Weligama in Sri Lanka is one of the most popular resorts. There is all the necessary infrastructure here, prices are even pleasant in rubles, next to the Indian Ocean (more precisely, its Laccadive Sea) with the cheapest surfing in the world.
My husband and I, wintering in Asia, spent a month and a half in Veligama in the spring. Before that, we had been to Ceylon several times and therefore chose the resort deliberately — the main reason was a good surfing beach and an environment of Europeans wintering here. Below I will tell you what Veligama is, and what features you need to know if you decide to choose this place for a short vacation or a long winter stay.
Why choose the Veligama resort? My review
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First of all, Veligama is the main surfing point in the south of Ceylon. It is in winter, during the high season, that the weather is excellent for surfing and the smoothest and longest waves are ideal for beginners.
- Add here the ridiculous price for surfing lessons (from 3500 Sri Lankan rupees / 1000 rubles per hour) and surf rental (from 500 rupees / 150 rubles per hour), gorgeous sunsets in the evening, many good European cafes and inexpensive accommodation with sea views … and you will understand why Weligama in Sri Lanka is popular with tourists from all over the world.
On the island, each resort town has its own special atmosphere, and the beaches are different in scenery. As part of an independent trip to Sri Lanka, we chose Veligama because we wanted to change the location and live away from the crowds of tourists. Unlike Unawatuna and Hikkaduwa, there is never a pandemonium of visitors to all Inclusive in Veligama. And my husband really wanted to surf.
It is comfortable to relax and live longer than a two-week vacation in Veligama. Nearby are the major cities of Galle and Matara, where you can buy everything you need for a normal life and exchange dollars or euros for rupees, as well as withdraw money from foreign cards. There are no huge supermarkets in Veligama, but there is a fish market and chain stores where there is enough food and fruits to cook at home, as well as special places to buy alcohol.
But, again, the main thing in Veligama is surfing. We surfed here sometimes three times a week — it’s great fitness and great leisure. And if you don’t want to surf yourself, you can watch how others do it.
You can read the reviews of tourists about Veligama for 2023 as much as you like, but here is my brief summary. If you like the surfer hangout and all its accompanying elements — unpretentious hipster chic, life starting before dawn, smiles and relaxed vibe, coffee shops in Balinese style — then you will definitely like it.
Weather in Veligama
We start from where Veligama Bay is located. It is located in the south of Sri Lanka. This means that you need to fly here (as well as to any other southern resort) from October to April: at this time, the weather in Veligama is the best. The high season prevails — there is little rain, a lot of sun, and the ocean is good for swimming. Arrive at another time — you risk running into high waves, terrible heat, gloomy skies and rains. This may not be the case, but in the low season (from May to October) in the south, the risk of getting into uncomfortable weather is high.
By the way, this does not mean that you should not fly to Sri Lanka in May or July. Exactly at the time of the low season in the south, sunny and dry time begins in the east of the island — in Trincomalee, Batikaloa and Arugam Bay. I described the weather features of Sri in more detail in this article. If your vacation or trip is planned for this period, forget about Veligama and go to the beaches of the east, not the south. By the way, we still can’t get there — but we will definitely do it next time.
How to get from Colombo to Veligama?
The distance from Colombo to Weligama is 175 km by car or bus, which is about 2 hours on the way. If you arrive by tour, a group transfer from the tour operator will take you to the accommodation. Independent tourists most often take a transfer at the airport and look for fellow travelers. An adequate trip price is 15-17 thousand rupees for a car for three ($45—$50, and dollars, by the way, will be gladly accepted as payment; but definitely not rubles).
- The main landmark at the resort is the Bay Marriott Hotel (Weligama Bay Marriott Resort&Spa). Every tuktuker and taxi or bus driver knows him.
But first, of course, you need to get to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka: the country’s main international airport is located here. You can fly here from Russia as part of a package tour or on your own. Let’s move on to this issue.
Prices for flights and tours to Sri Lanka in 2024
An assistant for the first category — air tickets — is the
We are looking at tickets for independent travelers for February-March 2024 — the season is nowhere higher. A round-trip flight from Moscow to Colombo is not cheap — from 60,000 rubles per person, but these are flights with a long transfer to the UAE (Sharjah). A direct flight by Aeroflot costs from 90,000 rubles.
You can fly to Sri Lanka with a transfer from anywhere, but it is by direct flights that the island is connected to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk.
Surprisingly, for those who fly out of the regions, a vacation at the Veligama resort in Sri Lanka in 2024 will cost about the same amount: flights departing from Yekaterinburg or Kazan cost between 60-70 thousand rubles per person.
And what about the prices for tours to Veligama in 2024? Here, three tour search engines act as intermediaries between a person in need of a vacation by the sea and a person enjoying a vacation by the sea:
Travel - Level.Travel
A ticket departing from Moscow in February 2024 for two people for 10 days costs from 160,000 rubles. Well, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk residents need to count on a minimum price tag of 180,000 rubles for two.
Beaches of Veligama
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The resort is located in a bay, and the main beach in Weligama — Weligama Beach — is long and sandy. On one side of the beach, locals fish and you can take beautiful pictures with boats, on the other — the Marriott Hotel (the only one on the first line), sunbeds and surfing.
What is there on Veligama Beach?
- The sand on the shore and the sandy bottom of the sea
- There are many surf points where you will be taught how to get on the board
- Wooden sun beds where you can relax for those who do not surf
- Local cafes — they will give you coconut milk from real coconut
- And European cafes across the street — there is food for every taste we are familiar with
- Beach clubs are cafes with a swimming pool from which the sea can be seen
Personal opinion: Veligama beach is not the most convenient and far from the best for swimming. Firstly, you can get hit on the head with a beginner surfer’s board, of which there are many. Secondly, to be in chest-deep water, you will have to walk 50 meters (the entrance to the water is very shallow). That’s why we usually went here to surf or watch surfers, and preferred to swim on the sandy Kabalana Beach or in the town of Mirissa — it’s a 10-minute bus ride away.
Prices for cafe food and groceries in Veligama
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Where to eat cheap and tasty in Veligama, you ask? And my husband and I will say: it all depends on your habits and preferences. You can eat at home — cook in the kitchen. Adequate supermarkets where you can go shopping are Global Shopping and Food City. The nearest large markets (fish, fruit and vegetable) will be in the neighboring town of Mirissa.
Prices for ordinary food in the store (potatoes, vegetables, chicken, canned food, pasta) are on average lower than in Moscow — rather, at the level of cities with millions of inhabitants of the Russian Federation.
Fruits — except apples, they are a delicacy here — will be cheaper:
(1000 rupees = 280 rubles)
- The world’s best papaya — 500 rupees per kg
- Mango — 800 rupees per kg
- Passion fruit — 500 rupees per kg
And what about other products? For example, I’ll take the prices from a relatively large supermarket in Veligama:
- Good bread — 800 rupees
- Chicken breast — 1300 rupees per kg
- A dozen eggs — 500 rupees
- Large shrimp or fresh tuna at the fish market — 800 rupees per kg
It’s quite good to live on food from local cafes — the basis, as a rule, is fried or boiled rice, protein, chopped tortillas (for example, with chicken or seafood). There is something about them that makes you not turn on the stove in the evenings, but walk to the nearest place. Food in local cafes (a huge portion of rice with chicken and vegetable salad, which can be taken for two) it costs about 1,000 rupees.
Finally, you can eat in European cafes — here the price tag is also comparable to similar establishments not in Moscow.
(1000 rupees = 280 rubles)
- Beef burger — 1,500 rupees
- Pumpkin soup — 500 rupees
- Tuna steak — 1600 rupees
- A beautiful breakfast of pancakes with fruit and syrup — 1,500 rupees
- Mango fresh — 500 rupees
Wherever you are, be sure to try the local Ginger Beer lemonade — it is available in any store and in any cafe in general. Very tasty!
With regard to recommendations for establishments, I have a pleasant impression of:
✔️Pasijou is a coworking coffee shop with good Internet, where you can also eat and sign up for yoga
✔️Bangkok Kitchen — Thai cuisine in excellent execution
✔️Aloha Coffee Gallery, flow café weligama, Plan b, After surf rooftop café — cool “hipster” places with coffee and food that is photogenically laid out on plates
The sights of Veligama — what to do?
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If you carefully read the reviews of tourists about Veligama, it becomes clear that the maximum entertainment program here, as in many other resorts in Sri Lanka, is to sunbathe, surf, sit in a cafe on the beach, get on a bike and drive away into the green distance. Sri Lanka as a whole is more about the natural attractions located in the interior of the island.
Therefore, when asked what to see in Veligama, I usually answer — a chic store of natural care products SPA CEYLON. I highly recommend stopping here for good creams and perfumes for both men and women.
If you are ready to master buses, car rentals, taxis or bikes — the main ways to get around the island — you can dilute your weekdays with the following directions.
Close and relaxed:
- Drive to the beach with snorkeling and turtles Wijaya Beach
- Visit Unawatuna with its vibrant nightlife (which is not enough in Veligama) and the city of Galle, where you can see the Dutch-Portuguese fort
- Go on your own to Lake Koggala (here the locals will be happy to take you on a boat) or to the beautiful white lighthouse in Dondra, the southernmost cape of the island
Far enough away and, perhaps, for a few days (excursions from Weligama, Unawatuna and other villages are often taken to these destinations in Sri Lanka):
- Udawalawe or Yala National Park, where jeep safaris are usually done and animals (from leopard to bear) are observed; yes, just like in Africa! A full-day safari costs from $140 for two to $195 for four
- Pinnawala Elephant Nursery (admission $10 per person)
- A trip to Ella (the famous nine-arch bridge, waterfalls and small Adam peak) and Nuwara Eliya (tea plantations). If you suddenly decide to get there by public transport, then your route is as follows: bus number 350 to the town of Matara, transfer to bus number 31 to Ella. And from Ella, you can take a train to Nuwara Eliya
Surfing
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Surfing in Veligama is everywhere, you don’t have to go far: near the Marriott hotel (and indeed throughout the entire beach) there are long smooth waves on which it’s best to get on the board. Just come here, contact any surf point on the beach – and they will teach you how to ride or at least try to put you on the surf.
- The cost of a surfing lesson in Veligama from a local will cost from 3,500 rupees (1,000 rubles). The rental of the board is already included in the price, the lesson lasts 1-2 hours. You will also be given special clothes so as not to burn in the sun.
- The price of training with Russian-speaking coaches starts from 9,000 rupees (2,500 rubles), this may include videos and photos.
- You can also rent a surfboard yourself — this can be done anywhere on the beach. The estimated cost is from 500 rupees per hour of skiing, but no one keeps track of the time.
It is often said that Veligama Bay is a surf spot for beginners. There are many schools, many “beginners”. But there are suitable spots for self—confident surfers – Fisherman, Jungle Beach. It is not necessary to go to Midigama and Ahangam for professional skiing.
Accommodation in Veligama — hotels and apartments
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Where to stay in Veligama? There are many options for both independent travelers and package tourists.
We arrived on our own, walked around the settlement with our feet (the Veligama is very small) and found an option for the first time — an air-conditioned room in a large house of a local resident for $ 10 per day. Later, we moved into a studio with a kitchen for $350 per month on an all-inclusive basis: that is, we do not pay extra for electricity, Internet and other utilities.
If you have come here for more than a couple of weeks, I recommend that you do the same: rent a house on the Island for the first couple of days (if you only have a Russian bank card), and then look for apartments on the spot. The cost of accommodation per day with air conditioning in Veligama starts from $ 10 per day. If you want to live in a hotel on the first line, by the sea, the price tag will be 2 times higher.
What I particularly like about Veligama is the surf party. Surfers, for the most part, are unpretentious guys, they need the ocean and waves first of all. And housing can be simple and basic — from here in Veligama there are plenty of inexpensive guesthouses.
Hotels in Veligama
If you are a tourist and want to live not just by the sea, but in a beautiful hotel with a swimming pool and other amenities — this is also available in Veligama.
- 5* Weligama Bay Marriott Resort & Spa — or the most luxurious hotel in Weligama. The price of a 10-night tour starts from 300,000 rubles for two in high season.
- 4* Mandara Resort is a simpler hotel, but also a good one, the reviews confirm. The price of a 10-night tour starts from 200,000 rubles for two.
- 3* Scenic Bay Weligama is a comfortable surfer’s hotel. The price for self-booking: from 7000 rubles per day.
Where else can I go? Tourist reviews in 2023
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For 2024, Russian tourists are aware of three main resorts on the map of Sri Lanka: Hikkaduwa (it is closest to the airport and is as “Russified” as possible), Unawatuna (probably the most familiar resort with everything necessary for tourists from different countries vacationing on the island) and Veligama.
As I have already written, you can go anywhere from Veligama: even to the center of the island, even to the nearest national park to look at animals, even to Unawatuna, walk along the tourist streets. And in the evening you can find nightlife — in Veligama it is in the form of a party on the beach or on the roofs of small hotels — and have fun until the morning.
But personally, we would recommend that you come to Veligama to enjoy the sea and surfing, listen to the silence, the sound of the waves and admire the moist bright greenery of palm trees on which monkeys are jumping. There is simply no more peaceful place in the world — and this is not just my opinion. That’s what most of the tourists who have already been here will tell you!
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