Beach perfection. Mirissa Sri Lanka
From now on, when people ask me where to stay in Sri Lanka, I’ll tell them Mirissa.
I think I’ve found my Paradise, my happy place. Sri Lanka on the whole brings me enormous joy, but the little beach village of Mirissa is, I think, as near to perfect as I’ll ever find.
Right now I’m sitting in a shady spot drinking tea from a china cup watching a monkey happily munch on a mango up in the tree. I can hear the crash of the waves from the beach and little three striped squirrels are rushing about on the grass. It’s not too shabby at all.
Don’t leave bananas lying around, they’re quick!
Two easy bus rides south of Hikkaduwa, changing at Galle, things have quietened down a lot. There are no more big hotels and pizza restaurants, although it looks to me like that may change soon, there is building going on. All that we have in Mirissa is a perfect beach, the main coast road that runs the length of the country lies just behind with a few rudimentary shops and local style eateries and beyond that, the village, nestled into the abundant greenery. That’s all that’s here and it is perfect.
The beach is the cleanest I have ever seen, I haven’t spotted even one piece of washed up plastic or litter. The sea is crystal clear and warm, but not too warm. The surf is huge, there are rips, you need to read the sea but they don’t stop the waves being the best fun even for small children. At the north end of the beach the surfers look very happy with the break ( is that what they call it?).
The sand is dotted with beach shacks and restaurants, mostly simple bamboo and palm frond affairs, no big developments. For me that is perfect, I love to have a shady table to sit at while I watch the children play in the surf. Better yet, a shady table with cold beer and great curry at reasonable prices. At night each table has a candle, each palm tree it’s own fairy lights. I really don’t think I’ve seen a prettier curve of sand.
Early evening beach dining Mirissa.
A large Lion beer on the beach is under $2, a few cents more buys you a cocktail during the evening happy hour. Chef’s pina colada and my mojito were both excellent.
If you eat on the beach prices are relatively high. A tuna steak, chips and salad set us back just under $5, fish curry and rice $3, fried squid rice and salad $4.
Eat at the simpler restaurants on the main road or in the village and family lunch can be as cheap as $1.50 for 4 small, but filling, vegetable roti.
Today’s catch. You wouldn’t believe the size of the prawns!
There are a few rooms to rent on the beach but we’ve opted to stay in the village. We’re boarding with an elderly Sri Lankan couple. For $16 per night we have our own bathroom, large double and single beds, mosquito nets and fans, it’s perfect. It’s not too hot here, the rooms seem to be plenty cool enough without air con.
These houses have lovely gardens, the place we stayed in last night had a large expanse of grass running down to the riverside and a resident troop of monkeys . The riverside walk is cool, green and shady, watch out for the huge monitor lizards. As we walk home from dinner in the early evening we always see fireflies in the greenery.
There are plenty of private homes turned guest house, everybody seems to be building a block of rooms on their land, they’re cheap ( all around 2000Rs $16 at 2014 prices, they charge more now, see below), clean and new, but tourism hasn’t taken away the village feel of Mirissa. A local fisherman sells his catch on the corner, opposite is a fruit and veg stall. People say hello to strangers.
Visit this post for information on where we stayed in Mirissa in 2014 or check out our brief recommendations at the bottom of the page based on 2016.
The Sri Lankans are lovely people, I’ve already posted about their beautiful manners and good looks in Why Visit Sri Lanka? If you can make it this far south, Mirissa is a real treat. Hikkaduwa was more like this 12 years ago, the first time I came, it’s not now.
Surfers at sunset Mirissa beach
The big draw in this area is the incredible whale watching, I posted about it yesterday in We Saw A Blue Whale! Now we’ve done that we’re just going to stay here and relax for a while, enjoy the beach, the wildlife and old-fashioned Sri Lankan hospitality.
We’ve only been here 36 hours, we haven’t fully explored yet, but as I sat listening to reggae under a palm frond roof this afternoon watching the boys play, I couldn’t have been any happier. This is it, my paradise, what I’ve been looking for.
You could choose to stay in Mirissa itself or in the larger bay immediately to the north, Weligama. Here you will find stunning Taprobane island and still see plenty of fishing activity and fishermen selling their catch near the beach. Weligama has all sorts of accommodation including larger hotels, It is a short bus or rickshaw ride to Mirissa.
In 2016 we re-visited Mirissa to update these old posts and fill in some gaps. These are our current recommendations. Mirissa is busier now, but it’s still our favourite beach spot in Sri Lanka and we’ve tried most of them. ( See our Sri Lanka travel home page, we’re in the process of updating fter our last 1 month trip visiting the north and east coasts.)
We still think that Celestial Inn is a winner. The standard today is higher than during our 2 stays in 2014, they’ve added great touches such as hair dryers and complimentary water. The gardens have matured and the property is very visually appealing. We visited during peak season, February, it was hard to find rooms, we would recommend that you try to pre-book.
Visit Celestial Inn Mirissa on Agoda here.
Another guest house we used in 2016 was On The Rock. This place wasn’t built in 2014, it’s new and spacious with 3 good sized beds each with attractive mosquito nets. The build quality isn’t great, I can see them having damp problems in years to come, but right now this place is a great choice.
Visit On The Rock, Mirissa on Agoda here.
We tried 2 other guest houses in 2016 and wouldn’t recommend either.
Wadiya, in our opinion, still as the best food on the beach. You’ll spot Wadiya easily, it’s usually the busiest. Service is good and the staff are friendly. As everywhere on the beach, be cautious with fish, it’s often not so fresh.
There is now a real coffee shop in Mirissa on the main street, village side, towards the north end of town. This is a real luxury in Sri Lanka.
For real Sri Lankan breakfast or curry and rice, roti, etc, we still recommend Samagi creamery and roti shop.. It’s just before the bridge, main road, village side and is ultra cheap and authentic.
Breakfast with real coffee in Mirissa, Sri Lanka. The coffee is take-away from Barista, the breakfast is at Samagi.
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