Mirissa - easy livin'

 Surfing Mirissa

Mirissa has two reef spots. The main spot is easy to surf but the second is really shallow at some points.

- Main spot -

 

Getting there

Enter the little road from the main next to the tattoo studio. At the junction turn to the right and then take the first left. You will find the point after 30 meters. Besides the restaurants there is also a little kiosk to buy water, fruits and coconuts. We do not recommend the juices… I tried one without sugar or honey and it was NO pleasure.

 

 

 

Surfing it

There are three ways to enter/exit the reef. The easiest way with no risk is paddling around the big rock formation (1). The second is between the rocks on the beach and the wooden stick the locals rammed into the sand (2). Be careful there will be some rocks to avoid! And the last way is on the right side over the shallow reef but it is only safe on high tide and if you miss the line you can easily damage your board or yourself (3). Only surf behind the yellow line marked in the next picture.

red = entries, do not cross the yellow line...

On most of the days you can surf a right hand on the right side. But every now and then you will find an a-frame entering in the middle and a left hander starting besides the big rocks as well.

Tim surfing the a-frame

 

surfing a small right

As Mirissa is a tourist place you can find yourself in a crowded line up sometimes. Though in January it was never too much.

For our experience the spot works better if the swell hits the coast from south-west than straight from south.

Mirissa is known for it's sea urchins so take care and try to avoid getting in contact with the reef or you might end up like me went off surfing for about 6 days... The spikes hurt!

here we is the uncut spot clip.

 

 

 - left spot -

Getting there

You can find the spot by entering the little path from the main showed in the picture below or just walk along the beach.

 

Surfing it

Enter the reef from the right side. The left side is really shallow. First watch some other guys surfing this spot before going in. It can be fun on bigger days as well!

 

 

Accomodation

Prices will vary from 1000 LKR for non AC room to western prices in the bigger hotels at the beach. We had a really nice stay at “Mother’s House”. The owner is such a friendly guy who offers rooms from 1000-1500 LKR w/o Breakfast. He owns a varan that sometimes walks along. If you are lucky you can also feed a "Günther" the monkey that visits the place from time to time. Ok well we have to admit that we gave him that name... ;)

Günther at his best

The best way to find a nice place is to to check out different places and chose the one you like. It should be no problem getting here w/o a reservation. Tough in December it might be better to book a room with AirBNB for the first day or two because it is the peak of the main season.

Food

The whole day you can buy rotis, rolls or pastry from the “tune bread” tuk tuk’s. Those tuk tuk’s are around for some years now. They play a loud song that will burn into your mind and connect it to food ;)... The tourist price is sometimes twice as high as the local price which should be around 25 LKR. We managed to get the local price so it’s worth a try.

Restaurants

Amarasinghe Guest House. There are three Amarasinghe in Mirissa. We tried only the one which is the hardest to find. It is pretty well hidden inside the backland like 3-5 Minutes from the mainroad (with tuktuk or scooter). Better ask a tuktuk driver. You will follow a sand road for like 2 minutes don’t worry. Even it is a little off the ocean it is really worth getting there. It was the best rice n curry we had so far and we tried some in four weeks ;)... 290 LKR for the veg curry is a really good price and the grow lots of veggies in their garden.

Dewmini’s Roti shop: Really tasty, good prices and nice people. Do not miss it. Amazing Rotis, good juices delicious fruits and awesome kottu/fried rice. Our favourite place for breakfast and lunch. (If you are Vegan order the sweet roties without that milk sirup they put on top and do not worry about the "honey", it is coconut sirup...). Try a Banana roti with added Coconut! So good!

Fried rice at Dewmini's. Yummy!!!

Dinu’s place near the main spot. Good rice n curry. A bit more expensive like 600 LKR for veg curry. The woman who owns the place calls herself Mama. She is really nice.

Conclusion

We love Mirissa so much! It has some amazing restaurants and one of the best coast position for a base. It is in the middle between many good surf spots. You can easily change daily destinations without driving to long. There are good accommodations to choose and it’s own surf spots are quite nice as well. Choose Mirissa if you wanna go for a surfari to check out what the coast has to offer.

If you are an absolute beginner we would rather recommend Weligama or the beach breakes near Matara to start surfing. 

If you only need a few really good reef spots go for Midigama. Nice spots and good waves!

Stay stoked

Pack Da Bag!

A guideline to pack your bag for a tropical surf trip

To prevent you from wasting time finding surf equipment in Sri Lanka here is our recommendation how to gear up for your perfect surf trip!

Even though the surf scene has grown rapidly in the last couple of years it is still pretty hard to find good surfing gear on the south coast and even if you find the things you need they will be absolutely no bang for the buck!

So don't be lazy and prepare yourself!

Surf Gear

• One surfboard to fit all your needs or a two board quiver

You might bring more boards if you do not plan to travel around that much. We prefer travelling with less weight but chose the setup according to your preference.

Renting a surfboard in Sri Lanka is possible and costs around 200-400 LKR for an hour and about 800-1200 LKR a day. The quality of boards to rent is getting better but in most cases still miserable. In other words choose an airline that provides surfboard transport free of charge and bring your own weapon!   

Here a list with  >Boardbag charges< of 2013.

We travelled with Srilankan Airlines without any problems!

Beginners only: Renting a board thats fits your needs is no problem. In Weligama they have lots of good beginner boards. Newer BIC and NSP soft and hard boards are easy to find...

• At least one set of spare fins and leash

Prices for fins and leashes are way too high on the south coast so put them in your bag!

• organic tropical surf wax

How much is enough? It depends on the length of your stay and how often you like to change it. We recommend one cube of basecoat per trip and 1-2 cubes of wax per week. Why organic? Because as surfers we love our nature and most of the surfing gear has a bad environmental impact. We should try to reduce this especially when it is easy and cheap!

• well fitting reef boots

I stepped into a sea urchin in Mirissa and went off surfing for 6 days. Most boots won't block the spikes but may reduce the piercing length if you step into one. They will also protect you from sharp shells and rocks as you are going to surf reef spots a lot in south sri lanka.

The price for reef boots at the A-Frame surf shop in Hikkaduwa were like 10000 LKR. That is way too high so buy them at home.

• Ding repair

For a short stay we recommend a tube of UV ding repair. For example "Solarez". Available for polyester and epoxy surfboards. If you bought a used board and do not know what its made of chose epoxy because polyester on epoxy may destroy the core. If you can and want to repair bigger dings by yourself go for travel repair kit with all basic materials like "Big Ding". Some surf camps and surf shops offer ding repairs but they will vary in quality and price.

• a surf bag for the flight

we used a triple bag for the flight and the boards inside were either wrapped in bubble foil or put into single board bags. Did its job!

Clothing & accessories

Buying clothes in Sri Lanka is cheap and easy so do not bring a lot. There are little tailor shops that sell nice stuff and they will make new things if you desire something special. If you ran out of clean clothing. Just wash it in your room or give it to a laundry service.

We recommend to pack your backpack with:

• 3 or 4 shirts / tops
• 2 or 3 boardshorts
• longsleeve rash guard to protect to from the sun and chafing your skin (you can buy them in Sri Lanka at the little clothing shops in the tourist areas for a good price if you don't have one)
• one pair of long trousers and a sweater for the flight
• 2 sets of underwear
• Flipflops and a pair of sneakers
• one beach and one bathroom towel
• a toilet bag filled with your needs

Important:

• Sun cream 50 SPF - Sun Cream in Sri Lanka is little expensive so bring your own.
• Good Mosquito repellent. The shops in Sri Lanka have citronella oil and it's effect doesn't last very long.

Optional:

• Camera / GoPro
• snorkeling tools
• speakers for listening to music (like the Bose soundlink mini). It was really nice listening to good music after a long day surfing!
• hammock (you can buy them as well from the little tailor shops)

Medication and first aid

In Sri Lanka you will find a good selection of all international common medication. There is no need to bring stuff for all contingencies! The pharmacies in the bigger towns have a huge stock and the little ones all over the place will serve you with all common things.

We have met a german woman who has been travelling in Sri Lanka each year for over 25 years now and she told us that the quality of the hospitals and physicians is very good so do not bother going to the doctor in case you feel the need to! Btw. go and get a travel health insurance!

Nevertheless we still recommend to bring a First aid kit that contains at least the following items.

• Disinfection Spray and iodine ointment
• one or two bandages and good plaster
• blistering plaster to protect your open wounds while surfing
• panthenol/zinc ointment for rash skin and treating wounds
• Aloe Vera application in case of sunburn (some people are growing aloe vera in their garden so you might also ask them to give you some fresh leaves...)
• waterproof earplugs (one of us got an ear infection and after nine days without surfing he was glad to have some)
• application for mosquito bites (you can also use aloe vera as well)
• scissors, tweezers, pocket knife and a sterile scalpel (I used those tools to cut out the sea urchin spines, ;)...)

Drugs/Medication for:

• Diarrhoea / stomach cramps
• Colds / flu's
• allergies
• Pain / fewer
• motion sickness

We hope this was helpful. 

Stay stocked!

We are back home!

Stay tuned we will update our Blog soon.



Tim & Janek

Hello and welcome to our blog.

In that first post i want to encourage you to ask what you want to see !

Let us know which information you prefer. For example which is the best kitchen in town, how to travel among the surf spots, where are the best breaks or how to party ? As one of us is vegan we could also share how we get along considering that topic.

Do not limit your ideas to our purposes. Feel free to ask whatever you want !

We would love to share our future impressions and need your feedback before, while and after !

Please use our poll, leave a comment or send a mail.

Thanks

Tim