Have a great time on a great beach
The name of Passikudah has been bandied around in Sri Lanka since the 1970s when it was seen as the beach destination of the future. Both natural and war disasters delayed that prophecy coming true until now.
Passikudah bay: Inviting expanse of sea and sand
It is at last becoming the beach destination of the present. Conventional wisdom has it that Passikudah is a beach for the off season (May to October), when the west coast beaches are being battered by monsoonal high seas.
“Here in Passikudah,” the manager of the water sports centre at Marina Beach Passikudah, said proudly, “you can swim ten months a year. You can’t do that on the west coast.”
It’s true. Passikudah has much more to offer as a beach destination than the west coast. Last year I stayed in MaaluMaalu, the first hotel to open in the newly liberated east, and adored it, especially the A-frame architecture of the rooms built to resemble a fishing community.
The beach was unpopulated and seemed to stretch for miles, both along the coast and out into the ocean where the sea was gentle and shallow.
This year, while some very up market properties have opened up along the Passikudah beach, I chose Marina Beach Hotel as an affordable option.
It is part of the ever-expanding LSR group that began life as a water sports operator in Negombo about three decades ago, so they know what a lot of people on holiday want.
At Marina Beach, the emphasis is on diving and water sports, but that’s not all; it’s a fun and economical place to stay without having to do anything active except laze by the beach.
The hotel is in the middle of the beach strip, opposite an agricultural station where dragon fruits are being cultivated at the road side.
Its entrance is a three storey building with a bright red roof that segues into a long, single block of 30 rooms running all the way to the swimming pool that’s set into a garden by the beach. Each room is angled so it has a beach view.
My room, 104, on the first floor, opened onto a shared balcony that spanned the length of the block. Bougainvillaea bedecked the balcony rails overlooking the hotel’s carefully maintained lawn.
Comfortable: A bedroom at Marina Beach
Rooms on the floor above it have private balconies and A-shaped roofs. Below, the ground floor is for the public rooms of air-conditioned restaurant and open-sided bar, with tables set out on the terrace by the pool for evening dining.
I had dinner from the set menu with a smoked chicken starter and a roast chicken main course, both prettily presented.
The bar service, with a barman clad in black waistcoat over a white shirt and black trousers, was efficient and friendly, showing that the staff at Marina Passikudah have the right attitude to make guests feel welcome.
The bedroom was large with a separate sitting area in a curtained, glass walled cubicle alongside the running balcony. The twin beds were both doubles with faux Queen Anne legs and a pair of comfortable pillows.
There was a flat screen television above the luggage rack, a vanity desk with power points, a tea/coffee maker, and a mini-bar – and a decent sized, well appointed bathroom.
I drew the curtains to let the light flood into the room and switched off the air-conditioning putting on the ceiling fan instead. I kept the door to the balcony open so that we could enjoy the beach ambience of people shouting as they frolicked at the sea’s edge.
It was then I realised that the happy crowd on the beach were not foreign tourists but local ones using the beach’s public area, where the sea is cordoned off to stop people straying out of their depth.
A police lifeguard with a traffic whistle kept watch. There is a public changing room there as well. At the other end of the beach where the hotel buildings stop, fishing boats are drawn up on the sand.
There is an air of exclusivity about Passikudah, perhaps because there are no beach vendors hassling guests. There aren’t any independent bars or restaurants (yet?) close to the hotels so guests are happily left to their own devices.
Marina Passikudah may not have the cachet of being part of an international brand name chain or boutique exclusivity, but instead it provides a great time on a great beach at a great price. And the stay doesn’t have to be confined to the conventional season to benefit from the hotel’s easy-going hospitality.
Marina Passikudah, 7 Coconut Board Road, Kaljudahm Passikudah; www.LSRhotels.com