Surfing Arugam Bay

Arugam Bay is where Sri Lanka turns its back on the package crowd and faces the open ocean. From May to September the southwest monsoon sends clean, peeling right-handers across Main Point, and the whole town reorganises itself around the swell.

Beginners should start down the coast at Baby Point or Whiskey Point, where the waves are forgiving and the line-ups friendly. The reef at Main Point is for surfers who already know how to fall.

Between sessions the town is all hammocks and rice and curry and slow afternoons. Stay a week. The bay rewards the unhurried.