Pictures of a fragile coral reef eco system
Friday, December 24, 2004
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Where the shore is white and wide By Damitha Hemachandra
Arugam Bay is a page from a surfer's dream book where the shore is white and wide, surf is high and the waters clear. Arugam Bay in Pottuvil was created to fit this dream and even today it stands the same with untouched beach lines stretching for miles.
Arugam Bay is at its best at sunrise when the sky and the beach provide a festival of colours. Fishing boats returning after the night catch, famous jumping fishes heading towards the beach and fisherman waiting with baited lines all join hands to make the perfect picture of a day break.
Most of the people in Pottuvil are fisherman and have returned to their vocation with the dawn of peace. Thus, Pottuvil is also the seafood paradise today with delicacies like prawns, cuttlefish and crabs available at every food outlet!
The beaches are also ideal for sea baths although the waves could be too strong for an amateur.
The surfing season in Arugam Bay starts in April and ends in October. There are four main surf points in Arugam Bay including Arugam Point and Crocodile Rock. Although all of them provide diverse experience of the sea, the sand and surf the ultimate experience is the Peanut Farm or Pottuvil Point.
The best, lesser known and hard to get is the Peanut Farm to where the journey takes you through a forest in habited with elephants. Nearly 20 minutes drive through forest brings you to the clearest and the most beautiful beach ever to be created.
A long, deserted, sandy beach dotted with some huge boulders at the waters edge make these waves a favourite with some of the seasoned veterans. Pottuvil Point provides 800 metre rides from the outside section right through to the beach on the inside.
The magic about these waves is that for the most of it, a surfer can be working a four foot face and be only a few metres from the beach as the wave grinds down the sandy point. The outside section sucks up and throws out as the swell raps into the point giving a 30 metre wall to work with before it fades as it hits deeper water for about 10 seconds. The surf increases into the day so be sure to be at beach by 10 in the morning.
Surfers and visitors are often helped and hosted by small communities of fishermen who live in wooden huts among the forest but who are keen to maintain the beach which is still heavenly.
Getting there
Arugam Bay is nearly 340 kms away from the capital of Colombo and is nearly 2.5 km away from Pottuvil. Peanut Farm is situated half an hour north to Arugam Bay and one must have a bike, motorbike or hire a three-wheeler to get there since public transportation is not at its best in Pottuvil.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
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