Best Beaches of the World: Mirissa Bay Beach, Sri Lanka

Beach

5km southeast across Weligama Bay, Mirissa, with its picture-perfect wide stretch of golden sand backed by luxuriant vegetation has been sensibly developed so as to retain the relaxed nature of the little village. Mirissa's headland divides its small fishing harbour from its beautiful curve of sandy beach with calm, clear waters. It's a low-key, peaceful spot. The headland is an ideal spot to view Weligama Bay Beach.

Parrot Rock

The rocky outcrop to the east of the bay, Giragala (Parrot Rock) Village, is a reef ideal for long hours, long days of swimming. Parrot Rock is also a popular fishing spot. Still more, it is the perfect place to watch the sunset. Western end of the bay is the best area for surfing as well as snorkeling with plenty of fish.

Corals & sea turtles
Corals & sea turtles are on the south side.

Walks to Tea factories, Rubber factories

Dense grove of palm trees manages to camouflage the Matara road, which runs just behind the beach, from all signs of human presence. There are pleasant walk around Mirissa. Walks to Tea factories, Rubber factories through the woods provide pleasant excursions. Walks to Snake farm, Buddhist temple & village Ayurvedic practitioner too are popular.

River

Inland, you can explore the river, & there are some pleasant walks (or cycle trips) up into the woods.

Whale and Dolphin Watching in Mirissa

Quote Gehan De Silva Wijeyeratne Sri Lanka is probably the best place in the world to see Blue Whales. It is almost certainly the best place in the world to see both Blue Whales and Sperm Whales together. This was realized and published only as recently as May 2008 by the author. The reason why it had remained unknown for so long was because since the 1980s, the attention of whale watchers had been focused around Trincomalee to the North-east of the island.

The realization that Sri Lanka is a hot spot for Blue and Sperm Whales draws heavily on the work of Dr. Charles Anderson, a British biologist, resident in the Maldives, who had been studying the strandings of cetaceans in the Maldives. He develops a theory that there was migration of whales between the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea which took them near the shores of Sri Lanka. He believed that the whales, especially Blue Whales and Sperm Whales, would be travelling pass the South coast in December-January from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. In April, they would pass the South coast on the return journey raveling west to the Arabian Sea, passing Sri Lanka and the Maldives. He had first suggested this theory in a paper published in 1999 which reviewed his records up to mid 2002, which were over two thousand sightings, he refined his hypothesis further in a paper published in 2005 in the Journal of Cetacean Research and Management. Unquote

Sri Lanka has three seasonal Whale and Dolphin watching hot-spots: Kalipitiya, Trincomalee and Dondra Point/Mirissa. Dondra Point together with Mirissa in the Deep South of Sri Lanka has now earned its place as if not the best, one of the best locations (in the topmost bracket) as is becoming known as one of the world's best locations (amongst the top three possibly) for watching Blue Whales and Sperm Whales - two of the most sought after marine mammals. In fact for seeing both Sperm and Blue Whales together, it may even turn out to be the best location in the world.

Whales can be seen with such ease here by just sailing out from the fishery harbour of Mirissa

Season: November to April
Peak months: December-January and April
Other period: period between January and April is also a good time for sightings of dolphins.
Timing: morning session at 6-7 am; afternoon session: 13-14pm;
Protection from sun: keep sun-lotion and a hat/cap and/or sunglasses in hand.
Sightings of whales: most sightings occur 3 to 6 miles off Mirissa
Whales: Blue Whales: Sperm Whales; Fin Whales; Bryde's Whale; Humpback Whale; Pygmy Killer Whale; Short finned pilot Whale Dolphins: Common Dolphin; Bottlenose Dolphin; Spinner Dolphin; Risso's Dolphin; Striped Dolphin
Safety: It's quite safe and can be recommended to anybody, unless you are below 10 or above 70.

Following whales

The accepted practice of approaching whales is to pilot the boat in consistently slow speed parallel to the their course, while keeping a minimum distance of 100 meters for period limited to less than 30 minutes.

The accepted practice of departure is to pilot the boat out slowly and accelerate is done only when the gap is increased to 300 meters.

Hotels and guest house at Mirissa

Giragala Village, Mirissa
Giragala Village, a beachfront guest house (14 rooms), in terms of its location, i.e. beach and garden could hardly be bettered by any other. The huge expanses of grass lawn, sheltered by coconut palm trees are studded with lounges and hammocks.
Mandara boutique resort, Mirissa
Mandara boutique resort (20 rooms) is a beach front hotel surrounded by cliffs and Islands.
Paradise Beach Club, Mirrissa
Paradise beach club (42 rooms) is a beachfront property located on a stretch of beach ideal for surfing.
Ocean Moon Guesthouse, Mirissa
Ocean Moon Guesthouse (9 cabanas & 3 rooms) is beachfront guesthouse we set in a fine stretch of beach at Mirissa.

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