Freedom Surf School (Weligama Bay)

ABOUT THE SURF CAMP

Weligama Bay

Weligama, located on the south coast of Sri Lanka is a lively fishing town. You can experience local culture as well as finding a good mix of surfers and tourists.
Weligama is an excellent base to explore the South Coast. Beautiful beaches for sunbathing and swimming and good night life only 4KM away.
In Mirissa there is Whale watching all year round. Historical Galle Fort only 40 minutes away. As well as being a fantastic starting point for Safaris to Yala and Uduwalwe and other day trips.
Weligama is the best place to base yourself for an unforgettable holiday experience.

Surf Season

The official surf season is from the end of October until early April. Winds are off shore making clean waves, swells are good and rain is at a minimum.
From the end of April until October there is the chance of rain but there are still good waves for beginners. With the benefit of smaller crowds in the water, allowing you to have the waves to yourself.
There are waves for beginners to surf and take surf lessons all day long, but it is best to avoid the mid day sun. If you are an early bird and enjoy the sunrise, this is a perfect time to surf as it is very quiet. Watching the sunset from the ocean whilst catching waves is stunning.

We are really proud and excited to share with you the unique experience of staying and surfing with Freedom. We have created a slice of Sri Lankan life to show you the life we love to live. Being a locally run and owned business we support our local Sri Lankan community with everything that we do from our Surf lessons to our homely Surf Villa, weekly beach clean ups and all other tours and experiences we offer. We pride our Surf Camp experience on being completely flexible with how you want to structure your holiday time so you can surf when you want, eat when you want and sleep when you want - pure Freedom!

We are a relaxed and chilled camp with something on offer for everyone from being family friendly to having a hostel vibe where party nights out can be arranged if you wish. 

Freedom Surf School is local owned and local run. Our instructors have the best knowledge of the wave conditions in Weligama Bay. At Freedom safety and happiness are key to a successful life and holiday. Our instructors are professional and lifesaving trained. We aim to please our customers in their surfing and stay in Sri Lanka.

We are extremely excited to have our own Freedom Surf Villa that opened for the 2017 season. Our Surf Villa is a home away from home with private rooms and a hostel vibe. We provide our customers with comfortable and quality accommodation in a peaceful setting.

ACCOMMODATION AND CATERING

Freedom Surf Villa is our homely guest house set in a beautiful green village 'coconut land' the villa is only a 10 minute walk from the main surfing beach. We have 2 luxury double rooms, 1 triple or twin room and 1 four-bed dorm room. Our lovely rooms come with  AC, large comfortable beds, ensuite bathrooms, private balcony,s mosquito nets, quality linen, plush towels & free WiFi. 

We include a healthy delicious breakfast (vegan & gluten free) Unlimited tea & coffee, water refills, and a self catering kitchen. There are also food delivery option available. 

SURF COURSE AND ACTIVITIES

Our lessons are one hour long, and this is long and tiring enough for most people. As we teach privately our instructors work you really hard and you should expect to have no rest period during this hour. You will catch a wave, paddle back and get ready to catch the next wave almost straight away.

Depending on your level will depend on the structure of the lesson. Beginner lessons start with a thorough explanation on the sand of how the equipment works, safety and the pop up technique before heading not the water. All other lessons will give a brief outline and some practical warm up on the sand before heading into the water to put your newly learnt skills into practice. The instructors will guide you throughout the lesson giving constant feedback and tips on how you can improve.

We teach mostly private lessons - this means that you will be taught in your booking group, we don’t usually mix bookings together (unless you are happy to do this and would prefer to learn alongside someone else, and it works with timings). We define private lessons as one instructor to one student or one teacher to two students. We pay our instructors per person per lesson as they have to do more work for two people so our prices are the same. If you book as a group or pair of different abilities we can give the right amount of instructors to teach at the levels you need.

We offer surf lesson only packages as well as surf and sleep packages. 

We have a wide range of surfboards for beginner and intermediate surfers. We have high quality soft top foam boards ranging in size from 9ft-6ft (the smaller ones are great for children) You can start your surfing journey on these boards and get your balance easily before either working down in size or changing to a hard board. We have NSP hardboards that range in size form 8”6-6”8 for beginner and intermediate surfers. The boards are designed to help you catch green waves easily so you can really practice perfecting your technique.

Surfboard rental is included in the surf lessons and we also offer surfboard hire for outside of lesson time.

We can recommend excellent yoga classes close by. We can also arrange tours and whale watching. 

MORE INFO, HOW TO GET THERE & FAQ

Weligama is the best place to take your first lesson along the South Coast of Sri Lanka. 
A beach break with small, consistent waves , an excellent place for you to start and practise.

Seasonal conditions

We live and surf in the tropics so the water is always warm. 

The South Coast season is December-April, where we expect to have sunny blue skies with offshore wind and waves in the 2-6ft range. This is considered the high season and can get fairly crowded. We can arrange Surf Tours to the less known spots off the beaten track where there will be less crowds. This the best surf season.

During the summer season which is April-October, We can expect to get some really good swells with waves in the 2-8ft range. This is considered the low season where Weligama gets little to no crowd. This season is great for beginner surfers. We also expect the monsoon during this time so we have occasional rains and thunderstorms in morning or evening which means the surroundings are beautifully lush and green.

The shoulder seasons are October/November & April. During October the winds normally change with the swells in the 4-8ft range. It can be a great season with big swells and offshore winds. November and October are affected by occasional heavy rains. In April the bigger swells start to arrive again. April is not affected by the monsoon, and with few crowds and waves in the 2-8ft range, it can be a great time to surf.

Crowd factor and local people

Depending on the season will depend on the crowds. Locals here love to surf so you can expect to be sharing waves with them all year round. 

Characterization of surroundings/region

Weligama, located on the south coast of Sri Lanka is a lively fishing town. You can experience local culture as well as finding a good mix of surfers and tourists.
Weligama is an excellent base to explore the South Coast. Beautiful beaches for sunbathing and swimming and good night life only 4KM away.
In Mirissa there is Whale watching all year round. Historical Galle Fort only 40 minutes away. As well as being a fantastic starting point for Safaris to Yala and Uduwalwe and other day trips.
Weligama is the best place to base yourself for an unforgettable holiday experience

The local language is Sinhala but most people have some grasp of English. The local currency is Sri Lankan Rupees and is a closed currency so you can only change your money once you arrive in Sri Lanka. You will need to apply for a visa before travelling to Sri Lanka and travel and health insurance is advisable. 

Activities and facilities

Sri Lanka is a beautiful country to explore and we can arrange tours and excursions around the whole island tailored to your needs. 

Ways to get to the camp
The international airport on Sri Lanka is COLOMBO (CMB). From you have a few options for traveling to Weligama:

1. Taxi which is a direct transfer and takes 2 hours 13,000LKR (easiest and most comfortable)

2. Train from Colombo Fort, approx 3.5 hour in total, approx 1000LKR - you will have to take the bus from the airport to Colombo Fort and then check the train times - http://slr.malindaprasad.com/index.php?from=FOT&to=WLM.

3. Highway Bus - local bus to Colombo Fort then take the highway bus to Matara then a local bus to Weligama, approx 3.5 hour, approx 700LKR

 4. Local Bus - bus to to Colombo Fort then take the local bus to Weligama, approx 5 hours, approx 500LKR

We can arrange transfers for you. We work with good reliable drivers who have fully insured and serviced vehicles. We can arrange transportation from the airport or from anywhere else on the island. An airport transfer costs 13000LKR one way for an air-conditioned vehicle for 1-4 persons, it includes a driver, highway charges, parking/entry tickets to the airport and all other fee’s. Driving from Colombo Airport to Freedom takes about 2 hours, depending on traffic. If you are more than 4 people and have surfboards we can arrange a van for 15500LKR one way, the van can take up to 7 people with luggage.

Important details
You have to get a VISA to enter Sri Lanka. This is an easy process that you can do online before you travel. Please use this government official website only. You will get a 30 day visa. Your passport needs to have two free pages and must be valid for 6 months after your trip. If you want to stay longer than 30 days you can extend your visa for up to 3 months at the Immigration office in Colombo or use their pick up and drop off service once you are in Weligama.

PACKAGES & PRICES

This package includes:

The Surf Course Package is our most popular package and offers a thorough surfing experience for beginner & intermediate surfers. The course follows a structured teaching programme and our instructors will go into detail about the theory behind catching waves. You will get 2 surf lessons a day that you can either take as 2 separate lessons - 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon (recommended!) or you can choose to combine them and take a 2 hour lesson either morning or afternoon and you can alternate each day. You also get unlimited board hire included so you can practise in between lessons which is key to making maximum progress. Also included is your choice of room and a delicious breakfast.

This package includes:

The Surf Intense Package is for those who want to learn or improve their surfing and make great progress in a short amount of time. For this you will get 2 surf lessons a day that you can either take as 2 separate lessons - 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon (recommended!) or you can choose to combine them and take a 2 hour lesson either morning or afternoon and you can alternate each day. Also included is your choice of room and a delicious breakfast.

 This package includes:

The Surf Relax Package is for those who want to learn to surf at a slower pace and have time in the day to relax or travel around Weligama and the surrounding areas. For this you will get 1 surf lesson a day at the time you choose, your choice of room and a delicious breakfast.

 This package includes:

The Family Package is a great option for families of 3, 4 or 5 who want to provide holiday fun for their children. You can choose 1 or 2 surf lessons a day and stay in our large AC family room that has one Super King sized bed and 1 Double bed, we also have a travel cot and highchair available, delicious breakfast is also available.