6 Best Beaches in Sri Lanka Without Crowds (& 2 to Skip!)
One of Sri Lanka’s top selling points is its outrageously beautiful beaches. Huge stretches of golden sand lined with palm trees, clear blue waters, and sometimes a fella with a machete who’ll whack the top off a coconut for you.
It’s near on perfect. BUT, Sri Lanka is getting increasingly popular in the last few years! Tourist numbers have soared, and because of this, the beach towns (particularly in the south) are changing and adapting to accommodate the demands of the foreigners.
Like, I get it. But, some parts of Sri Lanka no longer feel like Sri Lanka.
Some foreigners come to party, be waited on hand and foot while they lounge on the beach, eat their avocado toast, and drink their matcha lattes like they would have back home.
That’s just not for us, so during our two months in Sri Lanka, we tried to hunt down the best beaches in Sri Lanka without crowds; the ones that feel more local and less touristy.
If that sounds like your sort of style too, check out these beaches below, and also the two that we absolutely recommend against visiting – we’ll explain further down!
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1. Goyambokka
Goyambokka takes the top spot for us. To reach the beach, there’s a narrow alleyway to walk down, and then suddenly the view opens up to a small cove of pristine sand lined with palm trees. There are a couple of shacks selling snacks and drinks, and they also have sun loungers and parasols. When we visited, we were told that the water was good for swimming as long as we didn’t go more than ten metres out, so make sure you check with the guys running the shacks before you just jump in!
We even spent an evening at one of the beach shacks to celebrate their son’s fourth birthday and it was a really cute experience.
Follow the shoreline along to the right for a few minutes and you’ll see this beautiful little cove too:
Best time to visit: South & West Dry Season – December to March (but November and April shoulder seasons should have great weather too, though it’s more of a gamble!)
Where to Stay Near Goyambokka
Goyambokka Guesthouse (£) – a perfect location just a 5-minute walk to Goyambokka beach. The rooms are clean and simple. There is a lovely pool area and they serve breakfast and small meals throughout the day.
Star Beach Hotel (££) – more upscale, but still only a few steps away from Goyambokka beach with sea view rooms.
2. Talalla
Talalla feels untouched. This huge swathe of golden sand has a couple of spots where you can hire sun loungers and parasols, but other than that, there is almost nothing else there. If you are looking for a quiet beach that you feel like you have almost all to yourself, this is the one. The only downside with this is that there aren’t loads of places to eat. Still, beautiful views, relaxed atmosphere, lovely.
Best time to visit: South & West Dry Season – December to March (but November and April shoulder seasons should have great weather too, though it’s more of a gamble!)
Where to Stay Near Talalla
Talalla Leisure (£) – a perfect location just a 5-minute walk to Talalla beach. The rooms are clean and simple. There is a lovely pool area and they serve breakfast and meals throughout the day.
Talalla Bay Beach House (££) – lovely rooms with views over Talalla beach in a secluded setting.
3. Dutch Bay
Up on the north east coast in Trincomalee is a peaceful stretch of sand called Dutch Bay. We managed to find only the one beach bar serving breakfast and drinks, and it also had a couple of sun loungers and parasols you could use if you were eating there.
We genuinely saw only a handful of other people enjoying the beach. It’s quiet, secluded, largely untouched, and well away from the regular tourist crowds.
Best time to visit: North & East Dry Season – May to September (but April and October shoulder seasons should have great weather too, though it’s more of a gamble!)
Where to Stay Near Dutch Bay
Bon Voyaage Tourist Inn (£) – a beautiful house with bright rooms only a 15-minute walk to Dutch Bay and Fort Frederick.
4. Uppaveli
Another Trincomalee gem, Uppaveli is a long beach with calm waters (usually) and it is pretty shallow too. You’ll have to go out quite far for the water to become deep. There are several beach bars and spots renting out sun loungers, but it doesn’t feel crowded, and tends to be pretty relaxed. Even if there is a bar that does have music, there is SO much beach, that you can easily position yourself away from it.
Best time to visit: North & East Dry Season – May to September (but April and October shoulder seasons should have great weather too, though it’s more of a gamble!)
Where to Stay Near Uppaveli
Coastal Heaven Villa (£) – bright rooms, a outdoor garden area, and it’s dead close to the beach
Blue Sand Beach Resort (££) – definitely a little fancier, but beautiful and right on the beach
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5. Nilaveli
Another beach in the heart of Trincomalee. Honestly, everyone rushes to the south to get their beach fix, but Trincomalee is where you need to go! The beach has a similar vibe to Uppaveli in the sense that it is a very long beach with shallow water and lined with palm trees, but it’s quieter and more untouched.
Best time to visit: North & East Dry Season – May to September (but April and October shoulder seasons should have great weather too, though it’s more of a gamble!)
Where to Stay Near Nilaveli
Cardamon Hotel Nilaveli (££) – lovely, clean, and spacious rooms right on the beach
Nilaveli Boutique Hotel (£££) – ok, not our usual style because this is fancy but it doesn’t look like it’s trying too hard. Anyway, this looks like a splurge!
6. Bentota
Back in the south, but this time a little up the west coast is Bentota. This long beach is a little more built up with some hotels on the beach, but it’s easy to steer clear of these. Bentota is a lovely little town that feels really local and welcoming. As well as lounging on the beach, and sipping on king coconuts, make sure you visit our absolute favourite rice and curry spot that you can find around here.
Best time to visit: South & West Dry Season – December to March (but November and April shoulder seasons should have great weather too, though it’s more of a gamble!)
Where to Stay Near Bentota
Sisi’s Place (£) – this place looks SO lovely. Right by the beach, rooms with four poster beds, sea views.
Ayubowan Swiss Lanka Bungalow Resort (££) – characterful decor, pool area surrounded by palm trees!
And two spots you should really skip:
Hikkaduwa
I heard so many people rave about this beach, so we booked a few nights here, and honestly we were SO disappointed. The beach was nice enough, but the area itself was purely set up for tourists. We asked our accommodation host where he would recommend eating, and he couldn’t give us anywhere. So we then asked where him and his friends and family like to eat, and he told us that they didn’t like the places in Hikkaduwa, which I thought was really sad.
We eventually found a restaurant that only had locals in, but we had to traipse well out of the main part of town to reach it. Yeah, there are much better beaches almost everywhere else in Sri Lanka.
Arugam Bay
But the absolute epitome of gentrification is Arugam Bay. On the south east coast, this is a relatively small area that again has a nice enough beach and is known for its surfing scene. BUT, it does not even feel like Sri Lanka here. There is an actual road sign as you enter the area warning locals that they are entering a tourist zone.
Essentially saying ‘you’re going to see half-naked foreigners wandering the streets’. Yeah, it’s sad. There is such a disregard for the local culture here that there are signs throughout Arugam Bay asking people to please not wander around half-naked if you’re not at the beach. Restaurants have the taste and spice of the food dialled right down for the tourists.
We spoke to locals running restaurants and bars here, and they told us about how they hated the area and that they were only here because they needed to make money. It has a weird unwelcoming, cliquey vibe (coming from the other tourists, not the locals), and we couldn’t wait to get out of there.
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