The tuk tuk dropped Amelia and I at the start of a track leading down towards the coast. He assured us that 'Coconut Surf guesthouse' was down the track, so we paid and went in search of it. We'd been told about the guesthouse by a backpacker we'd met back in Myanmar - she'd spent almost two weeks there, so we thought it was worth checking out.
It was fairly early and other guests were only just getting up and sorting their things. Still, the owner was keen to show us the rooms and didn't hesitate to disturb the other guests to do so! Awkwardly, we viewed the primitive rooms which, despite being so close to the beach were very affordable! As the room we wanted, with its makeshift four poster bed, was yet to be vacated, we dropped our belongings into another room and returned later.
Midigama beach was literally 50 metres away and deserted. As we walked along the quiet white sandy beach Amelia and I spotted the coast was dotted with what were sadly the remnants of people's homes. Contrary to other parts of Asia devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, Sri Lankans seem to be understandably reluctant to redevelop the worst effected areas. Randomly a local approached us and asked us if we'd seen the sharks?! He urged us to follow him, and after climbing up some rocks we caught site of five baby black tip reef sharks in a small rock pool. We were curious as to how they got there, as it didn't appear that the tide would reach that high. It transpired that locals had caught them and then sold the poor things to various aquariums across Asia. According to the man who showed us, there had been ten baby sharks but five had recently been sent to Singapore.
Knowing the reef sharks were harmless I didn't hesitate to jump in for a closer look. They were not the least bit interested in me, in fact they just carried on teasing a reef fish which had been put in the 'pool' for dinner!
Soon enough we moved our bags into our chosen room and went to another guesthouse for lunch. There was a lack of local food on the menu, so we shared some tomato soup with garlic bread, and a beef burger.
Midigama is another surf spot along Sri Lanka's southern coast, but unfortunately the waves were too big for Amelia's liking. I hired a board for the afternoon but struggled to catch anything but the sun! To my relief even an experienced Aussie surfer expressed frustration too! But at least we were rewarded with the company of turtles whilst we waited for the next set. Meanwhile Amelia enjoyed the beach and swam in a natural lagoon.
Rice and curry was for dinner. I was informed by a local surfer about a nearby cheap 'hotel'. After showering we located it about half a mile down the very busy main road connecting all the southern towns. As the curry buffet wasn't quite ready, Amelia and I found ourselves tucking into a couple of their egg hoppers to keep our hunger at bay. The various curries, plentiful rice, and crispy popadoms was just what I needed to fulfil my insatiable appetite worked up from an afternoon of surfing.
When we returned to our room it was straight to sleep for us both. However, instead of falling asleep to the sound of lapping waves, we could hear only but the distant drumming of techno music..

Midigama wasn't a place we fell for, perhaps we didn't give it long enough, either way we decided to keep exploring the south coast..