Main Point in Arugam Bay delivers a long right-hander from May to October that works for complete beginners and rewards experience. The town behind it is low-key in the way only places that haven’t been over-discovered can be - a few genuinely good restaurants, Pottuvil Lagoon five minutes away by boat and a pace entirely unlike the south coast.
Negombo
The coastal town that opens and closes every Sri Lanka journey
Seven kilometres from Bandaranaike International Airport and consistently underestimated. The Dutch canal network, the lagoon fish market at dawn and Portuguese Catholic church architecture give Negombo considerably more than its transit-stop reputation suggests. Worth an evening at minimum.
