8. More beaches - moving eastwards ⛱️🌊

 

Yet more beautiful beaches 

After four days of relaxing in Mirissa we were well rested and ready to move on - albeit a little sad to be saying goodbye to Prasad. We were heading eastwards along the coast to Tangalle, so just one day of cycling lay between us and a few more days rest at the beach 🥳.  

This meant retracing some of our earlier route (having already detoured west to include our visit to Galle). Prasaad had armed us with lots of recommendations for the rest of our trip and there were a couple of beaches en route to Tangalle where we hoped to stop for a cold drink and check them out. 

We started out on the main road (which was pleasant enough and ran adjacent to the coast for much of the time). A few times we were routed onto side roads which can often end badly and after a while we started to ignore them and just continue on the main road. One detour though took us around some tiny little beaches/coves filled with fishing boats and gave us a gorgeous view of Dondra Lighthouse on the horizon. That was well worth the effort and the extra (and, at times, very steep) climbing involved! 

Our first pitstop was Talalla beach - and Mutts the Street Dog Cafe by WECare, which is a newly opened charity cafe to support street dogs 🥰. It was a beautiful setting - a beautiful little garden haven overlooking the beach which was also stunning 🤩.  Second stop was Hiriketiya Beach a few miles on but this time we just stopped for a quick look and a photo. It's a very pretty little beach, clearly very hip and trendy, but also very busy and hence we declined to stop for another drink - mainly because we were struggling to find anywhere where we could easily park up the bike.  This turned out to be the right call as we ended up stopping at another small beach just outside Tangalle and found a nice cafe/restaurant directly overlooking a very quiet beach. It turns out it's called Turtle Landing Beach restaurant for a reason - we'd just ordered our drinks when Max spotted a large turtle in the water! Before long it was obvious there were several of them and a few people down on the beach had noticed them too! What an unexpected and totally unplanned treat that was 😍.

Back on the bike we only had about six miles to go and that flew by. We arrived at the Lagoon Gate resort mid afternoon and recieved another very warm welcome, a cold face towel and a glass of fresh papaya juice 😋. 

We'd actually rejigged our plans for the next few days opting to spend a little less time in Mirissa so that we could explore the area of Tangalle, having read that the beaches were somewhat wilder and quieter there. Lagoon Gate was the first of two places we found that looked luxurious and had some last minute availability. Well all I can say is wow, it certainly didn't disappoint! I was completely blown away when they showed us to our suite - not only was it huge but also very stylish and eye catching 🤩. We had our own porch which overlooked the beautiful gardens and a spacious bathroom with posh toiletries 😉. The owner, Lalith, proudly gave us a guided tour of the grounds - pointing out all the different plants (including cinammon, chillies, peppers) they were growing and I also noticed a number of eye catching animal murals on the walls outside each of the suites - we appeared to be in the peacock suite 🦚.  The property was situated on the edge of a large lagoon and kayaks were available for us to get across to the beach on the other side.  The largest monitor lizards we've seen on the trip so far would come to the edge of the lagoon every day for their breakfast 😀.  The emphasis was definitely on relaxation with several hanging egg chairs dotted about around the garden and a very inviting pool area, again beautifully maintained 🤩. 

Lagoon Gate was situated on the edge of a very small village and we knew beforehand there weren't really any other eating options around. The reviews had all indicated that the food here was excellent and, given we were only staying for two nights, that suited us just fine. One slight initial niggle we had was the sense that some upselling was in motion as soon as we arrived. The price of breakfast (£15 each) was considerably higher than had been indicated on booking.com or indeed what we'd paid for breakfast anywhere else. Understandably, being by the coast, seafood featured heavily on the menu, but we were instantly being offered a seafood platter which looked to cost about £60 😳😳. We managed to successfully navigate all this though - settling for a prawn curry which was absolutely delicious and negotiating the breakfast price down to a more reasonable rate (which Lalith seemed more than happy with). All the food we ate at Lagoon Gate really was delicious, and Lalith and all the other staff looked after us really well, so we didn't let this slight niggle tarnish our overall experience. 

The Swedish guests at Bon Accord had recommended we visit the Turtle Conservation Project on Rekawa Beach which was very close by. This area of the coast is renowned for sea turtles which swim in the waters and also come to lay their eggs on the shore at night during the nesting season (which starts in February). So, with the help of Lalith who made the arrangements for us, we went on a night tour straight after dinner on our first night and were lucky enough to watch one of the turtles build her nest and then lay her eggs 😍. Our guide was very experienced and also very strict about us keeping our distance from the turtle. Only once she'd made her nest were we allowed to approach in very small groups (and only for a very brief glimpse) through an infra red light. It was a beautiful moment and, although it can be hard to gauge how ethical these projects really are, my overriding sense was that they're working hard to protect the turtles and their habitat and their approach appeared to be very mindful and respectful of them. 

We made use of the kayak one afternoon and, although we don't have the best track record for kayaking together, we did manage to work quite well as a team and got across the lagoon and back without falling out (not only with each other but also the boat 😂). On reaching the other side the beach didn't disappoint - it was picture perfect and we had it all to ourselves 🤩. Unfortunately though the sea was way too rough, so no swim for Max that day 🥲. 

We signed up for a yoga class too - one of the other guests, a lovely lady from Corfu, joined us for an early morning session before breakfast. Lalith had carefully managed our expectations and kept telling us that the guy was a martial arts expert so there would be some different moves involved 😳. We enjoyed it but let's just say we were still feeling the effects of it several days later 😂. 

We had a couple of interesting conversations at dinner with both the Greek lady and a Dutch couple also staying at Lagoon Gate. He had very strong views on many different things and she didn’t seem to agree with many of them 😂. So, with Max utilising his typical style of rather direct questioning, it made for a few quite lively conversations!! We were horrified when he said he wanted the Netherlands to follow our lead and leave the EU and mortified when he mentioned that he follows (and likes) Katie Hopkins on tik tok 🫣🫣. It was all very good natured though and it's always interesting to learn how we're perceived by anyone we meet from other countries. 

After just two days at Lagoon Gate we moved on just a few miles further east along the coast. I'm not entirely sure how it ended up that way - it was probably driven by what accommodation had late availability given that we'd rejigged our plans at the last minute. Anyway, after just a very short ride we arrived at the Arinna Hotel - equally luxurious but with a very different style - it was a brand new resort (with a first floor gym and fitness/yoga studio still under construction). The resort was situated directly on the beach complete with an infinity pool and stunning view 🤩. We had a fabulous room with a huge bathroom and our own little porch looking out onto the pool and the beach beyond. I could certainly get used to this lifestyle I thought to myself 😂. We spent the next few days doing very little - just relaxing and pottering about. The beach really was stunning and so quiet too - mass tourism definitely hasn't reached this area yet though there are certainly  signs that further development on it's way. 

Rather than have dinner at the resort we opted to head out in the evenings to explore. There weren't a huge number of options but we did stumble across a lovely little family run restaurant which seemed to be very popular, and rightly so as it turned out. We were welcomed in and then served by the youngest member of the family who I'd guess was as young as 10 but going on 40 - he had all the lingo and wasn't fazed in the slightest 😂. Again, being by the coast, fish featured heavily on the menu and catch of the day was proudly displayed on a table just outside the kitchen.  I got up to take a photo which started a trend and soon there was a crowd of people all doing the same 😂. We're not very adventurous when it comes to seafood though and I think I had noodles that night (which were delicious) while Max enjoyed (yet another) curry! 

So all in all we enjoyed a fabulous 5 night stay in Tangalle at two very different (but equally luxurious) styles of accommodation. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about getting back on the bike again when our stay finally came to an end but I knew there was plenty more to look forward to and I was starting to look ahead to potential opportunities to see more elephants 🐘🐘.  

Cycling along the coast towards Tangalle 

Fab view of Dondra lighthouse in the distance 

Beautiful little unspoilt coves 

Mutts the Street Dog Cafe on Talalla beach 

Turtle Landing Beach 

Ditto

Our fabulous room at Lagoon Gate

Dinner at Lagoon Gate

Breakfast entertainment at the feeding table 😍

We made it safely across the lagoon 🥳 

The beach was worth the effort 

But the sea was very rough!! 

Max disappointed, no swim 😕 

The gardens at Lagoon Gate

Beautiful wall murals 

Our peacock suite 

Saying goodbye to Lalith 

Arinna Resort - the view from our porch

The beach at Arinna 

The infinity pool at Arinna 

Ditto 

The family restaurant - I loved the mural 🤩

Local fisherman bringing in their catch 💪

I could definitely get used to this 😄

We had the beach all to ourselves 

The view from the hanging egg chair 😂

Our second visit to the family restaurant 

(the people to the right are queueing up to take a photo of the catch of the day 😂)