Taxi in Weligama, private transfers at a fixed price

We collect from hotels and guesthouses across the bay, from the Galle end through the town centre to Pelena at the eastern end, and from the surf camps set back from the road. The A2 runs right along the bay, so vehicle access is straightforward almost everywhere here, which is not the case in Unawatuna or Mirissa. Give us the property name; the road has no useful numbering and every driver on this coast navigates by name.

From Colombo airport it is roughly two hours and forty minutes: the E01 to Pinnaduwa, then the coastal A2 through Galle. That last half hour on the A2 is slow and cannot be avoided, so anyone quoting you two hours flat has not driven it. Weligama has a station on the coastal railway and the stretch from Galle is one of the best short train rides in the country. Locally, the bay is long: walking from one end to the other takes half an hour, and most people use tuk-tuks for anything beyond their own stretch of sand.

The surf season is November to April, and the bay is busiest with beginners between 07:00 and 10:00. Weligama is markedly cheaper than Mirissa for the same coastline, which is the main reason long-stay surfers base themselves here. The bay water is not the clearest on the coast — a sandy bottom and a river mouth see to that — so if you came to snorkel rather than surf, Unawatuna or Hiriketiya will serve you better. Traffic on the A2 through town is heavy in the early evening; allow for it if you have a train or a flight.

Taprobane Island sits in the bay, a private house on a rock that you can walk to at low tide and cannot enter unless you rent it. The stilt fishermen photographed on every Sri Lanka poster are at Koggala and Ahangama, a few minutes either side, and are now largely a paid photo opportunity rather than a fishing method — worth knowing before you are surprised by the price. Mirissa and its whale-watching harbour are fifteen minutes east; Galle Fort is forty minutes west.