Relaxed beach town with beachside restaurants and remove beaches for a more local atmosphere. It’s still has touristy things like restaurants and bars, but not overly commercial with endless shops.
Tangalle can be a nice 2-day stop to relax and enjoy the long peaceful beachfronts. Or a 6-day stay to fully relax and also take tours to nearby national parks (Udalaware & Yala) to see wildlife, and Africa-like landscapes. We stayed here six days and loved it, but if you’re looking for things to do…then you should continue on to Ella.
Where to stay:
- Tangalle Beach (Medaketiya Beach) – this is more or less closer to the town center. I recommend staying on the beach as the town isn’t much to see. Feels more local and also cheaper. The western part by Kirama Oya river is more local but does have tourist restaurants. The eastern part by Blue Horizon, Mallika, and Happy Labs are the busier and “nightlife” part. Although still feels remote and chill.
- Rekawa Beach – the expensive area because the beaches are more remote and secluded. Also because it’s where the turtles are. Just walk outside your place and turtles are laying their eggs. Something like that.
- Rekawa Lagoon – a very good central location next to Tangalle and Rekawa Beach, also Rekawa Lagoon. Lots of nature but also feels remote. The beaches don’t seem too swimmable.
- Hiriketiya & Dickwella – something more west. Hiriketiya more crowded and party, Dickwella more chill and relaxed.
Whatever you do, make sure you stay by the beach! Because that’s where the vibe is. Do not stay in town center. Do not stay 10 minutes walk away from the beach. Ok? Stay by the beach! It’s the greatest asset of this place. That you can be right on the beach for very little money.
Hostels & Hotels:
- Chandy Gaya
- I absolutely enjoyed this unassuming place. Nice little place overlooking the beach. Rooms are nice and have like a private balcony to enjoy a clear view of the sea.
- The beach restaurant across the street is more like a little shack so you can see the sand and everything. It’s not like the other places down the street where the beachside restaurant totally blocks the sea view from the rooms.
- Chandy (the host and owner lady) is so sweet. Made us breakfast every morning and helped us with anything we needed. Amazingly reliable WIFI, the best we had in probably all of Sri Lanka.
- We even saw monkeys and bats right from our place. It’s a simply place but with a lovely view of the beach. We loved staying here, working and animal-watching from the balcony. Just a warning that the ceiling walls are not enclosed, so all kinds of animals come through and may be too much for someone not accustomed to that. Bugs and insects in your room, sometimes a bat, sometimes a lizard, lots of mosquitos, etc. We used mosquito coils and vaporizer, and hid inside the net.
- Colonial Bungalow – booked 6 nights but only stayed 2 because conditions were horrible. Dreadfully slow/unusable internet, dirty and bugs all over the room. Hardly any usable power outlets. Big space and nice staff but ultimately, we found nicer accommodations even closer to the beach and switched out as soon as we could. This place is totally fine if you need to crash for the night and can’t find anything else. But for a longer stay or more enjoyable experience, you should really stay elsewhere. (We had the private room in the side house up stairs. Maybe rooms in the main building are more comfortable but we didn’t bother to try.) The location also sucks, far from the beach and totally out of the vibe. Trust me and don’t stay here…you can find much nicer and even closer to the beach for the same price.
- Salt Lake Cabanas – amazing lake and ocean experience. Lots of peace and wildlife. Magical place.
- Panorama Beach Hotel – really nice and affordable hotel, with a beautiful beach outside. This place costs just a tiny bit more than others but feels like a much fancier hotel than it costs. All walls are closed (so no bugs getting in), nice huge bed, outside patio area just in front, and lovely natural-looking beach outside. Slightly remote area but still a very short 2-3 min walk to the “busier” part of the beach line.
Neighborhoods & Walking areas:
- Just walk along the beaches. Go into town if you need to buy stuff.
Activities to do:
- Buildings & architecture –
- many awesome temples
- Wewurukannala Buduraja Maha Viharaya – THIS is the one to see.
- Wewurukannala Raja Maha Viharaya Temple
- Mulkirigala Rajamaha Viharaya – great views and going there is beautiful. The temple itself is ehhhh.
- Tissamaharama Stupa –
- Parks, gardens, green spaces –
- Beaches, bridges, water-points –
- Tangalle Beach (Medaketiya Beach) – it’s the whole curve of the shoreline from Tangalle all the way up to the Rekawa Lagoon. This is the “busy” area with lots of beaches to hang out. Many of them offering free sun beds hoping that you’ll buy drinks. These beaches are nice enough. Stay on the beach and you can walk it anytime of day. It gets nicer the further east you go.
- Marakolliya Beach – beautiful beach. Not many people. Just you and nature.
- Rekawa Beach – definitely the nicest beach, farther from the city and with few people. Beautiful rocks and sunset views from here. Nicest and quiet chill vibe. Also very few people because it’s so isolated and far from the town. Only nice hotels around here and very few restaurants. The turtle watch area is also here. Come just before sunset. Then go eat and come back for the turtle watching at 8:30pm.
- Rekawa Lagoon –
- Mangrove Beach –
- Hiriketiya Beach – was a beautiful “secret bay” that got discovered around 2010 and is now crowded and overflowing with Western tourists looking to surf and party. For something more relaxed, try Dickwella beach.
- Goyambokka Beach –
- Silent Beach
- Hummanaya Blow Hole
- Medila Beach
- Markets, shopping –
- Arts & museums –
- Viewpoints, landmarks, sunsets:
- Rekawa Beach – most beautiful beach area and sunset watching for me.
- Tours:
- Turtle Watch Rekawa – go hang out at Rekawa Beach for the sunset (come 1-2 hours before sunset). Then go eat dinner, and come back to the turtle watch place at 8:30pm. You pay a small fee and they take you to go see a turtle lay eggs and return back to the ocean.
- Birdwatching bird sanctuary
- Lagoon kayaking
- Udalaware Park – incredible park and best safari for seeing elephants. Lots and lots of elephants and not crowded, so you get the best photography experience here.
- Yala National Park – #1 most popular park and safari in Sri Lanka. Wildest range of wildlife and nice landscapes. Lots of safari jeeps so feels like you’re in a crowded place and your experience might not be as good as elsewhere. It’s recommended to get a tour time range of half-day or full-day, as shorter periods may not guarantee a sighting of the more desired animals (e.g. leopards). Some people may recommend you just drive through instead of entering the park and doing the safari…but this can be dangerous if the animals attack your car looking for food.
Restaurants & Cafes:
- Mallika bar & restaurant – the most popular food and drink place on the beach at almost all hours of the day. Solid good food, reasonable prices. Always people here.
- Restaurant Blue Horizon – we didn’t eat here but they have nice sunbeds for hanging out at the beach. I recommend walking the beachline further east from here to see something nice, then come back to your bed when you’re tired. The massage lady here is very good!
- Reggae Shark – good food and stays open late.
- Sea Life Restaurant – very cool local restaurant that’s hidden and looks like it’s built on somebody’s house. You’re walking up through a local house that’s unfinished (open walls and exposed stairs) but the top is a cool house party vibe. The kids act as waiters and folllow you around chatting with you like your nieces/nephews.
- Kingfisher Pizza Paradise – nice restaurant with good pizza and good prices. Run by a very lovely old sweet German man.
- Dream Family Restaurant – good food at good prices. The owner runs many tours and has lots of useful advice and transport or tour options. Highly recommended to go here for lunch even just to talk to him! Make sure to leave them a good review online.
- Hungry Dragon Restaurant – nice place just 2 minutes walk by the turtle conservation. Good place to eat dinner here after sunset while you wait for the turtle watch. Good food, good service, good prices!
I’m sure there are more good restaurants. Just walk around and try different ones each time.
Bars, clubs, and nightlife:
- Happy Lab grill & bar – is the main (and probably only) Saturday night “party” place. Big bar restaurant with music and lights, fireworks. We came during off season so it wasn’ tcrowded but still they had some people.
- I didn’t notice too much of this. It seemed more like like just beaches and beachside restaurants. For nightlife, Mirissa (and probably Hiriketiya) is generally the better option.
Miscellaneous tips:
- General travel tips for Sri Lanka.
- Blue Horizon Massage – nice massage lady by Blue Horizon Restaurant.
- Wildlife – we saw lots of unexpected wildlife right from our room. Bats, monkeys, big spiders, hahaha. If you get a nicer hotel (still not that expensive), the walls will be fully closed up and you won’t have any issue of animals getting in.
Nearby towns:
- Mirissa* – popular party beach town for western tourists.
- Ella* – nice mountain town.
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