by Nilma Dole
The great Arugam Bay is a stunning bay located in the southeastern
coast of Sri Lanka, part of the dry zone. Located around 314km east of
Colombo, it has garnered a reputation for being a surfer’s paradise even
before the ethnic conflict ended with strict travel advisories. With
cheap accommodation, the bay hosts a large fleet of fishing boats which
operate off the beach.
 Many organizations donated boats after the tsunami and as a result
there are more fishing boats than ever before.Donations for rebuilding
of the Arugam Bay bridge poured in after a moving episode on America’s
most-popular talk show, the Oprah Winfrey show where a tsunami survivor
Nate Berkus was interviewed.
The US ‘Mercy Corps’ funded by Oprah Winfrey’s ‘Angel Network’, had a
huge fund-raising campaign TV series in the United States and the
Americans provided $134 million with $10 million going to build the
Arugam Bay bridge.
The bridge was opened in 2008 (being replaced from the 1960s) where
an original landmark box girder construction linked Arugam Bay with
Pottuvil. Travelling from Moneragala on the main A4 trunk road, an
excellent shortcut exists at the 313km post near Lahugala.
This picturesque jungle road where elephants and monkeys roam, is
already partly paved and ends at the epicentre of Arugam Bay. Therefore,
one can avoid travelling through Pottuvil.
In spite of getting ravaged by the war and the 2004 tsunami, Arugam
Bay has finally got the facelift it deserved being a key tourist
destination where the environment-friendly methodology is used.
In November 2007, Arugam Bay received the Best Destination award at
the World Travel Market World Responsible Tourism Awards for their
significant commitment to the culture and economies of local communities
and is making a positive contribution to biodiversity conservation.
Arugam Point: This is the main break at Arugam Bay. The point is a
long right-hand point/reef break that breaks at the headland in front of
Arugam Bay. It is also the best swell magnet of all the points and you
can almost always guarantee that The Point will be a couple of feet
bigger than any of the other breaks.Pottuvil Point: Pottuvil Point is
every surfer’s dream of a tropical wave.
A long deserted sandy beach dotted with rather huge boulders at the
water’s edge, make this wave a favourite with some of the season’s
veterans. It is less crowded because of the 1/2 hour ride north from
Arugam Bay and Pottuvil point provides 800 metre rides from the outside
section right through to the beach on the inside.
The unique thing about this wave point is that for most of it, you
can be working a four foot face and be only a few metres from the beach
as the wave grinds down the sandy point.
If “The Point at Arugam” is 6 feet, Pottuvil will be 4-5
feet.Crocodile Rock: To the south, along a twenty minute walk, one is
entranced by another beautiful beach to reach Crocodile Rock.
It isn’t known if the place is named after one of the rocks on the
point or some of the large salt water crocodiles that live in the lagoon
50 metres from the break but it is a beautiful spot for a day’s surf
mission. This is the smallest of the three points, and you need a medium
to large swell for Croc Rock to work at all.When the point is 6 feet,
then Croc Rock will be 3 feet.
Pic by Indrajith Samarajiva
|
