SAFA Arugam Bay

The camp

SAFA belongs to Fawas Lafeer, general secretary of the Sri Lankan surfing federation and an ISA level 2 coach, and he built the rooms himself, on the beach off Galaxy Road. The dining room opens onto the sand, and dinner is the fish of the day or a local dish.

The day starts at five, with coffee, fruit and a sunrise session. Yoga at eight if you want it, breakfast at nine, theory with Fawas at half past two, video at half past three, and the group goes back out at half past four. Never more than five students to a coach, usually three, groups for beginners, intermediates and advanced surfers, and a drone overhead for the last of those.

The camp surfs the peak in front of the house and a long stretch of the coast: Baby Point, the Main Point, Peanut Farm, Elephant Rock, Pottuvil Point, Lighthouse, Okanda and Panama Point. The Main Point wants a north-north-westerly and Peanut Farm a westerly, so they are rarely good on the same day, and a coach with nine options always has somewhere to put the group.

Evenings are at the shared table, now and then broken up by a night camping on the beach or a trip onto the lagoon. Fawas puts the season from April to October, peaking June to August, while the south of the island sits idle. If you want to actually get better during a European summer, look here first.