After Kandy, we headed east through the countryside to the coast. After the hustle and bustle of Kandy, and the tourists of the ancient sites and temples, we spent three nights in Arugam Bay. It’s a tiny place of a few hundred people. But it’s packed with cool places to stay right on the beach, more cafes and restaurants than you could believe and one long street. There’s yoga, real coffee and hammocks galore.

The view from the rooftop bar in our hotel.

The beach is lined with fishing boats while their owners hang out waiting for the next tide. This area has a significant Muslim population, and they tend to keep together at one end of the beach.

Looking toward the point.

It was really hot here, at least 38 degrees the whole time, and no wind. The water was the place to be.

Keeping an eye on the kids

The visitors here are mainly surfers and backpackers, lots of Europeans as well as Australians. John and the boys met a guy in the surf who lives about 100m from us back at home and recognised John from surfing at Winki. Then he met another guy from Geelong whose kids go to the same school as ours. Very small world.

Now for the surf….Arugam is supposed to have the best right point break in Sri Lanka, and is pretty well-known amongst surfers. (I’ve never heard of it) It’s also a good excuse to go somewhere off the beaten track. John and the boys managed three solid surfs each day, plus a couple either side.

Patrol Tower, Sri Lankan style

We ate great curries, numerous lassies (fruit smoothies made with yoghurt), yummy roti and paratha breads – in fact we ate way too much. No body wants to get on the scales for quite some time.

One morning we went a half an hour’s drive along the coast to Whiskey Point for a different surf break. It was super hot on a barren beach – the tsunami smashed everything away here in 2004 – so I found a lovely new hotel with a nice pool while they surfed. But then they found me …….

The three Musketeers