Best beaches to swim in

We are going on honeymoon on the first of august and are keen to make sure we stay at a beach that is calm and ideally very clear for swimming. We really enjoy going into the water numerous times a day so are always happy when there are no coral etc to walk over?

Ideally we stay at a hotel on such a beach but would also love to know some ones worth visiting for the day that would be more secluded.

Any help would be appreciated!!

Best beaches to swim in

Hmmm... as you%26#39;re going in a suboptimal season for sea quality, your main escape of rough sea is to go for an area with a coral reef. Main ones are Hikkaduwa, Unawatuna and Polhena-Matara. The first two have enough hotels, Polhena has more guesthouse level acco.

More details to follow for sure from the more avid bathers amongst the forum regulars and DE%26#39;s!

All the best,

%26lt;Erik%26gt; %26amp; [Sandya]

Best beaches to swim in

Thanks, now I am slightly concerned as my wife-to-be! has asked for only two things as our honeymoon destination and that is that the hotel is clean and we can swim nearby!

Is Koggala not any good for this?

Many thanks,

Nuggat

Hi again,

Koggala has no reef protection. However Unawatuna is 15 mins away by tuktuk and DOES have it. You can bathe in Koggala, it%26#39;s a pristine lovely wide beach much better than that in U%26#39;tuna, but the undercurrents this time of the year simply make it too risky to swim. As long as you take this precaution no problem using the Koggala beach/sea many times during the day...

Hope this helps,

%26lt;Erik%26gt; %26amp; [Sandya]

Thanks, can I just clarify Erik, you mean we can sort of go and dip/stand in the water at Koggala but we cannot swim out very far? I was not really understanding the %26#39;taking precautions%26#39;.

Thanks again.

Yes that is. As long as you can stand in the water the currents won%26#39;t draw you into the sea. But even then at some places on the beach the waves are so strong that you won%26#39;t want to go more than waist-deep!

Have fun at all beaches,

%26lt;Erik%26gt; %26amp; [Sandya]

Hi,

I asked a similar question last year prior to our first trip to Sri Lanka. We were advised to go to Unawatuna and we absolutely loved it. We stayed in the top room at Thambapanni, and apart from the steps, loved the room as it looked out over the jungle canopy to the sea. The room had a four poster bed and a wrap around balcony visited by monkeys in the morning! (see our review for pictures if interested).

The beach at Unawatuna was lovely and the sea was perfect for swimming. We spent hours swimming and floating on the rings that you can cheaply hire from the beachside cafes.

Nix %26amp; Paul

You could also try Mirissa - the main beach may be a little rough but up the east end there is a protected bay.

I was at Mirrisa in Aug last year. I found it great to just lay flat in the shallow part and if you wade out a coupe of minutes there are nice waves for body surfing but the waves are quite rough.Unawattuna was also nice. Why dont you beach hop? Most hotels are practically empty that time of year. Also if you plan on going to Kandy the Preheara Festival is quite amazing. You will need a company to book seats by roadside for you.The last night is the best parade to see.

Spunkywads