Austrian windsurfer Max Brinnich takes you to the land of tuktuks, elephants and rotis: Sri Lanka.
Max Brinnich in Sri Lanka – Seen Ep. 6
Text by Max Brinnich
It was already my third time in Sri Lanka. The question I asked myself before I booked Sri Lanka this year, was: Will it still be as exotic and an adventure as it was back in 2014, or is it just an average windsurf trip… A few weeks later I was already on board of an Turkish Airlines plane to Colombo Airport. Entering the country with an European Passport is pretty easy and that’s it: getting your bags, taking a taxi – either north (to Kalpitiya) or south (to Weligama, Arugambay) and the experience is about to start.
I travelled to Kaplitiya to visit my buddy Upul, who owns Sri Lankas biggest windsurf and kitesurf school there. The distances in Sri Lanka seem small from the kilometerside of things, but for example 150km from Colombo to Kalpitiya take 3-4 hours. When I arrived it was really windy – serious 4.4 weather for two days, but 4.0 would have been also a good choice. Then the wind dropped a bit and I was sailing a lot on 5.2. When the wind completly stopped for a few days, I did some sightseeing (there’s a LOT to see! e.g. temples, safaris, highlands…) and paddlesurfing in Weligama.
What I like still best about Sri Lanka is how nice the people are and how good rice with curry actually is – if you are open for a different windsurftrip you should definitely try Sri Lanka one day! Anyways the answer to the question from the beginnig: it is still an adventure, the spot is still pretty empty and you can have a really good time windsurfing, surfing and travelling.
