looking to go surfing in Sri Lanka? welcome to the Ticket to Ride Surf House!
hey guys I've just got back from an awesome season of waves in Sri Lanka and
as part of this I spent two weeks with the Ticket to Ride crew at their
brand new surf house in Ahangama. Let's chat about how I got on first things
first where is the Ticket to Ride Surf House? Well in case you didn't realise
Sri Lanka is a country that sits off the coast of India - roughly an 11 hour flight
from Europe and about a 10 hour flight from Australia. Now our Ahangama itself
is a small beach town in the South West coast of the country and the surf house
itself is a roughly two and a half hour drive from the International Airport.
So what's your accommodation at the Ticket to Ride Surf house going to be like?
Well they have a maximum of 27 guests with private and twin A/C rooms as
well as three triple shared A/C dorms/ Alongside this they have a lovely little
garden area (with a pool coming soon!) where you've got some sun lounges you
can chill out on and top up your tan underneath the palm trees. The highlight
though has to be the rooftop bar and yoga studio which has incredible ocean
views and is the perfect spot for a sunset beer. When it comes to food you'll be
really well fed during your stay at the Surf House and if you opt for the food pack
you'll get a daily breakfast where - along side toast and fresh fruit - you'll
get a choice of options from omelette, porridge and granola through to pancakes and
a fry-up. When it comes to evening meals you get five dinners per week and this
is all amazing local food from curries, kotthu through to the Friday
night BBQ and of course if you're vegetarian you'll be well catered for too.
Now let's talk about the most important thing - the waves! The Ticket To Ride
Surf House is amongst heaps of amazing surf breaks for all levels of surfer.
For beginners where you do your lessons is Kabalana beach break. A nice sandy
bottom mellow spot. For more advanced surfers you've also got spots like The Rock,
Sion, Lazy Left and Rams. For intermediates looking to push their
surfing to the next level there's also a great selection including Marshmallows
and Sticks which sit right in front of the surf camp. One thing that sets Ticket
to Ride apart from other surf providers in the area is their level of surf
coaching and it's something they really pride themselves on. Their experienced
instructors have taught all over the globe from South Africa to the UK
Indonesia and beyond. Now whether you're looking to learn to surf or push your
skills to the next level they'll be there for you and help give you the
skills needed to progress - whether this is perfecting your pop and your paddle
through the beach safety, green Wave turns or even cutbacks and more advanced
manoeuvres. They do this for a series of beach lessons, classroom theory and also
video and photo analysis.
So what is a typical day at that Ticket to Ride Surf House look like? Well you'll
be up bright and breezy at 5:45 in the morning where you'll be greeted with
bananas, tea and coffee ready to fuel yourself for the dawn patrol surf.
At 6:15 you'll head out with your instructors for your first surf lesson
of the day, then you'll head back to the surf camp after that have time to chill out
and dry off before a 9 a.m. hearty breakfast. Then at 10:30 your head
off to the surf coaching area where you'll run through your theory lesson
for the day. At midday your head up to the yoga studio on the roof where you
have a nice hour-long wind down - great for stretching out all the aches from
the morning and chilling out. Then at 3:30 you'll head off for your
second surf session of the day. Now this isn't a full lesson but the instructors
are on hand for feedback and to help you practice what you learn in the morning.
After that you'll head back to the surf camp for the 5:30 happy hour at the
rooftop bar to grab a cold beer or cocktail with your buddies.
At 7 p.m. the day's rounded off with a nice big evening meal with everyone.
And of course whilst you're in Sri Lanka there are plenty more things to see and
do so during your two lay days each week take the time to go out and explore more
what Sri Lanka has to offer. There's everything from tea plantations to
snorkeling with turtles, dolphin and whale watching excursions and of course
you can even head to the nearest National Park.. Udawa...
udawa... Udawalawe? There's an elephant there's a National
Park just down the road! Where you can see elephants water buffalo heaps of
other wildlife and if you're super lucky even some leopards. If you do want to do
a bigger excursion you can also take the opportunity to head inland to Adams peak
for the famous hike there but that is a bit more of a bigger excursion and will
involve a bit more planning.
So what will your stay set you back? Well if you opt for the seven-day surf
package it starts at £588. This includes seven nights accommodation
daily breakfast, 5 evening meals, daily surf coaching, theory lessons and all
of your surf gear. If you want to turn up with your own kit or just want
somewhere to chill and meet some other surfers you can also get the room from a
hundred and thirty three pounds per week.
The bottom line is I really enjoyed my stay at the Ticket to Ride Surf House.
The have an epic crew, amazing coaching heaps of waves to choose from and I really
improved my surfing during my stay there. If you guys want any more information on
the Ticket to Ride Surf Camp check out the link in the description from my for
written review as well as all my Sri Lanka travel and surf guides.
As always guys like, comment, subscribe and I'll see you next week!
Yeeeeewwwww!