The best beaches in Sri Lanka for a winter holiday. Brief overview of Sri Lanka beach resorts Presence of barrage reefs
Those tourists who want to find Sri Lankan beaches with a calm ocean without waves should pay attention not only to the geographical location of the beach on the island, but also to the time of year. In fact, in Sri Lanka you can always find beaches with a calm ocean, but at different times of the year there are beaches without waves on different coasts of the island.
Despite its relatively small size, the island of Sri Lanka has a surprisingly varied climate, influenced by two monsoon seasons. The northeast monsoon prevails for six months in the east and north of Sri Lanka, and the southwest monsoon dominates for another six months in the west and south. So Sri Lankan beaches with calm oceans can be found at any time of the year. You just need to understand which coast is better for relaxation at certain times of the year. Below we will talk about this.
Beaches without waves on the east coast of Sri Lanka
Arugam Bay, Uppuveli, Nilaveli, Pasekuda and Kalkuda. These are excellent beaches for swimming. True, the ocean is not always calm here. On the east coast of Sri Lanka, the period from April to September is considered the best for swimming. The fact is that at this time the region is not under the influence of the northeast monsoon. Serious deterioration in weather, which is accompanied by high waves on the ocean, begins here only in November and continues until February. It is also worth noting that during the transition months, which are March and October, the weather can be anything (depending on your luck).Beaches without waves on the southern coast of Sri Lanka
It's a different story on the south coast, where beaches without waves can be found mainly between December and May. True, in summer sometimes the amount of precipitation here drops sharply, and the strong wind disappears for a while, so the ocean can be calm even in July and August. November marks a transitional season on the south coast, making the weather difficult to predict. However, in the second half of the month the chances of finding a calm ocean are greater than in the first half of November.Beaches without waves on the west coast of Sri Lanka
Bentota, Hikkaduwa, Negombo and Alankuda are the most popular beaches on the west coast of Sri Lanka. Like the southern coast, the monsoon dominates here from June to October. The heaviest rains here occur between July and October, and June often has decent weather. The months of December to April are generally ideal for swimming in the calm ocean waters of western Sri Lanka as, in addition to the absence of waves, the weather is sunny and clear with little rainfall.0
It's no secret that more than half of the beaches in Sri Lanka are considered among the best in the world. And there are explanations for this. First of all, they are clean. Secondly, they are completely covered with sand, which is a pleasure to step on with bare feet. And thirdly, all beaches are the creation of nature itself, not man. Therefore, they are unique and there are no such beaches anywhere else. But such wonderful beaches also have their downside, and this downside is the waves, and sometimes very large ones. Therefore, tourists who are going here on vacation will first find out where the beaches without waves are in Sri Lanka. We have collected information that will help you choose the best beach in Sri Lanka for families with children at any time of the year. You can relax here in January, February, March and any other month of the year. And so, let's watch.
Beach – Unawatuna
Back in 2004, the famous Discovery TV channel called this beach the best in the world. Years have passed, but the beach is still good and welcomes tourists. There are no big waves here, it is almost always smooth.
The beach itself has a semicircular shape, which decorates it and makes it special. This small lagoon is known for its shallow depth. The greatest depth is no more than 6 meters, and even then you still have to swim to it. Therefore, tourists with children prefer to come here.
The beach is sandy, there are no stones or shells on it. It is completely safe for absolutely everyone. Elephants are not allowed here and you don’t have to be afraid that when you open your eyes you will see a herd of elephants in front of you.
Diving enthusiasts gather on the beach. They dive underwater and admire the underwater world. Fish, corals. Plants and sunken ships. It's rare to see something like this in one place.
Find out about prices in Sri Lanka. To be ready for anything. You will understand from the article. Why are fruits and vegetables expensive here, but laptops are the cheapest in the world?
Nilaveli is the best beach according to travel agencies.
If a travel agency tells you that Nilaveli Beach is the best on the entire coast of Sri Lanka, then believe them. It is so indeed. Ask any tourist who has been to the country, and he will say that this is the best place to relax.
The beach has white sand, and the sea water is the cleanest in the area. Many fish swim here, who, just like people, want to enjoy the cleanliness and beauty of the place. There are a lot of tourists on the beach. Although it is located at a distance from the resort of Colombo. But tourists rush here from early morning to take a seat and enjoy their vacation.
Fans of scuba diving also do not bypass the beach. They have their favorite place here. Where they gather and dive underwater together to once again enjoy the beautiful views of the underwater life of the ocean.
Negombo is a beach with cheap seafood.
This beach not only has no waves, but is also known for its cheap seafood.
It is from here that boats and fishing ships depart to catch squid, fish, oysters and other ocean inhabitants. So local cafes and restaurants always have fresh and inexpensive seafood food.
Negombo is also famous for its centuries-old buildings. It was on this beach that fortresses and churches were built when the country was part of the Dutch colony.
The beach is very popular with tourists and locals. It's fun here, sports games are held on the sands, and children are always under the supervision of lifeguards.
Mirissa is a beach for romantics.
There are very few hotels on the coast where this beach is located. There are only ten of them, so there are very few tourists in this place.
Newlyweds and people in love come here. Sitting by the ocean and enjoying a beautiful sunset is a favorite pastime of all couples. The beach itself is small, but there are many cozy places where you can retire and listen to the sound of the ocean, the cries of birds and say goodbye to the passing day.
Everyone will like this beach, because everything here is so natural and unique. Beach coastline made of sand of different colors. And the entrance to the water is shallow, so you can enter the ocean 10-15 meters and still be standing in the water.
These are the four beaches we offer you to choose from. Remember, these are beaches without big waves. In fact, there are more than a thousand beaches in Sri Lanka.
Since most tourists still choose Sri Lanka as a place for a beach holiday, I cannot ignore this topic. I won’t say, of course, that in eight days I actually explored a bunch of beaches, but I managed to stand on four of them with my feet, and observed n number more from the window while traveling along the coast, because... The main route runs neatly along the ocean. I’ll tell you, of course, about the ones I visited.
Unawatuna beach
He has become practically family, and indeed, in my opinion, the best. When planning a trip at the turn of the seasons, we chose Unawatuna precisely because of the bay, because... All sources on the Internet said that this is the calmest place on the coast, and even when there is a storm everywhere, you can swim quite successfully here. It turned out to be true.
They also write that this beach is included in the top 10 beaches according to National Geography, I got confused, looked for this very top, and did not find Unawatuna in it, but because... Every year different beaches go there, maybe when it was.
So, in addition to the relatively calm ocean, the main advantage of Unawatuna is its wide coastline and distance from the highway. Due to this, along the entire length of the beach there are cafes one after another, on the territory of which you can not only sit, but also lie on sunbeds, ordering something there in the process, even a bottle of water will do. But I’m sure that no one is limited to this.
There is a small reef along the perimeter of the bay, because... Still, there were waves, I didn’t dare swim to it, but I still snorkeled a little closer to the shore. There’s nothing interesting at all, just a few fish, sea urchins in the rocks, shells like those on the Sea of Azov, only a little larger, and the surf brings in dead corals. The water is muddy due to the waves and the sandy bottom, which, by the way, also contains stones, so if you are not a fan of jumping into the sea and immediately swimming, you can even take coral slippers with you. Although, despite a couple of bruises, I felt quite comfortable without them.
But what Unawatuna is full of are small nasty jellyfish that are not averse to stinging anything that gets in their way. Not fatal, but unpleasant, plus the burn site turns red and swells for some time. Experienced tourists taught them a secret: the burn goes away faster if you spread it with lime or lemon juice.
Dalawella Beach. Wijaya Beach
These beaches are technically located on the territory of Unawatuna, but in fact it is about 2-3 kilometers from the main beach. They are located behind the bay, and the water there is no longer calm. Again, during the high season the ocean is calm throughout, so please note that my description is for April-May.
So, Dalawella and adjacent Vijaya are perhaps the most picturesque beaches in the vicinity of Unawatuna. This is where the bungee palm grows, which can be found in every fifth photo with the hashtag #unawatuna on Instagram. Just a piece of advice, if you decide to make such a photo for yourself, bring some small money, apparently, the locals make money by climbing palm trees and untying the bungee for a fee. Because We went there from Vijaya exclusively in swimsuits and with cameras, and then we left the same way, but we were too lazy to return.
The beach itself is narrow, but the hotels go directly to the shore, and for a small fee you can rent sun loungers on the territory of some hotel. There are fewer people than on the big beach, and that’s also great.
Somewhere between the stones there lives a large turtle, which periodically surfaced, but while I had time to turn to the screams of my girls, it dived back. In the end, everyone saw her except me.
You can't swim here everywhere, because... rip currents, especially strong at low tide. What this is, I already wrote in. So, it is better to ask people on the beach where it is safe to go into the water.
Jungle Beach
This is the famous beach on the other side of the bay that is closer to Galle, or rather, even two beaches. What are they famous for? Once upon a time these were two wild beaches cut off from the world with many monkeys. Now you can’t really call them wild, but rather wildly polluted. We read about all this, but decided to go anyway, because, firstly, the path to the beach lies through the Rumasala forest, and since we didn’t go to the rain forest because of the leeches, then at least in a small and modest way everything I wanted to take a walk.
Yes, you can easily get there by tuk-tuk, but who was talking about easy ways? And, secondly, on the way we planned to visit the Japanese Peace Pagoda, which I will write about separately, otherwise it’s only the third beach, and there’s already so much text.
Well, we went to Jungle Beach exactly on the eve of Vesak Poe, this is the Buddhist holiday of the May full moon, the day on which Buddha was born, gained enlightenment and died, akin in scale to our New Year.
The path through the forest is really quite picturesque.
On the way, you can also admire the Blow Hole from one side, which I already wrote about in a post about Unawatuna, admire the trees, vines, and meet a monitor lizard, if you’re lucky.
It’s not scary to walk along it; the path is clearly visible on the maps. 
The first beach you come across is small and without any amenities, but very picturesque.
What gave it a special flavor that day was the huge number of Sri Lankans who were hanging out there on the occasion of the holiday, although I read in other blogs that there were always a lot of locals there.
Such bright people that I couldn’t resist taking portraits.
When I asked permission to take a photo, everyone willingly posed.
The stairs leading to the second beach from the road are quite steep, so, by the way, I recommend wearing comfortable shoes, if not sneakers, then at least sandals or Crocs.
At some point, my friend couldn’t stand it:
— When you write on your blog about how we walked here, don’t forget to mention that the walk here is not 20 minutes, as everyone writes, but 40, and in general it’s hellish hell, not a road!
I quote almost verbatim, with the exception of some speech patterns that are untranslatable from the Belarusian language 😃
Well, yes, the beach itself is probably not worth the effort, but the forest, the pagoda, the rice fields (we just got lost and stumbled across this by accident), are worth walking for.
In general, the second beach is more civilized, there is a cafe, sun loungers, but everything is so shabby and dirty that you definitely don’t want to spend the whole day there.
And the promised monkeys were not there, perhaps, of course, because of the crowd of people.
Hikkaduwa Beach
This village is considered a kind of hangout place for surfers and more. After reading a bunch of reviews, we decided that we would spend the whole day in Hikkaduwa. But alas, after walking along the beach and running several times across a very busy road that runs parallel to it, we immediately grabbed a tuk-tuk and rushed off to our native village.
The beach is really long, but narrow. Maybe the water recedes during the season, but we got a strip of sand that was covered by waves up to the parapet. We never found freely available sunbeds, and somehow we didn’t want to sit on the sand and catch slippers floating into the ocean.
Large turtles live in Hikkaduwa, very tame, they swim straight to the shore, but we were not lucky to see them.
A large number of my friends vacationed in Hikkaduwa and were satisfied, but my subjective opinion is that Unawatuna is better.
This is how it turned out to be a small comparative characteristic or something. Some places I liked more, some places less, but it was definitely fun and interesting everywhere, which once again convinces me of the correctness of the saying that wherever you go, first of all you take yourself with you.
The beaches of Sri Lanka are some of the most famous. In this article we will look at the best beaches in Sri Lanka, which are very popular among tourists, as well as what sea is in Sri Lanka and where is the best place to relax on the island? Where is the best place to relax on the island, and what popular resorts and beaches can we choose?
Hikkaduwa is the best place for divers and clubbers. This is a beautiful large beach where dive enthusiasts can enjoy wrecks. There are courses for beginner divers on the beach. The corals in Hikkaduwa are some of the most beautiful in all of Asia. Hikkaduwa is also considered a favorite place for surfers.
Unawatuna known for its beautiful semicircular beach, which in 2004 was named the best in the world by the Discovery Channel. Swimming in the blue ocean lagoon is pleasant and safe, as the depth reaches only 6 meters and therefore you can swim here throughout the year. Divers will find the best and most amazing coral reefs, a variety of bizarre fish and shipwrecks here. A photo of this beach is shown below.
Nilaveli is located on the east coast of the island 240 kilometers from Colombo. This is a natural harbor, which, according to many travel agencies, is one of the best in the world. This beach is also considered the best for diving and surfing. This beach is famous for its white sand and clear sea. Tours to this resort are among the most popular.
Negombo- the famous beach, which is located near the city of the same name, it is washed by the Laccadive Sea. It is famous for its fresh seafood. This also affects tourism services, since delicacies such as squid, shrimp and lobster at the most affordable prices can be tasted in local restaurants and cafes. Negombo is one of the beaches in Sri Lanka that has a rich history, as during the Dutch colonization, fortresses and churches were built here, which have survived to this day.
Colombo is not only the unofficial capital of the island of Sri Lanka, but also the cultural “mecca” of the island. There are practically no beaches here, so tourists go to nearby cities (Bentosa, Hikkaduwa, Unawatuna, Kalutara, etc.).
Mirissa considered the calmest, best and most beautiful beach on the Indian Ocean coast. This is a small beach that offers a romantic atmosphere and tranquility. There are not a large number of hotels here (there are only about 10 of them), their sizes are small and they are designed for people who go on vacation on their own. A description of the Mirissa coastline can be found on our website.
Koggala It is interesting for its beautiful lake, which stretches along the entire beach for several kilometers. This beach is located on the southwestern coast of Ceylon.
Kalutara- This is a fairly wide coastal strip, which is covered with coarse yellow sand. For vacationers on Kalatura beach, sun loungers and umbrellas are available for rent. Also on the beach area there is a small cafe with local cuisine. You can get here by bus or train.
Its coastline is 40 kilometers from Colombo. This resort is located on the Kalu-Ganga River, which means “Black River.” In the distant past, Kalutara was the main center for the spice trade. Today this city is a modern resort with great opportunities for various sports and beach holidays. It is suitable for windsurfing, kite surfing, sailing, diving, spearfishing, etc.
Beruwela is a beach located in an ancient Sri Lankan city that was founded by Arab traders in the 8th century. One of the oldest mosques on the island, Kechimalai, is located here. Beruwela is a fairly young and rapidly developing resort. In recent years, the most modern hotels have been built here, shops have been improved, and the tourism area has been improved. Beruwella is located at the very beginning of a long 130 kilometer beach, which stretches along the entire southwestern part of the island. There are practically no waves here, so you can relax with children and swim without waves here all year round. The swimming season here lasts 12 months a year. That is why many people want to come to this resort, since they can relax here with their children.
Bentota is the most beautiful and romantic resort on the island of Sri Lanka, which is located in the southwest of the island, in the Galle region, on the coast of the Bentota-Ganga River, which flows into the Indian Ocean. Benthosa got its name from the legend of a demon named Beem, who ruled the banks of this river. Bentota has its own airport, a turtle reserve, and the ancient ruins of a 12th-century Buddhist temple. The resort is also valuable for its delicious palm wine and diving and surfing opportunities.
Bentota is the most favorite beach of newlyweds. There are many four and five-star hotels here that offer the highest quality service, and uncrowded, many-kilometer beaches provide relaxation and comfort. Beginner divers choose this place because the sea or ocean here offers the clearest water and picturesque coral reefs.
