Best Beaches in Tangalle. Are you looking for the best beaches in Tangalle? Tangalle, which is located along the southern coast, just a few hours away from Mirissa and Galle, has some of the best quiet beaches in Sri Lanka.
The beaches here are more wild and tend to be more rocky, so wouldn’t really recommend these beaches for families with small children if you want to swim. However, if you enjoy the wild beaches, rocky outcrops and sometimes windy days, add Tangalle to your itinerary.
Best Beaches of Tangalle
How to Get To Tangalle
Located on the Southern Coast, Tangalle can be reached from numerous cities in Sri Lanka quite easily.
If you are driving yourself, from Colombo you would take the E1 highway to the A2 and could be in Tangalle in around 4-5 hours.
For Public Transportation, it’s best if you are starting from Colombo to first take a bus or train further south to Matara (train) or Mirissa (bus). From either of those locations, it’s only a 1 to 1.5hr bus ride to Tangalle. At the bus stations, it’s easy enough to ask around to find the correct bus. Sri Lankan people are very friendly and most speak enough English to help.
Which Tangalle Beaches to See?
There are 2 beaches in Tangalle which I would like to highly recommend and are in my mind some of the best quiet beaches in Sri Lanka. There is Goyambokka Beach and Silent Beach. Both beaches are wide, sandy, and have their own charms. Goyambokka is more easily accessible while Silent Beach lives up to its name and is even more quiet and much more secluded. My personal favorite was Silent Beach which I’ll show more about below.
Goyambokka Beach
Goyambokka beach is a wide sandy beach with rocky outcrops on the sides. There are many nice accommodations in Tangalle that are within a 5-10 minute walk of Goyambokka and thus is one of the the more popular beaches. With a few eateries on the beach and many places offering beach chairs, its a great place to spend the afternoon reading and lazing out under the sun. The waves here and water can be rough and have strong undertoe, thus it’s good to check the conditions each day to see if it’s safe to swim.
To get here, you can ask a tuk-tuk driver in Tangalle to take you, or you can find signs along the road that will lead you there, especially if you are staying near Goyambokka which I highly recommend.
One of the popular restaurants/cafe’s that I’d recommend at Goyambokka is a place called Think Club. Just a small 2 level wood shack, it’s location cant be beat. With goyambokka on one side and a small seemingly private beach on the other, the views are outstanding. There are a few food items to order and drinks like coconut milk. I highly recommend to take the bamboo ladder up to the 2nd level to enjoy the views.
Finally, I’d recommend to catch sunrise from Goyambokka. The beach faces the rising sun and is a great spot for photos in the morning as you can see in the photos below.
Silent Beach
Silent beach, also known as Amanwella Beach, is my personal favorite beach from my travels to Sri Lanka. While not the easiest beach to get to, it has amazing white sand, crystal clear water, and is lined by palm trees in all directions. It defines what I consider to be a secluded and quiet beach. In fact, if looking for quiet beaches in Sri Lanka, this one might top the list. While there, there were only a few other people and it felt like I had it all to myself.
The beach only has one main occupant and that is the 5 star Amanwella Resort. Other than this resort, there is pretty much nothing else on the beach. So this beach is perfect for strolling about, sitting down and reading a book or just admiring the views. As with Goyambokka, the waves here can be strong and the water gets deep quickly from the shore.
Silent beach is more difficult to find than Goyambokka, so would recommend to ask a tuk-tuk driver in Tangalle to take you to Amanwella Silent Beach or ask around with the locals in town how to get there.
Tangalle Accommodations
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Tangalle has a wide variety of accomodations, from home stays to 5 star resorts. Especially in the town itself of Tangalle, you have many many options.
For me, I wanted to stay near Goyambokka as I wanted to be able to easily walk to the two beaches I mentioned above. There aren’t a ton of options in the Goyambokka area, but a search on booking.com does bring up enough to be able to choose what you prefer and your price range.
I would personally recommend the place I stayed which was called Grand Residence. It’s located just off Tangalle road and is really close to the path down to Goyambokka beach. It’s quiet, the room is well furnished and comfortable with working aircon and a nice bathroom with hot water. Their breakfast that is included in the morning was delicious and filling as well. For around $30-40 a night it’s quite a bargain.
So there you have it. Two beautiful quiet beaches in Sri Lanka that are a must visit if you are in Tangalle! Have you been to Tangalle and these beaches? What other tips and recommendations would have for our readers? Let us know in the comments below!
