3 beaches for families on the West Coast of Sri Lanka

I am reliving the epic Sri Lanka trip over and over again – apologies – this is the last post on Sri Lanka. Hopefully these posts will help others in planning their trip to Sri Lanka. For others, just enjoy the photos of these beautiful beaches for families in Sri Lanka.

Our base in Sri Lanka was a villa near Galle, well suited for the needs of two families seeking a lazy holiday. From there we traveled up and down the coast in search of beaches, waves and nice lunch spots. On that stretch we found some of the best beaches in Sri Lanka.

Wijaya Beach

While definitely not a secret spot, the tiny Wijaya Beach was one of our favourite beaches for the combination of three key elements: beautiful beach, kid-friendly swimming conditions and gorgeous food. Oh, and cold wine!

The bay right in front of the Wijaya Beach restaurant is protected by rocks from the monster waves so common along this coast. However, the current is still very strong so swimming kids need to be supervised closely. The restaurant has sun loungers and tables on the sand, and showers to rinse off the sand. The pizzas are fabulous, as is rest of the menu. The restaurant gets extremely busy, perhaps because of this the service lacks the same friendliness that we experienced elsewhere on the coast. It’s nevertheless a nice spot to laze away the day.

Hikkaduwa

Hikkaduwa was the favourite beach of the bodyboarders in our group: the gentle, long break was perfect for kids just learning the art of boarding. There are plenty of eateries and places to have  drink along the beach, none of the ones we tried too memorable though.

Mirissa

The best beach for the kids to swim of the ones we visited was definitely Mirissa. A wide sandy beach and shallow water were perfect even for our toddler to explore. There aren’t many places to sit down in the shade, though. To stretch your legs you can climb up a small hill in the end of the beach for even better view of the ocean.

Mirissa is also the base for whale watching trips – but we didn’t fancy sitting on a boat for hours with a bunch of restless kids so left that for a future trip. With older kids this would be a must-do activity!

That’s it about Sri Lanka until the next holiday – then we’ll definitely explore Kandy, the highlands and Yala national park. If anyone has good tips for the East coast, drop a note in the comments box!