Mirissa

Mirissa is a beach and resort town in southern Sri Lanka, near the city of Matara.

Understand
Mirissa is a busy, growing town with a nice beach and two surfing points: one for advanced surfers, and one for intermediate ones.

By bus
From Colombo:

Take an AC highway bus heading to Matara from Fort in Colombo which costs Rs 510 (2-2½ hr). From Matara bus terminal there are regular busses to Weligama or Galle stopping in Mirissa (20-30 min). There are two bus stops: if you have booked an accommodation on the beach you can get off at the first one (rights after the road comes close to the shore and you see the bay); if you stay around the harbour you can take the stop 1 km up the road.

From Udawalawe National Park: There is one daily direct bus from Udawalawa town to Mirissa, leaving at 12:30. Ask your safari driver to drop you off at the bus stop after your safari.

If you miss that bus, you have to take another bus to Matara and transfer there to any bus towards Galle (see above).

By train
You can take the train from Colombo Fort to Weligama (7 km from Mirissa) and then go by tuk tuk to Mirissa. A 2nd class train ticket costs Rs 220. The train schedule is available here. Trips take between 2½ and 3½ hours (depending on the train).

Get around
Mirissa is a bustling town, you can basically get everywhere on foot or if you are travelling to another beach, by the local bus service which is very regular and inexpensive. The local tuk tuk owners are renowned for attempting to overcharge you. Scooters are becoming more common to rent at most guesthouses. Finding a bicycle to rent is difficult, and the quality is often very poor.

See

 * Buddhist temple.
 * Fisherman harbour.
 * Beach.

Do

 * Surfing.
 * Bodyboarding.
 * Swimming.
 * Snorkelling at Turtle Bay. A sheltered spot suitable for swimming and snorkeling. Very damaged coral but plenty of fish and the odd turtle.
 * Yoga at Shady Lane with free drinking water refills.

Whale watching
Blue whales have been spotted at Mirissa which has made it a tourist attraction. If you do decide to go whale watching please make it very clear to your guide/boat driver that you do not want to scare the whales by getting too close. Some of the guides are quite aggressive and it may cause the whales to go elsewhere. Even though the water is usually calm, the boats turn and accelerate quickly when the driver sees a whale, so bring your seasickness pills! If no whales are spotted, the operator generally offers a free ticket on the next outing.



Prices for a three-hour tour including breakfast (Jan 2020) are about US$50 per person if booked online, or about Rs 6000-7500 if booked through your guest house or one of the operators. Since the whales are very close to the shore in winter, and further away at other seasons, the prices might be different (and the tour longer) at those times.

Buy
The ATM at Peoples Bank allows a maximum withdrawal of Rs 100,000 with no charge. For added safety, go during bank opening hours.

Eat
Many different restaurants on the beach. Cheaper but still very tasty options are the Roti shops more inland.

Drink
There are bars around the beach that have long happy hours when a large Lion beer is priced as low as Rs 250.

Sleep
There is a wide range of accommodation available. You can find budget places starting from Rs 1,000 in off season and Rs 1,500 in season.

Splurge








Go next

 * Matara
 * Ahangama
 * Galle