After getting a little taste of Sri Lankan surfing while we were in Hikkaduwa, it’s safe to say I was full of excitement for our next stop on the south coast, the surf mecca of Midigama. There are a whole selection of amazing surf breaks in the area, including a famous left hand point break dubbed “Lazy Left” which was situated directly in front of our accommodation. I was able to roll out of bed and walk over the road with my board for a sunrise surf after which we would grab a big Sri Lankan breakfast. 

On our first day in Midigama we went and treated ourselves to an expensive coffee in a place reminiscent of many western style coffee shops in Bali. While we were planning our day, Marie, one of Alice’s ex-colleagues from NZM, walked in. It really is a small world! She had been in Midigama with her partner Ollie for a couple of weeks. They had collected a group of friends who adopted us and showed us the best surf spots and places to eat over the next few days.

While Hikkaduwa and Unawatuna were both packed full of Russians, Midigama seemed to have almost none. Maybe Russians don’t like surfing? It was predominantly Europeans of every other variety, and at times it felt like I was surfing in Europe with all the different European languages I heard people speaking.

Here is a breakdown of my favorite day in Midigama. It started with a sunrise surf at Lazy Left while Alice went to a morning yoga class. After my surf I rented a scooter with a surf rack (it’s actually really hard doubling on a scooter with a surfboard), and went to pick up Alice from her class. We brought some cheap but delicious breakfast (coconut pancake rolls and a coconut cake), and found a beautiful spot on the beach to read our books and enjoy our coconut heavy brekky. Outside of just Midigama, the surrounding southern coast of Sri Lanka boasts a huge selection of beautiful surfing beaches, with waves ranging from beginner to advanced. We took our scooter for a drive to explore some of these beaches and found ourselves in nearby Mirissa, where we parked up at a beachside bar offering happy hour cocktails (“hour” in this case meaning from 9am till 9pm 😂). After reading more of our books with a cheap cocktail while watching the local surfers, we made our way back along the coast to Midigama. In the evening I went for a sunset surf at another local spot named “Coconuts” for the towering coconut trees dotting the beach. An alternative name could be “Coconuts & Turtles” as there were turtles everywhere, and the combination of getting some great waves with a beautiful sunset, surrounded by turtles really exceeded all my expectations of surfing in Sri Lanka. We finished off this perfect day, by meeting up with our friends for dinner at a great local spot near our accommodation.

Our friends had been in Midigama for a few weeks surfing every day, and by the time we were about to leave I was feeling a little envious as three days didn’t feel like enough. I can definitely see myself coming back here one day for a dedicated surfing trip, as it really is a surfers paradise. 

The only real downside was the localism, which for the non-surfers reading this is basically a general unfriendliness towards non-locals at a surf break. Unfortunately, it  is a part of surfing, and as the Earth’s population increases, beaches erode, tourism increases, and surfing’s popularity grows; surf breaks are getting increasingly crowded. This is definitely not exclusive to Sri Lanka, I have seen localism at New Zealand surf breaks. However, it was quite brutal at times when a group of the locals were out. They would often take over the lineup, totally disregard surfing etiquette and hand out cold stares at any tourists. Not following surfing etiquette is dangerous and can cause injuries, so when this happened I would usually call it a day. It is frustrating, but at the same time I totally understand why they do it. Many of them likely only have a few months a year when the surf is good, and they have to deal with hordes of tourists getting in the way and competing for the waves.

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our old and our new friends, as we continued on our way down the coast. I left Midigama with my body aching from all the surfing, sand everywhere, but totally stoked.