The best time
to visit Unawatuna.

Best time: November to April.

Weather: Hot 27–31°C; calm swimming year-round inside the bay.

Unawatuna is the closest beach to Galle Fort — a sheltered crescent bay protected by a reef, with calm swimming, a relaxed beach-bar scene and an easy half-hour from the fort's old walls. Once a backpacker hub, it has matured into a small luxury enclave.

• · Stay in Galle or Ahangama and day-trip to Unawatuna — the beach is the asset, not the village.
• · Swim at the eastern end of the bay where the reef shelters it.
• · Avoid weekends — it gets busy with day-trippers from Colombo.