If you asked me today whether I think you should go to Arugam Bay for the surf, I would probably say, “I don’t know”.
Yes, that is a very clear and concise answer, I know, but it is impossible to answer that simply…
There is surf in Arugam Bay, and it isn’t actually that bad most of the time.
I should stop here for a second and say that I am not a good surfer. I am adequate (maybe), and lack the confidence to surf in anything over head-high to head-and-a-half with shallow reefs or high consequence. I can nail a duck dive eighty percent of the time, I nail my pop-up about eighty-five percent, I miss a lot of my cutbacks, and I am pretty good at reading waves and linking sections (now that I have been surfing every day again for the last month) so, yeah: Average.
The waves in Arugam Bay are perfect for my level of surfer, and for those trying to achieve averageness. There are always inside sections and reforms for the beginners, and for us average types we can still take waves on the outside. Herein lies one of the problems (and there are several).
If you get on a wave from the outside, you WILL be dropped in on by beginners and snaked by surfers that should, and do, know better.
That is if you get on the wave. I am not a very competitive surfer. I struggle to maintain that killer edge that has me fighting my way through the lineup to be in the perfect place. I may just be a bit too polite to surf here, but it might also be that the ease of kitesurfing has dulled that need in me to fight for waves. I am not sure of the reasons, but if you are unwilling to be a complete prick in the lineup here, expect to be paddled over and pushed out of the lineup by groups of four or five testosterone-fueled twenty-somethings all day. A LOT of these guys, generally traveling together, lock out the lineups on the better breaks around Arugam Bay. I am a good enough surfer to recognize when I am being blocked and vibed out of a lineup. I am also just a good enough surfer to sneak a few waves past them.
This is not the locals. They are awesome. They catch most of the waves, as they should, but they will wave you in on the ones that come to you, and they will never block you or drop in on you. And they are just as stoked when you get a good one as they are for themselves.
If…
…you are not being a prick out there. I smile and acknowledge all of them. I ask their advice on the spot. I throw shakas and a smile when they get a good wave, and it is always reciprocated. Many of the “troublemakers” do not. Its just basic respect for the locals, like anywhere, and I will always have that respect no matter how many waves I may have to let by. At least I made some friends when the “other guys” (and some girls too) didn’t bother.
So, the surf in Arugam Bay and the surrounding area is crowded. Like, LA crowded. We figured out that if you want to catch waves, go in the middle of the day. That’s when the hotshots are all done with their morning sessions, and the sunset surfers (yeah, the hungover ones) haven’t come out yet. Also, most of the twenty-two thousand surf schools seem to take a break from one to three o’clock, leaving the inside sections a bit clearer. This opens you up to the wind, unfortunately, but several fun spots are fairly wind-protected or slightly offshore when its super windy.
Here are a few of my favorite spots around there:
Panama: A fun right point with a trickier outside takeoff between some rocks, or a really nice clean takeoff inside the reform from those rocks. Panama has potential for some nice long rides, but the days we were there it was a bit small, with big spaces between sections on the inside. I was still able to link sections occasionally and get a handful of rides around a hundred meters, so not too terrible. The advantage to Panama is that we were never out there with more than four other surfers (one day just Tam and I, and another day with just two guys). It doesn’t get too crowded because its a thirty minute drive from town on a rough road.
Elephant Rock: This right point is okay, but super crowded. I had a few waves that were a hundred meter rides, but was dropped in on at least three or four times on the inside section on every ride. (it is the second busiest beginner spot around Arugam Bay). It does have an outside takeoff, but it is super bumpy with backwash waves bouncing off the rocks, so you never know if it will toss you onto the face, off of it, or over it into the pit. Its kind of a crap shoot on that one. I put this one on here as an okay spot because its kind of a cool beach, closest to town (about twenty minutes), and has a huge elephant that you have to avoid on the road in (he has attacked several tuk tuks in the past, and charged through a group of tourists in the parking area just last week). Good adventure.
Lighthouse: Another right point that runs quickly into a steeper beach break. It can be good long rides, and mildly crowded for the size of the takeoff. If you make the inside section it steepens up and can be fun and faster than the point. It can only really support five or six people in the lineup. It is, however, in a really remote spot, and feels kind of wild out there. There is also a guesthouse out there that has some of the best food we have had so far in Sri Lanka, so a lunch break is always on the schedule. Its a good thing too, since Lighthouse is forty-five minutes from Arugam Bay or ay semblance of a town.
My favorite is Peanut Farm: The right point in the area if you ask me (or even if you don’t, evidently). This is a really fun break, with two to three hundred meter rides on every day we surfed there. It is also the place where I was dropped in on the least (some days not at all). The mid-day sessions here are uncrowded and the offshore wind has a little positive effect on the wave, so you can surf it any time without too much negative wind effect. It has two prominent points, one of which feeds into some serious rocks, and the other feeds into a looooong inside section ending at the beach. The wave offers long enough rides (if you link it all together) that it encourages you to walk back on the beach and paddle back out from the rocks at the point. Its a long paddle out the other way. There are less beginners here as well, which keeps the takeoff and the inside section looking a bit less like a shooting gallery. Overall, it is a great takeoff into several makable sections for long consistent waves. It was really good every day we went out there, about twenty minutes from town.
The rest:
The Main Point is a reefy feeling right point, the main spectator spot, walking distance from town, and the least consistent wave I saw in Arugam Bay. thirty percent of the days it wasn’t breaking. But, it is the place if you want to be seen surfing. I never saw it breaking without at least thirty or forty people on it. Too busy.
Then there is Baby Point, a right hand point/beach break right on the main beach in town. This one is busy. Don’t go with any expectation of catching anything long. Every wave is the party wave from hell. It looks like Malibu on the busiest days, and its all surf schools and wannabe hotshots all mixed together. It is a longboard wave, and mushy at that, but I did hear it could get good on a big swell. We never saw a swell above six feet the whole time we were there. We surfed it a few times, out of convenience, and still had fun once you accept the fact that you are catching every wave with everyone else in town.
Baby point.
The right point at Okanda looked okay, and there were no crowds because it takes over an hour to get there, and there is nothing around it. We looked at it, but we weren’t surfing that day.
There were several other right points, but all seemed very busy, and had multiple surf schools pushing students into waves and yelling a lot, so we avoided them. All we had to do on an average day was see which way the tuk tuks with five boards strapped on top, in a convoy with three or four others, were headed, and we would go somewhere else. It turned out to be a good system.
So, back to the original question: I still don’t know if you should come here for the surf. If you are a beginner, or progressing intermediate, yes. It is a good spot for that. If you are a charger (or you think you are), and you want to ride reeling double-overhead barrels, then probably not. If you don’t mind crowded surf, okay, but you have been warned.
All in all, I would say don’t come here just for the surf. I think there are many better spots to find waves in the world, but if you want to adventure around the most amazing place in the world, and do some surfing while you are here, it is a great choice. It is also a great offset to the kitesurfing season in the North part of the island, with separate seasons, so you can do both over the course of a few months. That and have some amazing adventures between the two.
Wind, Water, Waves, Wander 