AbaY - in a nutshell 
Image by james_gordon_losangeles
Arugam Bay is on the list of the top ten surf points in the world. Situated on the SE coast of Sri Lanka, Arugam Bay receives the same Antarctic winter swells that hit Indonesia. The best surfing conditions are between May and November when the predominant wind is offshore for at least the first half of the day.
Boats on Arugam's Beach
Due to its location and southerly swell direction the area is dominated by right hand point breaks. Three of the point breaks Arugam Bay Point is a ten min. walk from town, Pottuvil Point and Crocodile Rock are within a half hour tuk tuk ride from Arugam Bay. There are several other surfing points that are within an hour tuk tuk ride, Panama and Okanda are south of Arugam Bay.
Nilanthas’ Tuk tuk Service provides reliable transportation to and from any of the surfing destinations at a very reasonable rate. Nilantha also has ….. Continue reading ‘Fishing boats, Arugam Bay’
The JACK Johnson of Europe
- Chris & Anna @ The SVH
Chris Shermer is Europe’s leading Surf Song Writer, Guitarist and performer.
Due to last year’s success, it has been confirmed that he will again entertain the young crowd at Arugam Bay.
His last concert will be on
Monday, 27h May @ the SVH, Arugam Bay
from, say, 20:30 onwards
Meanwhile, get an idea of his talent.
In the attached brand new video clip!
Arugam Bay is now entering it’s perhaps
“Highest Season”
ever.
Right now, there are plenty of vacancies.
But: Mainly in the low budget accommodation range
- Arugam Bay is a GREEN resort. So far….
The few better class and specially air-conditioned rooms are very much in demand.
It is HOT in the Bay!
Book NOW!
#05a No Worries Guesthouse openes
(Text, photos & introduction submitted by the management)
- Shiva & Ben
No Worries was previously called Big Berry but this year it is under new management. The new manager is a long time Arugam Bay local, Shiva, who has worked here at #05 The Beach Hut for the past 7 years.
#05a No Worries
No Worries Guesthouse is at the North end of the bay next door to our good friends at the popular Beach Hut and a 20 second walk from the water.
We have 12 clean and affordable rooms including Singles with fan, Twins & Doubles with fan or AC and a 4 bed dorm. All come with free WiFi and attached bathroom.
Also, our restaurant serves tasty food from around the world for breakfast and dinner.
Accommodation
Record Breaking Tourist Arrivals @ H’tot
The Wonder of Asia has finally Taken off!
Our New Airport is coping well with recent Tourist arrivals.
Everyone is heading towards famous Arugam Bay
Update 1st April, 2013:
- Dozens of World Class Airlines singed up for Hambantot
The New Airport can handle it !
- Flight No.BI69 arriving from Patna touching down at Hambantot
Rail links are almost near full capacity
- Hambantot Central Railways Station
Continue reading ‘Record Breaking Tourist Arrivals @ H’tot’
(0)Mr. Bob M. just took those two photos at famous Arugam Bay
Sun Rise Surf. AbaY March, 2013
Baby Point. Mid March 2013
A busy and very important weekend ahead.
H.E. The President. Expected at Arugam Bay.
Preparations, repairs, construction, cleaning up and painting operations are in progress all around Arugam Bay and nearby PottuVille Town.
It seems that a New Beach Approach Road is going to be opened.
This picturesque road leads to one of the island’s perhaps most important Temple site:
“Muhudu Maha Vihara”
Muhudu Maha Vihara (ancient Temple) Road
PottuVille has a huge potential.
To become yet another Tourist and Pilgrim destination
Next to famous Arugam Bay
A New Bus & car park
New Temple near the ancient, historical site
The perhaps oldest Temple on the island?
The New Mattala International Airport.
Just 2 Hrs. 30 Min. South of Arugam Bay
- arugam.info reporters. shown here at the New Mattala Airport
More-up-to date details:
Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport awarded International Airport Certification
President Mahinda Rajapaksa will commission Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport on March 18. This is the second International Airport in Sri Lanka and the first ever Sri Lankan International Airport to be operated as an International Airport ‘from the day of commencing operations’, Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne said.
He was addressing a special press briefing at the Civil Aviation Ministry yesterday in connection with awarding International Airport Certification Continue reading ‘“Our” New Airport. Mattala’
(1)Arugam Bay, the surfer’s paradise
(March to October)
a useful summary & description.
Surf, Beach, Lagoon, Village, Beautiful Inland Landscape, Jungle, Elephant Rock & Crocodile Rock
Arugam Bay is one of the TOP 10 surf points in the world. It is also a pristine sandy beach of stunning natural beauty. Arugam Bay’s proximity to Lahugala National Park & Yala East National Park makes it a unique surfing beach.
Ladies & Lady Surfers are happy in remote AbaY
Location
Arguam Bay is located 320 km from Colombo. Some 60km due east from Monaragala, Arugam Bay is a tiny fishing village 3km south of the small fishing village of Pottuvil (12000 inhabitants) at the remote southern end of the Eastern coast & on the edge of Yala East National Park.
To the beach
The journey to the beach here takes you across some attractive meadows teeming with wildlife.
Orientation
The bay lies between two headlands & is excellent for surfing.
Beach
The wide, sweeping sandy beach in front of the village is an attraction for swimming all year-round. The beach is usually deserted, except at the southwest corner, where some fishing boats & thatch huts reveal the tiny fishing village of Ulla, just to the south of the guest house area. This is also the safest area for swimming.
Surf
‘The Point’ in Arugam Bay is regarded as a top world surf destination. It is a well lined up right hand point break, generating a clean peeling glassy wave that barrels a surfer a 400m ride right through to the inside. Additionally there are four or five high quality breaks within a radius of 30 minutes. Continue reading ‘Arugam Information -SUMMARY-’
There are not many places on Earth where travellers can surf world-class waves in the morning, have a have a close encounter with an elephant at lunchtime and be back in the water by mid afternoon. Arugam Bay (Aru-gam-Beh), on Sri Lanka’s eastern coast, is exactly this, a slice of surf/chiller heaven on the Indian Ocean.
What I found particularly unique about Arugam bay was the equal racial mix of Tamil, Muslim and Singhalese families that lived peacefully in the town despite the ethnic conflicts that existed in other parts of Sri Lanka (the civil war ended three years ago).
The days passed very happily for Loochy and I. We had a great adventure the morning of our departure to Galle in the South: fishing at 4am with 2 local fishermen, Mohammed and Mostaquim! To see what we go up to, check out the video and photos (above).
I promise this is the last post about Sri Lanka!!
Peggy Sue
x
Video editor: Sedef Isim
Photos: Peggy Sue
Watch out for some of those Common scams
While you’re often safer overseas than you are in your hometown, a few scams seem to pop up all over the world. Repeat the mantra: if it looks too good to be true, it must be too good to be true…
Most points below we spotted on Lonely Planet web page – Some are relevant (for a change;-)
1. Fake police
Sometimes also the real police, they’ll demand to see your passport and find something wrong with your visa, but then suggest your troubles will all be over if you pay a fine. To them. In cash. Right now. Standing your ground and offering to accompany them to the station will usually see the error ‘excused’.
2. Gem or carpet deals
On entry into a store, often prompted by an enthusiastic taxi or rickshaw driver, you will be offered a deal so preposterously lucrative that refusing it seems unthinkable. Think again – those gems are going to be worthless and the carpet you buy may not make it home at all. There are legitimate traders selling both jewels and rugs, and they don’t act like this.
3. Airport taxis
Drivers taking you into town might try every trick in the book, from asking you for an inflated fare to driving around the streets to raise the price higher. This is usually harmless, but you should only travel with licensed taxis and, if you can’t pay in advance, agree on a fee before starting out and don’t pay until you get where you want to be.
4. ‘This is closed’
In some countries everyone from touts to taxi drivers will try to tell you that your chosen hotel, restaurant or shop is closed…but there’s another, even better one you should visit, where they can pick up a commission. This is more annoying than harmful, but always insist on having a look for yourself.
5. Surf Board rental scam
This may be gummed together again. To rent ?
You shop around for the ‘best’ deal. The cheapest shop often turns out to be the most expensive. This how the scam works: A tourist breaks his board. The local mini mafia buys it. To make a ‘sign’ or so. Instead they patch it up again, gloss the joint over so that the repair can’t be spotted. First wave you catch snaps the board in half. Again. The rental guys come on heavy and demand huge sums for the previously ‘perfect” board. Rent from reputable shops only. And inspect the board carefully before accepting it. Look for lumps , chips, loose fins or other damage.
6. Motorbike scam #1
Living out your dream of riding a scooter for a day around the countryside quickly turns into a nightmare when the bike you’re riding breaks down or you have an accident. The owner of the motorbike is quick to escort you and your damaged bike (which doesn’t look in that bad a state) to the repair joint of their choice, Continue reading ‘Common Travel Scams’
(1)Ceylon’s extinct race
Just a 3ft - 1 meter tall race
Just few miles due South of Arugam Bay a mystery cave with an amazing history might exist.
Arugam’s new High Tech Geocaching Initiative hopes to shine some light onto this legend.
Geocatching is a respected, non intrusive GPS Sat . Navigation . To locate, pinpoint & map interesting places. NOTHING will ever be disturbed or interfered with on any given location.
Background:
The Nittaewo, (sometimes spelt without the a or as Nittevo) were said to be a small tribe of small bigfoot or Yeti type homins. Pliny the Elder mentioned the Nittaewo as a small, hairy tribe of people living in the country of Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka. They lived at the same time as the Veddha.
VEDDAH & Nittaewo inhabited Ceylon
The Veddhas are a tribe which still live, mainly as farmers, on the island of Sri Lanka and, their legends say they are responsible for wiping out the Nittaewo roughly 250 years ago. According to the Veddha tradition recorded by Frederick Lewis in 1914, the Nittaewo were approximately three feet (1 metre) tall, the females being shorter than the males. They walked erect, had no tails and were completely naked. Their arms were short and they had talon like nails, lived in trees, caves and crevices and caught and ate small animals like the hare, squirrel and tortoise. They lived in groups of 10 or 20 and their speech was like the twittering of birds. They were said to be exterminated in the late eighteenth century by the Veddhas because the both tribes were constantly fighting and the Nittaewo began to take the Veddha’s children. The elders of the Veddha’s decided that something had to be done. The Nittaewo were trapped in a cave, which the Veddhas blocked the entrance to with wood and set it a blaze killing all that remained of the Nittaewo.
The actual cave has never been found. As yet.
Could this be an ancient man ?
In 1887, British explorer Hugh Nevill documented recent tales of the warfare occurring between the Veddhas and the Nittaewo. The Nittaewo being extinct at this point in time. Continue reading ‘Nitteawo’
ARUGAM BAY 
There’s not much to ARUGAM BAY village itself: just a single main road running parallel to the beach dotted with guesthouses, cafés and shops, including some of Arugam Bay’s trademark quirky homespun architectural creations – rustic palm-thatch cabanas, teetering treehouses and other quaint structures (not to mention the distinctive wooden pavilion restaurant and red British telephone box of the landmark Siam View Hotel ).
The beach is now looking better than ever following recent clearances during which the authorities ordered the removal of all buildings within 20m of the waterline (albeit at considerable cost to local hoteliers and other residents, who were forced to watch as the government bulldozers rolled in and summarily razed significant slices of prized real estate).
A-Bay also marks the rough border between the Sinhalese-majority areas to the south and the mainly Tamil and Muslim areas further up the coast, and boasts an unusually eclectic but harmonious mix of all three ethnic groups – as well as a growing number of Western expats. Fears that the village’s uniquely (for Sri Lanka) alternative and slightly off-the-wall character will be erased by larger and more mainstream tourism developments remain, however, especially given the forthcoming opening of the new Hambantota airport, which will make the village significantly easier to reach for international visitors. For the time being, however, Arugam Bay preserves its own enjoyably eccentric charm.
ARUGAM BAY AND AROUND
Easygoing Arugam Bay is by far the most engaging of the east coast’s resorts. A-Bay, as it’s often known, has long been popular with the surfing fraternity, who come here to ride what are generally acknowledged to be the best waves in Sri Lanka. It’s also a good launching-pad from which to explore the gorgeous surrounding countryside and its varied attractions, from the elephant-rich Lahugala National Park and the little-visited Yala East National Park to the atmospheric forest hermitage at Kudimbigala.
SURFING AT ARUGAM BAY
With waves fresh from Antarctica crashing up onto the beach, Arugam Bay is sometimes claimed to be one of the top ten surf points in the world, and periodically plays host to international tournaments. The best time for surfing is between April and Oct/Nov.
WHERE TO GO
There are several breaks close to Arugam Bay, plus others further afield. The biggest waves in A-Bay itself are at The Point Continue reading ‘Rough Guide to AbaY’
Travel Magazine
There are not many places on Earth where travellers can surf world-class waves in the morning, have a close encounter with an elephant at lunchtime and be back in the water by mid afternoon. Arugam Bay, on Sri Lanka’s eastern coast, is one such place, and since the country’s civil war ended three years ago, the small town has been busier than ever – despite how hard it is to get to.
South of Arugam. nr. Panama
Other than a highway from Colombo, the capital, to Galle, a city in the south, most of Sri Lanka’s roads remain practically as they were in the 1950s – which means narrow, dual carriageways shared by everyone, including cyclists, buses and trucks. As such, the coast-to-coast haul from Colombo to Arugam Bay by public bus is a 400-rupee, 320km journey that takes nearly 12 hours. It is hot, uncomfortable, occasionally terrifying and utterly worthwhile.
Panama - to Kumana track
On a recent trip, a young man with an AK-47 boarded the noisy bus and prodded the barrel of his assault rifle into the belly of a middle-aged woman. Rather than panic and scream, she politely asked him to refrain, and the young man, a soldier in the Sri Lankan army, looked a bit embarrassed and apologised. The weapon, hanging from his shoulder, had accidentally prodded the woman as he leaned forward to stow his luggage in the cramped overhead compartment.
Well-marked busses leave frequently from the Bastian Mawatha Bus Terminal in Colombo. Alternatively, visitors can make the journey by taxi, which will take less time and has the added bonus of privacy and air-conditioning, but will cost about 16,500 rupees.
Once you get to Arugam Bay, there is not much to do.
..."not much to do" ....
The town – nicknamed “A Bay” by locals – is basically a thin strip of road with bars and restaurants frequented by young surfers and partygoers, a smattering of places to stay, a few surf shops and not much else, but travellers are lured by the excellent food on offer, easy access to exotic wildlife and waves that are widely regarded as some of the country’s best. It seems like a place on the cusp of something, which, in a way, it is. Many of the local tourism operators, tuk-tuk drivers and restaurant staff say that 2012 has been the busiest year yet.
The hometown surfers have grown up on Arugam Bay’s many breaks, and run the town’s surf shops and schools. Continue reading ‘Riding (Arugam’s) new wave’
(0)
March to October is High Season!
Book Early!
Arugam Bay’s popular hotels are nearly fully booked this summer.
In all, there are only about 100 air-conditioned rooms available, anyhow.
Most of those have been taken up already!
It looks like it’s going to be a busy main season this year.
Low budget, non a/c rooms however are still available.
Reserve direct or via Agoda.com etc.
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Surf Forecast for Arugam Bay
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