The Bus

The beaches of Sri Lanka hold many locations that make you just wish you had an SLR. Or if you’re less photographically inclined, to drool. Mirissa is one such place, just over three hours from Colombo by intercity bus. Lonely beaches, rock pools with clear water and snorkeling opportunities, shallow waters with waves lapping in with just the right amount of force. Take a sporting ball along and you are guaranteed to have a great experience.

Mirissa, primarily, is known as a surfing spot. At least to the scores of foreign surfers who frequent it every year. As far as surfing spots go, its rather on the more challenging side with the rocky reef affording somewhat of a narrow channel to get your board in, translating into a few smashed limbs every year, but that just drags the crowd in.

Surfing lessons should cost you roughly Rs. 1000 per hour. Although if you go in the middle of the season excessive demand for surf lessons may drive the price up. If you’re an experienced surfer, you can rent a board for Rs. 500 from the Surf Bar which is just opposite the main spot of beach where most of the surfing happens.

If you don’t surf, at least bodyboard. Its super fun! And anyone can do it, it’s like riding a bus. To Mirissa, if you will.

Mirissa is a town on the Galle-Matara road smack in the middle between Weligama and Walgama.

To get there, we took the 6am Matara bus from Pettah and arrived at around 9:30, even after our original bus broke down. Tickets are Rs. 220 again, and you’re supposed to get off at the Mirissa Junction. Either get the bus conductor to drop you off there(It would be a good idea to temporarily be annoying and keep querying the conductor with “Ayye pahu wunaada?”) or take somebody who knows the place along. Mirissa Junction is not a junction in the conventional sense of the word in that it’s not really a junction at all. It’s just where the concentration of shops increases to a building every ten meters or so.

Directions to the beach

The local three wheelers will keep asking you if you want a ride, but their services won’t be required so you can politely refuse or be all posh and ignore them. Be prepared for stony looks on the way back if you choose the latter.

From the bus stop, walk towards the Matara side for a few meters and you will get to a turnoff that leads to the Paradise hotel. Turn.

After going down the road for a few dozen meters you get to the Paradise Hotel, which is where we entered the beach through. We assume they named the place after it’s location, and not it’s facilities. But then again the facilities weren’t all that bad either. They have a great lunch for Rs. 350, but they fleece you with desert at 200 bucks. The head waiter’s almost manic grin hides this fact. The beach is magnificent, complete with a small rocky island you can climb, pictured on the right in the image above.

The Beach

The beach right in front of Paradise is good for wading out and just messing around in the water. You can even rent body boards for even more fun, though we didn’t get to try that. The water comes up to about chest height when wading out about 30m to sea. The waves are a joy to ride even when you’ve got just your body to ride them with. It’s as fun as it sounds.

All sports you plan to play out on the sand should be done with by around 2pm, when the water starts lapping up on the higher ground of the beach, making running on it feel like you’re ploughing it.

As noted earlier, Mirissa primarily is surfing spot. During the surf season, the area around the rock pool (pictured below) is completely covered with sand, making it easier for surfers. People from all over the world come down here (most people we met were from Europe). The season will be a good time to learn some surfing skills.  Surfs up in a couple of months or so!

Walk along the beach for in the western direction for a few meters and you will come across the Surf Bar, where they have surf boards for rent. It is usually populated by a bunch of people who you can approach to teach you how to surf. Just go over and ask around. Keep walking past the Surf Bar and you will get to The Spot.

The Spot(Rock Pool)

If you get there by morning, this little enclave is sheer bliss to be in. We arrived there around 10am and were nearly speechless at sight. Nearly because no self-respecting sinhalaya brother can have nothing to say at any time. There was the occasional utterance of “Heaven” and “Good God this is brilliant”.

It’s basically a bit of beach that has a long slab of rock that that just beaks the surface of the water at low tide. This created a barrier of sorts, making the space between it and the beach a virtual pool full of clear, slowly flowing water that only reaches up to waist deep at most places. This area is also quite suitable for snorkeling, as even the occasional fish swims past. But as the tide comes in around afternoon, the little barrier island sinks below the waves and the waters of the rock pool become a bit more active and less translucent.

The view from Palace Mirissa

Even further along the beach you’ll get to a place where you find a road leading to the “Palace Mirissa”. This is a boutique hotel with little cottages strewn about built on top of a cliff that opens up to the sea. From inside, you get a fantastic view of the surrounding cliffs and the water crashing onto them. Try bluffing your way in.

The Island

The island is a nice place to go conquer. Or at least pretend to conquer, since many have doubtless been on it before. As evidenced by the concrete stairs at one place.

You can jog up the beach for a few hundred meters to reach it, after which you can wade through the water which reaches around waist height for about ten meters to get to the actual island. It is best to go scout it out in the morning when the tide is low so you get an idea of the path to be taken, as you have to walk along a curved path to avoid deep areas. Look for rocks on the surface of the sand to navigate by. Alternatively, you could just ask someone who hangs around there to guide you. Physically, not spiritually.

All this should be enough to keep anyone occupied for at least a day. We didn’t even try everything that was on offer. Getting back is a cinch because there are A/C buses leaving Matara and other places along the coast at all times of the night. Just get to the junction and wait. Better yet, get to Galle and wait there. As always, confirm directions with as many people as possible. A sort of mental triangulation is what is required.

For more information on where to stay and rates etc, leave comments or mail us!

Cheers!