Hot spots 2004: Sri Lanka

Everybody's gone surfing From The Times (London) January 03, 2004 - Original article Now that it’s safe to go back, surfers are heading to the coast. Carolyn Fry reports During the civil conflict in Sri Lanka, a small number of surf-loving Australians regularly returned to their favourite beach on the island’s southeast coast. The risk of being shot during violent battles between Tamil Tigers and the Army was a small price to pay for the opportunity of surfing alone at Arugam Bay where 6ft barrelling waves, some of the finest in the world, sweep in to the shore. “In the early Nineties it was brilliant,” said Graham John “Hawkey” Hawkes, a veteran surfer with long, tangled blond locks and red leathery skin. “The waves were awesome and there were only five people in the water. We used to hear a lot of gunfire in the night but we felt safe.”

Arugam Bay is swept by 6ft barrelling waves

I was sitting on the front terrace of the only surf shop in Arugam Bay, while Hawkey and his wave-riding friends Michael “The Boxer” Leeson and Anne Gillard supped beer and reminisced about the war years. Simply getting to the bay had been a tough challenge then: it wasn’t unusual for the guys to reach Monaragala, some 70km (45 miles) away, only to hear that the bus had been bombed. When Singhalese drivers refused to carry them onwards into the Tamil-occupied area, the only option was to bribe Special Task Force personnel. “They would drive through the jungle like a rocket,” recalled The Boxer. “If there was action through there it was a close thing.”

Now, with Sri Lanka enjoying its second year of peace, you’re more likely to meet an elephant than a Tamil Tiger on the dusty, single track road into Arugam Bay. I’d counted eight as I arrived late one evening with three of Britain’s best young surfers: Lloyd Cole, Reubyn Ash and John Buchorski. With surfboards bundled high on our minibus roof, we’d bounced our way along the dusty 186-mile (300km) route from Colombo to see if Arugam’s surf lived up to the legend.

Having heard so much about Arugam Bay’s waves, I expected to see some as I made the short walk from my palm-roofed cabana at Stardust Beach Hotel to the sea the next morning. Nature, however, had other ideas. As I wandered north along the deserted cinnamon sand, past snoozing guards at the Special Task Force checkpoint and a football pitch grazed by water buffalo, the warm waves lapping my ankles were barely more than a ripple. At breakfast, the boys looked anxious as they tucked into plates of toast and woodapple jam and drank steaming cups of Sri Lankan tea. “Don’t worry,” soothed Per Goodman, Stardust’s aging Danish owner. “They will come.”

And three days later they did. I had got up early to watch the sunrise, and arriving on the beach just as sky lightened, I could clearly make out lines on the sea surface advancing rhythmically towards the shore. Each low wall of water gained height as it drew near, finally curling forward into a mass of white foam.

Turning south, I headed for the point a mile or so away at the end of the bay. A shallow reef lies just offshore here, which makes the waves higher than other breaks in the area. This would be where I would find the surfers.

Sure enough I met Lloyd, John and Reubyn limbering up on the sand. Reubyn was first in the water, ducking under the foam breakers on his board, then spinning 180 degrees ready to catch a ride back in. As the first wave curled towards him he was up in an instant, gliding down its green, glassy face before flipping back up to the top to repeat the ride over and over. Then the others were there too, one minute racing down smooth slopes of water, the next spinning across the wave apex, doused in the spray blowing off the breakers.

That Arugam Bay began attracting surfers has much to do with Stardust’s eccentric owners, Merete Scheller and Per Goodman. The couple came to Sri Lanka in 1979 as part of a round-the-world trip and found the bay when they stuck a pin in the map to choose their next destination. The place seemed so desolate when they arrived that Per wanted to move on immediately, but Merete persuaded him to stay the night.

In the end, the place captivated them so completely they gave up their travels and bought a piece of land on the beach. “The site was just barren sand, under a sky of stars or hot sun,” recalled Merete. “There was one coconut tree. In the shade of this tree, the masons started mixing their mortar and concrete.”

From these humble beginnings, Stardust Beach Hotel took shape. Today a new main building houses airy en suite rooms, while cabanas are dotted around in the sand garden. Circular stepping stones and flaming coconut lamps seductively lead the way past frangipani trees, hibiscus and bougainvillea to the open-sided dining room, where the head waiter Ramesh and his crew serve up fresh prawns, crab and lobster, home-made ice-cream and Granny’s chocolate cake. In between eating or surfing, there are canoes from which to spot monitor lizards and wild monkeys around the lagoon, plus yoga lessons and relaxing reflexology massages.

Although other small guest houses and hotels have sprung up beside Stardust, the village still has the sleepy feel of a place that time forgot. As I explored the main street, bullocks grazed and goats suckled in the dust, as smiling women cycled slowly past, babies balanced on their handlebars.

Progress has been late in coming to Arugam Bay. Electricity arrived as recently as 1995 and telephones only became widely used in 1997 (though a sign in the empty telephone box outside Siam Reggae Bar still reads, “This kiosk is temporarily out of service due to modernisation”).

Change is on its way, though. The recent Tokyo Donor conference pledged £2.6 million to Sri Lanka. Some of that money will almost certainly reach the southeast coast, one of Sri Lanka’s poorest regions. Annual visitor numbers have already rocketed from a few hundred to several thousand since the peace deal. And with surfing now one of the fastest growing sports in the world, numbers are certain to increase rapidly. In May, the British Professional Surfing Association plans to hold a major surf contest.

As the afternoon sun sank behind A-bay’s Surf Shop, Hawkey and his mates seemed resigned to sharing their waves with a new generation of young, keen surfers. The Boxer proudly admitted that at 56 he was now the oldest surfer in the bay. He’d never give it up, he said, it was his life. But he would happily share his knowledge of the ocean — and war stories — with anyone who came.

“More and more Australians back home are doing it now,” he said, in his slow, Antipodean drawl. “Everyone wants to surf, everyone wants to wear surf clothing. Sooner or later they’ll come to Arugam Bay — and when they finally do they will wonder why they never came before.”

NEED TO KNOW

Getting there: Carolyn Fry flew with Sri Lankan Airlines (020-8538 2001, www.srilankan.aero), which offers 11 flights a week from Heathrow to Colombo. Fares start at £509 return plus taxes.

Where to stay: Travel and Tours Anywhere Ltd (0800 0931411, www.exploresrilanka.biz) offers surfing holidays to Arugam Bay and Hikkaduwa. A 15-day holiday to Arugam Bay including flights, transfers and B&B accommodation in a guest house costs from £699pp. 14 days in Hikkaduwa costs from £599pp. Hire of boards and surfing lessons can be arranged.

The Stardust Hotel (00 94 632 248191, www.arugambay.com) has rooms from about £13 a night.

When to go: The waves at Arugam Bay are best between May and September during the dry season. During the off-season, Sri Lanka’s main surf spot on the southwest coast, Hikkaduwa, has good waves.

Reading: Sri Lanka (Lonely Planet, £12.99);

Fit to Surf: The Surfer’s Guide to Strength and Conditioning (McGraw Hill, £9.99).

Further information: Sri Lanka Tourist Board (020-7930 2627, www.srilankatourism.org) www.arugambay.com.