White Sand Beaches....Marisa & Unawatuna

(Blue text Becky: black, Stretch)
Sri Lanka is known for it's white sand beaches, swaying palm trees & mangoes. Since we hadn't experienced that yet(and we were sick of all the rain), we took off for what was (recommended as) a quiet beach on the southern coast. After a long day of standing on the bus from Elle we arrived in Marisa to a fairly busy beach, but room for two more. The 2 weeks after Christmas have to be the most crowded anywhere in the world, but here we were. The sun was out and the beverages were cold.

The local fishers usually are perched on a stout pole in the
surf fishing and collecting money from camera pointing
tourists....This guy was still looking cool but too tired to
take my money...

 The surf was perfect for body-surfing and after
several great rides, a bigger set of waves came in
and pile-driving me into the beach, with sand embedded
 in my forehead and a very sore neck, it was back to
the beach for quieter activities. 

Though we'd hit the beach, we didn't leave the rain behind. Our clothes were all damp, even those we weren't wearing. With the continuous rain shirts, pants, socks were now beginning to sprout mold! Yuck!

I think this is some of the most intense rain we had. Might as well have been 
swimming with the fish!

Maybe the promise of this rainbow was a day
without rain..........not.

We hiked over a headland away from the crowds through this lovely terrain.

From there we watched the fishing boats preparing to head out for the night.

We shifted to another beach community called Unawatuna (way fun to say) and found that the guide books failed to mention that the Tsunami in 2008 took most of the beach so high water is right at the buildings. Beautiful bay  but not much for beach life.....