Kalpitiya has become a world famous kiteboarding destination thanks to its lagoon and consistent 25 knots SW wind between June and September. It is hard to beat this set up for both beginners and more advanced riders. Imagine the same wind and lagoon conditions, in a more cosy and less crowded location, this is Kappalady, 20km south of the main town of Kalpitiya. In Kappalady, you wake up in the middle of the village. The local population wakes up early, which is perfect to catch the morning waves; however, as the wind blows 24×7 there is really no need to rush either.

A typical day starts with a morning session in the lagoon, flat water and hardly anyone out makes the perfect conditions for practicing a few tricks and gently pushing the limits. The Kappalady lagoon offers ideal and safe conditions: warm shallow waters with side-off wind conditions. Around 10am, the lagoon gets a bit busy with the beginner lessons starting on one side of the water, this is the best time to swap for a surf board and head for the open ocean. It takes a bit of work to get through the shore break, but it is well worth it. There is plenty of space to kite up and down the coast and try to catch some of the swell coming from the Pacific ocean. There is a reef 1km off the beach straight across from the village, or you can also kite upwind to catch the bigger waves in front of the Talawila church. Probably not the best waves you can find for kitesurfing but definitely enough to enjoy a great session. Then, you can end the day back on the flat waters of the lagoon, but you need to be off the water by 5pm as this is when local fisherman go our fishing. This is the deal with the local community.

If this is not enough, we can arrange kitesurf safaris in the Puttalam bay which offers awesome downwind conditions and a few secret spots to discover. I even had the chance to participate in a 130km downwind kite trip all the way to Mannar peninsula, connecting Sri Lanka to Tamil Nadu in India. It was a quite tough 2 days trips along the coast between national parks and fisherman villages. One of my best kiteboarding memories. See you on the lagoon!