka's two monsoon seasons has passed and the weather is milder, this long coastline, which arcs about 55 miles from Hikkaduwa in the west to Hiriketiya in the east, is an international It will be a festival. Focusing on surf culture, we also added aspects of yoga. Sri Lanka has always attracted a small number of surfers to Arugam Bay, a highly regarded spot on the island's east coast. These hardy souls, largely indifferent to political and economic turmoil, were the mainstay of the tourism economy during the civil war that tainted the lives of an entire generation since the 1980s. Then, after the war ended in 2009, and tourism started to pick up again, the South began to gain a reputation as a place where beginner and intermediate surfers could improve. The waves here are calm and the surfing season in southern Sri Lanka coincides with winter for many potential visitors, unlike Arugam Bay, which starts in May.
All around the edges of the island I visit with my driver partner, G. Douglas Wijerasna, we see scooters and tuk-tuks transporting surfers to beaches, rest areas, schools and camps. Surfers dot the ocean at sunrise and sunset, some lining up to ride the waves while others gather in groups around the buses. Those taking a break lie on beachfront loungers and drink orange tambili, a delicious “king coconut” water native to the island. Aliens landing in new surf towns such as Ahangama and Hiriketiya may mistakenly conclude that Earthlings are a calm, amphibious race.
On Sri Lanka's southern coast, the surfing revolution has also sparked a great expression of homegrown creativity. This part of the island is home to artistic, culinary and entrepreneurial forces not directly connected to the surf scene, carving out new frontiers with an energy not found in Colombo or along the Buddhist and Tea Paths. These include tea magnate Malik Fernando's Splendent Ceylon and his two boutique resorts at Reverie. I enjoy an iconic version of the best that Sri Lanka has to offer, including a deep-tissue massage at the sublime Kayam House to the muffled sounds of the ocean. Enjoy a dreamlike stay in a retro-futuristic canvas cocoon on the edge of a nature reserve at Wild Coast Tented Lodge. Once he was in the beach town of Ahangama, best known for its 19th-century Buddhist temples and stilt fishing, I headed to his A-frame jungle fantasy of modernism, the Palm Hotel Sri Lanka. “Shoreditch meets Sri Lanka”
The region's best cocktail bars and smokehouses are not to be found in the majestic Dutch colonial city of Galle, which has historically been the south's biggest attraction. At Smoke and Bitters in the small village of Hiriketiya, Rahil Perera and Don Ranasinghe create playful locavores such as “calamari” creatively made from coconut pulp and dragons with Ceylon arrack, silvertip tea vermouth, and house-made bitters. We will create an outdoor drinking night featuring food. Fruit ceviche, smoked jackfruit sandwich.
This region is home to a diverse group of people who believe this is where they can live their best lives. Consider Rafael Cabry. I met him at Soul & Surf one warm morning. Soul & Surf is an eight-room B&B that he was running at the time of my visit. (He has since left.) At the edge of Ahangama's blue cove, it is surrounded by coconut trees and has a small beach. I imagined Raf to be Sri Lankan, but I soon matched his Mumbai accent almost exactly to his postcode. It turns out we grew up only a few miles apart, in the western suburbs of a large city. That's where the similarities end. Classily dressed in blue shorts and a crisp white short-sleeved shirt, showing off his tattooed forearms, the former DJ and film producer is the perfect insider. Together, he and Soul & Surf founder Ed Templeton (a former DJ himself) have watched the local scene flourish while giving it its own unique personality.
