The Salty Hiriketiya

The camp

The Salty, known for years as Salty Pelican, is a few steps from the bay, in a two-storey building under the coconut palms. A pool in the middle with a lounge open onto it, a shala at the edge of the jungle, and yoga on the roof as well. Yoga weighs as much as surf here: eleven sessions across the week, Pilates several times a week, and a massage on the short stay.

The surfing happens right below, in the bay. Five lessons across the week, one on the three-night stay, but the board is yours every day until you leave, and in Hiriketiya that matters. The horseshoe wraps the swell and keeps a wave on days the rest of the coast closes out; its sand, on the right, is where the schools work. Between lessons you paddle back out on your own in the afternoon, with nothing to drive and nobody to wait for.

Four nights a week the whole house eats together: hoppers on Monday, a barbecue on Wednesday, rice and curry on Friday, seafood or vegetables on the grill on Sunday. Films in the shala, live music some nights, and Raa Bar and Smoke & Bitters a short walk away when you want a change of table. The other three dinners are not included.

If you are travelling alone and want company at dinner, the house is built for it. If you want a coach beside you in the water every day, or a private room to yourself, look elsewhere: no single rate is published.