Surfing in Sri Lanka

Surfing in Sri Lanka is one of the popular sports in Sri Lanka among foreign tourists despite not being popular among the Sri Lankan locals. Surfing in Sri Lanka dates back to early 1960s.[1] The country has many beaches for surfing, especially in the southern and eastern regions. Places such as Arugam Bay, Hikkaduwa, Weligama, Mirissa and Unawatuna are popular surf spots in Sri Lanka and among tourists.[2] The Tourism in Sri Lanka is also very closely related to the sport of surfing and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau considers the sport of surfing as one of the measures of attracting tourists.

Surfing in Sri Lanka
CountrySri Lanka
Governing bodySri Lanka Surfing Federation
National team(s)Sri Lanka national surf team
International competitions
Arugam Bay one of the finest surf locations

History

Surfing was introduced to Sri Lanka somewhere around the 1960s when American surfer Rusty Miller and three of his close friends came to Sri Lanka on a holiday trip to experience surf in Sri Lankan shores.[3] In 1993, Hikkaduwa hosted the first ever Sri Lankan local surfing competition and the tournament was successfully staged by Channa Navaratne along with a small bunch of Americans to kick start an interest among locals on the sport. However, his intention was short lived mainly owing to the 26 year long civil war which ended in 2009. During the civil war, the foreigners were unable to engage in surfing due to security reasons when popular surfing spots such as Arugam Bay and Pasikudah were also engulfed by the terror threats.[3]

Post Civil War

The Sri Lankan Surf Federation was established in 2017 and the inaugural edition of the National Surf Championship was held in 2018.[4] The winner of the 2018 Sri Lankan National Surf Championship went onto qualify and participate at the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games which was held in Japan. It also marked the first ever instance that a delegation from Sri Lanka had competed in the World Surfing Games. Sri Lanka alongside Lebanon, Thailand and American Samoa also made their debuts at the World Surfing Games during the 2019 edition.[5]

The Sri Lankan surf national team also toured India in 2018 and made little progress when they gained second and third places in the Cove-Long Point Surfing Championships in Chennai. During when surfing and tourism were adversely affected due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, SLT Mobitel came in as the official telecommunications partner for the National Surf Championship 2020 in a bid to revive the tourism sector.[6]

In late 2018, the Arugam Bay Surf Club officially became the all-female surf club of Sri Lanka when it registered through the Surfing Federation of Sri Lanka. Shamali Sanjaya who is deemed to be the first Sri Lankan native local female surfer is currently serving as the president of Arugam Bay Girls Surf Club.[7][8] Shamali played an influential role in setting up an all-female surf club in Arugam Bay and she apparently played a vital role in changing the stereotype regarding the participation Sri Lankan women in surfing by being in the forefront of the development and empowerment of female surfers especially in a country like Sri Lanka which has a conservative society.[9] The first ever women-only category surfing competition took place in Arugam Bay in 2020.[9]

However, Sri Lankan surfing endured a major setback in July 2021 when the sports ministry issued an extraordinary gazette to suspend the registration of Surfing Federation of Sri Lanka along with four other sports federations.[10] In July 2021, the government launched a programme to transform Arugam Bay into a worldwide destination for wind surfing.[11]

Red Bull Ride My Wave, an International Open Surfing Championship is also conducted in Sri Lanka which is sponsored by Red Bull Sri Lanka and several local and international surfers compete in the competition annually.[12] Sri Lankan local surfers Lakshitha Madushan and Nikita Rob were crowned as “King of the Wave” and “Queen of the Wave” respectively in the Red Bull Ride My Wave 2022 contest.[13][14]

Surfing spots

Arugam Bay
Main article: Arugam Bay

Arugam Bay is the most popular surf spot and is also the only international surf competition venue in Sri Lanka. It is also rated as one of the top ten surf destinations in the world. It has also hosted most of the international surfing competitions in Sri Lanka since 2004.[15] Arugam Bay has also notably hosted two Pro Surf League competitions as part of the World Surf League in 2011 and in 2019. Most notably, Arugam Bay hosted the So Sri Lanka Pro 2019 event which was also the first major international competition to be held in Sri Lanka in 2019 since the Easter Sunday bombings.[16] The event was won by Australia's Mitch Parkinson and Indonesia's Oney Anwar became runnerup.[17][18]

Whiskey Point in Arugam Bay

The best season to visit Arugam Bay is generally between April and October. The beach consists of about 6 ft and rides of approximately 400m. It has points including Crocodile Rock, Panama, Okanda and Whiskey Point.

Mirissa
Main article: Mirissa
Mirissa beach

The areas such as Kabalana, Midigama, Weligama, Ahangama and Matara in Mirissa are notable spots for surfing.[19]

Hikkaduwa
Main article: Hikkaduwa
Hikkaduwa beeach with coral reefs

The best season to visit Hikkaduwa for surfing is between November and April. The beach is also known for its coral reefs.[2]

See also

References
  1. "Surfing in Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka Experiences | Red Dot Tours". www.reddottours.com. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  2. Velarde, Orana (26 March 2018). "The Best Surf Spots in Sri Lanka". Culture Trip. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  3. "Sri Lanka set to come of age in surfing". Sunday Observer. 2022-03-12. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  4. "Why surfing is suitable for Sri Lanka and its success". Sunday Observer. 2022-04-02. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  5. Tulloch, Ashlee (2021-04-26). "Five reasons you can't miss the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games!". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 2022-04-16.
  6. Perera, Bernard. "'Mobitel' set to take care of Surfing in Sri Lanka". Daily News. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  7. "This All-Female Surf Club is Shifting the Paradigm in Sri Lankan Surf Culture". SURFER Magazine. 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  8. Petersen, Hannah Ellis. "Riding High on Ocean Waves". Daily News. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  9. "'When I surf I feel so strong': Sri Lankan women's quiet surfing revolution". the Guardian. 2022-03-05. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  10. "Five sports bodies suspended and placed under competent authority". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 2021-07-14. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  11. LADDUWAHETTY, RAVI. "Arugam Bay to be promoted as global wind surfing destination". Daily News. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  12. "Many foreign, local surfers to compete in Hikkaduwa".
  13. "Madushan and Nikita rule the waves at Hikkaduwa". Print Edition - The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  14. "Surfer Madushan sinks the overseas hardcore". Sunday Observer. 2022-02-05. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  15. "Surfing in Arugam Bay". Lakpura LLC. 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  16. "WSL set to Sri Lanka in September 2019". World Surf League. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  17. "Results for Mitch Parkinson at 2019 So Sri Lanka Pro". World Surf League. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  18. "Mitch Parkinson Raises The Bar at A-Bay". World Surf League. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  19. "Best Surf Spots on Sri Lanka's South Coast". Ceylon Sliders. 2017-01-28. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
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