It was a 3 hour drive from Ella to Aragum Bay. You could feel the heat intensifying as we left the mountains to by the time we got to AB it was a steamy 33. AB was in the same touristy mould as Ella just with that real beachy vibe – ie no shirts or shoes. AB was nearly wiped out by the 2002 tsunami so it was good to see it fully recovered – although there were still a fee half built hotels around the place – monuments to covid.
As always it took a few wrong turns before we found our hotel, Beach Way. Unfortunately it was not near the water and was pretty drank and dingy in the kids downstairs rooms – Taylor’s room did not have AC so we upgraded to another with AC for $A15 per night. Dits and my room was on top with a bit of a sea view and a decent breeze but with no internet.
We grabbed our beach gear – Conor also sorted a board – and headed to the beach. The set up was like a lot of Asian beaches where hotels/ cafes have recliners in front of their property that pundits can use if they buy food and drink. It seems the ‘German principle’ applied where people would leave a towel draped across a couple of recliners and then wander off for many hours but expected their chairs to remain theirs. I gave it an hour and then removed the towel and made myself comfortable. I pleaded ignorance when a couple turned up later asking for their towel.
It was a bit of a drop off from the cafe’s to the beach proper as a result of the strong waves. You had to be careful heading out for a swim as you could very easily get dumped. We spent a lovely couple of hours chilling before heading down to the far end of the beach to see if we could see Conor. The southern end of the beach was for locals (swimming in jeans!) and surf beginners on foamies. Conor had gone around the corner so we could not watch him.
We basically spent the next 2 days just chilling on the beach; doing a bit of shopping, playing cards and trying different spots for eating. Conor was the exception as he surfed most mornings and afternoons. It was lovely after the very busy time we had had previously and I think everyone enjoyed the relaxation. On the Saturday night we were all kept awake by a nightclub that went to 6am. It was weird hearing the 5am Muslim prayers clashing with techno. On our last night there we went cheap at a local buffet – A$20 for 4 of us as Amanda wasn’t hungry. It was Conor’s pick. The fish in the fish curry was so hard it was like burnt Vogels toast. We all survived though.
We all agreed that 2 days was enough and we’re looking forward to our 3 days in a much more relaxed Mirissa Bay and our ‘fancy’ hotel Ballena Regency.
It was a 5 hour drive to Mirissa so decided to get away at 9. The problem was that first van that arrived to pick us up would not have even managed 5 adults never mind our baggage. So we upped the cost by Rp5k to Rp35K and sent them off to get a bigger van. We chilled in our favourite cafe, Pono across the road, for about half an hour later before the new van arrived.
We stopped for lunch in a little roadside traveller cafe for a round of rotti’s and a curry for Conor. Our hotel was down a tiny little dirt road but any sense of foreboding vanished when we saw the place. It looked amazing with a big 25m pool out front. We were checked into 3 massive rooms on the second floor – Taylor was upgraded to a double to keep the family together. We organised bikes for the following day and headed to the beach.
The beach set up was similar to AB with cafes and recliners all along the waterfront. The sea was rough but very refreshing. We found a cafe with a happy hour and proceed to get stuck into the Rp800 beers ($4) and a game of cards. For dinner we ordered a whole fish off the iced display out front ($60 for 5 of us). It was delicious!!
After a great Sri Lankan breakfast in the hotel we grabbed our scooters (pretty iffy lot); filled up with petrol (well Rp500 each) and then headed to a beach known for having turtles about 20 min away. Decidedly average and not a turtle in sight. There were a few tropical fish but not worth the effort really.
Then it was off to Weligama snake farm – it seemed like we went via Colombo in miles of pokey little roads. When we finally got there, it was closed. Dits rang the owner who turned up 10 minutes later. We had read it was Rp1000 per person so were a bit meeved when the owner said it was Rp2500 – blamed it on covid?? We agreed on Rp2000 each.
The farm was founded by the owners dad to rehabilitate injured snakes and then release them back into the nearby national park. The process for the next 45 mins was he bought out a snake; if it was non poisonous we all got to hold it; if not he played with it in front of us. We got to hold the following non poisonous – green trees name; a young and a 5 year old python and a couple a couple of ‘ can’t remember’. The poisonous snakes were an adder and a cobra. The owner got the cobra to strike at hi numerous time – the trick is to remember the strike range of the cobra is only the distance that they are elevated!
We then intended to head to Secret Beach but a sudden downpour put paid to that. We were all drenched by the time we returned to our oasis. We headed out to find some lunch but didn’t have much luck so headed back to the beach cafe’ and grabbed a feed there. We were all buggered so spent the rest of the afternoon chilling back at the hotel. We had a lovely meal at Mirissa Garlic for dinner watched over by frogs.
The next morning I relaxed at the hotel pool while the rest headed off to Secret Beach, a small little beach that didn’t sound very secret. It was then back to the beach for happy hour, cards and some whole fish. We mistakenly got 2 small fish instead of 1 large and found the meat to bone ratio a bit disappointing. We organised a van for a midday pickup to Galle the next day, wanting to spend as much time as possible at this lovely hotel. I for one, am exited at heading to a place with lots of history and things to see rather than beach life. I guess living in Manly spoils you as far as beaches go.
