This winter, Sri Lanka was once again on the itinerary for our shop team. Since we were all invited to the wedding by good friends, there was a team-USD meeting on the island in the Indian Ocean. Chris was the first to fly there to pursue his great passion of surfing. Tom and his family arrived on the island shortly before Christmas. And Jo and his family only in the new year 2 days before the wedding. Upul & Kathi also run a hotel (DeSilva Palmresort) and a windsurf & kitesurf school on the island (www.surfschool-srilanka.com) so we could all pursue our passions on the water. In the south and west of the island there are world-class surf breaks that produce extremely good waves depending on the season! Chris & Upul have a good friend in Weligama who runs a surf school (My Brother Surfschool). Also very well known in the south is the village of Hikkaduwa – also called Hippie-kaduwa.

The wedding took place in the south of Sri Lanka in the home village of Upul: Bentota/Aluthgama. The south is. known for beautiful beaches and good waves… and now and then also good wind. The wedding began with a champagne reception and photo shoot on the beach and then a bombastic party with traditional Sinhalese shows and a sinfully good buffet.  The fresh fruity cocktails tasted good until late at night! Sri Lanka has too much to offer to spend a holiday only on the beach. Therefore, a trip to the highlands, to an elephant reserve, and to Kandy, the old royal city in the mountains, on the program.

The best spot for wind is in the north-east and is called Kalpitiya. The north of the island was tormented by civil war for a long time and is therefore not as developed as the south in terms of tourism. The resorts of Upul are located a little away from the center of the village on the lagoon. This offers optimal flat water conditions for freestyle, for beginners, or for heating with freeride material. At the sea you can downwind for a long time (upwind boat service from the kite school), and through the windswell there are sometimes quite good waves.

The station of the kite & Windsurfing school (DeSilva Windresort) is located almost directly on the water, there are also accommodations in different variations. From simple guesthouses to nice little cabanas that are located in dense palm trees and vegetation and thus offer privacy. The restaurant offers 3x daily buffet with excellent Sinhalese food and on request also à la carte dishes. A little tip from Jo: the seafood platter is awesome! The Palm Resort Hotel is located about 200m from the Wind resort and offers air-conditioned rooms, a huge pool and extensive shaded areas under palm trees that invite you to relax with hammocks. The wind conditions in winter are moderate, in summer the wind blows a little stronger! In terms of wind, the transitional months (March/April and September/October) should be avoided. In any case, we got our money’s worth with 9 and 12 kites as well as sails between 5.0 and 7.0!

All in all, Sri Lanka is definitely worth a trip and we were certainly not there for the last time!