Ultimate Surf Holiday: Transforming the Meaning of “Surfing” in Sri Lanka

Surfing is now up in south Sri Lanka. Not only that the pursuit of new adventures, uncrowded waves, new frontiers, and undiscovered seas await surfers from different parts of the globe, new surfing campaigns are also big hits at the new surfing destination.

Surf tourism is a brilliant thing for the self-pleasure seekers and of course, it also means billions of dollars each year to local economies. But it's also no doubt that surf tourism can have massive impacts on the local residents, communities and environments of Sri Lanka.

Seeking for more sustainable and principled surf tourism, the movement called "sustainable surf tourism" was established, which envisions to combine surf tourism with alleviating poverty, protecting coastlines, providing jobs for the locals and causing to local community projects, including building health clinics and schools and promoting local entrepreneurship. Reportedly, the vision of this campaign is to take on the global-to-local project of mainstream international development and applying it to surf tourism spaces.

And just recently, a recent environmental campaign was created inclined with the strengthening of the surf tourism and culture of the land. The Fresh Air Project is a surf travel project known for its nature to create an immersive cultural experience that wants to change surfers perspectives and bring about authentic opportunities to experience the places they travel through the eyes and lives of the locals.

On the other hand, although a lot of travelers want to help with these projects, a lot of them don't really have any idea about the growing surf tourism in Sri Lanka. So for first- time travelers in the new surfing destination, a few tips might do. Many of the travelers are actually on a tight budget just not wanting to spend much money on transport. Thus, locals are advising them to rent a car for a few weeks or even months, depending on their stay.

Another choice for tourists to take in would be to stay in one of the more crowded surf spots like Mirissa or Hikkaduwa where there is plenty of accommodation close to the surfing beaches. Moreover, these guests can find good accommodation also right on the beach or at Matara.

They are also some of the slightly more expensive places that surf guides know very well.The surf guides even conduct surf checks every morning which are included in the price. In case you wanted to know what surfing equipments should you bring, the local surfers suggest to bring with you a standard board. Most probably you can also have a slightly bigger board in case you travel south-east-east during the big swell season. Waves crashing on are strong, but still easy to get into.

For now , a lot of tourists are now finding Sri Lanka as one of the surfing sites with great waves, offshore winds during the monsoon, as well as cheap travel. Furthermore, the surf season at the west-east (Hikkaduwa, Midigama, etc.) is from October until March while the surf season at the east coast (Arugam Bay) is from May up to September.