Peaks and swell: eastern season
Twelve days of hills and Arugam Bay, when the south is shut
- Length
- 12 days, 11 nights
- Pace
- Full days
- Bases
- 6
- Best months
- May to Sep
- From
- $1,800 · $150/day
per person, twin share, excluding international flights.
IndicativeThese prices are modelled from market rates and have not been costed yet. We will quote a real figure when you enquire.
When this trip works
Arugam Bay runs May to September and the swell peaks in late July and August. This is the version of the trip that works when the south coast is rough; between December and March, take the southern one.
Coming outside that window? Peaks and swell: southern season is the same idea built for the other monsoon.
October — out of season
It is October now, and this route reads out of season this month.
- Prime
- Good
- Mixed
- Out of season
The shape of it
Colombo and the westCultural TriangleHill countryEast coastColombo and the west
6 bases, 5 changes of hotel. The longest stay is 3 nights in Arugam Bay.
Negombo
1 night, day 1
Dambulla
2 nights, days 2 to 3
Kandy
2 nights, days 4 to 5
Ella
2 nights, days 6 to 7
Arugam Bay
3 nights, days 8 to 10
Colombo
1 night, day 11
Fly home
Day by day
Breakfast, lunch and dinner, where they are included that day.
Stop 1 · Colombo and the west
Negombo
Day 1 · 1 night
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 1: Airport → Negombo
Pick and drop, leisure.
- Airport → Negombo
- Meals
- Dinner
- Pace
- Barely moves
Stop 2 · Cultural Triangle
Dambulla
Days 2–3 · 2 nights
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 2: Negombo → Dambulla
Fish market, boat ride.
- Fish market
- Boat ride
If you want moreMinneriya safari
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Steady
Day 3: Dambulla
Morning Sigiriya (opt. Pidurangala), village experience, evening leisure.
- Morning Sigiriya (opt. Pidurangala)
- Village experience
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Full days
- Transfer
- No intercity drive planned
Stop 3 · Hill country
Kandy
Days 4–5 · 2 nights
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 4: Dambulla → Kandy
Cave temple, spice garden, check-in, cultural show, Maligawa.
- Cave temple
- Spice garden
- Cultural show
- Maligawa
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Gentle
Day 5: Kandy
Botanical, full Kandy city tour, evening leisure.
- Botanical
- Full Kandy city tour
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Hard
- Transfer
- No intercity drive planned
Stop 4 · Hill country
Ella
Days 6–7 · 2 nights
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 6: Kandy → Nuwara Eliya → Ella
Tea factory, train ride, Ella night life.
- Tea factory
- Train ride
- Ella night life
- Meals
- Breakfast
- Pace
- Gentle
Day 7: Ella
Morning Ella Rock, Nine Arch, evening leisure.
- Morning Ella Rock
- Nine Arch
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Hard
- Transfer
- No intercity drive planned
Stop 5 · East coast
Arugam Bay
Days 8–10 · 3 nights
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 8: Ella → Arugam Bay
Ravana falls, beach leisure.
- Ravana falls
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Steady
Day 9: Arugam Bay
Leisure.
- Arugam Bay
If you want moreKumana
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Full days
- Transfer
- No intercity drive planned
Day 10: Arugam Bay
Leisure.
- Arugam Bay
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Full days
- Transfer
- No intercity drive planned
Stop 6 · Colombo and the west
Colombo
Days 11–12 · 1 night
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 11: Arugam Bay → Colombo
Galle city tour, check-in Colombo and leisure.
- Galle city tour
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Steady
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 12: Colombo → airport
Colombo → airport.
- Colombo → airport
- Meals
- Breakfast
- Pace
- Barely moves
What it costs
One route, three levels of hotel. The itinerary does not change.
Comfort
$1,800
$150 a day · single supplement $610
Well-run three-star hotels and family-owned guesthouses, chosen for location and the people who run them rather than the star rating.
- Private air-conditioned vehicle and driver-guide throughout
- Daily breakfast
- All transfers and road tolls
- 24-hour local support line
Boutique
$2,700
$225 a day · single supplement $1,025
Small boutique hotels, tea-estate bungalows and design-led beach houses. Twelve rooms rather than a hundred.
- Everything in Comfort
- Breakfast and one further meal daily
- Park fees and site entrances as itemised
- A trip designer on WhatsApp for the duration
Luxury
$3,840
$320 a day · single supplement $1,730
The best rooms on the island: colonial bungalows, private villas and lodges with their own naturalists.
- Everything in Boutique
- All meals, and a private chef where the property allows
- Private guiding at every site rather than shared
- Airport fast-track on arrival and departure
per person, twin share, excluding international flights.
Entrance fees, itemised
Site fees in Sri Lanka are high and rising: Sigiriya alone is thirty-five dollars. Most operators bury them in the exclusions. Here is the whole list, with what we cover and what we do not.
Entrance fees for Peaks and swell: eastern season
Sigiriya rock fortress
$35
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Dambulla cave temples
$10
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic
$12
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Kandyan dance performance
$10
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Peradeniya botanical gardens
$10
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Tea factory tour and tasting
$8
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Ella Rock
Free
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Surfboard hire, three days
$30
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
PidurangalaOptional.
$6
- In the price
- No, paid on the day
Minneriya or Kaudulla and jeepOptional.
$40
- In the price
- No, paid on the day
Kumana National Park and jeepOptional.
$35
- In the price
- No, paid on the day
- Covered by us
- $115
- If you do the optional ones
- $81
Who this is for
- Surfers who want the point break in its season rather than a beach break out of it
- Travellers coming between May and September who have been told the island is shut
And who it is not
- Anyone travelling December to March, when Arugam Bay is closed and flat; the southern version is the one you want
- Travellers who want a short trip; the east coast is far enough away that under ten days is mostly driving
Included
- Private vehicle and driver-guide throughout
- Eleven nights accommodation
- Daily breakfast and ten dinners
- Hill-country train to Ella (day 6)
- Three days of board hire
- All entrance fees marked included above
Not included
- International flights
- Travel insurance
- Visa or ETA
- Kumana
- Surf coaching
Make it yours
This is a starting shape, not a fixed departure. The changes people ask for most:
- Fly Batticaloa to Colombo on the last day instead of the eight-hour drive, schedules permitting
- Add Trincomalee for three nights of calmer water before Arugam Bay
- Drop Sigiriya and start straight for the hills if ruins are not the point
If this one is close but not right
Peaks and swell: southern season
Eight days of hill walking and south-coast surf
- Length
- 8 days
- Pace
- Full days
- Bases
- 5 bases
From $1,200 · $150/day
Indicative, not yet costed
The full island
Fourteen days, and a proper safari in the middle
- Length
- 14 days
- Pace
- Steady
- Bases
- 9 bases
From $2,170 · $155/day
Indicative, not yet costed
The long way round
Twelve days from Wilpattu through the old capitals and the hills to Galle
- Length
- 12 days
- Pace
- Steady
- Bases
- 8 bases
From $1,860 · $155/day
Indicative, not yet costed