Sri Lanka, Ceylon, Eastern Province, East Coast, Passekudah, Kalkudah beach, aerial view

Tuul & Bruno Morandi / Getty Images

Kalkudah Beach

Top choice in The East


Kalkudah Beach is the kind of fantasy that makes you want to chuck away your return air ticket and lounge forever under the palms. Good roads run inland from the sand and it may not be long before hotels again line the shore the way they did in places before the 2004 tsunami. In the meantime, while there's little shade, it's a delight to explore; just wander along the shore until you find your own private patch of sand.

The long, rugged beach is located 34km north of Batticaloa and is adjacent to the more populated and more up-market Passekudah beach, which is enclosed in a sheltered bay 2km to the north.

Hotels near Kalkudah Beach

Luxury resorts are dotted along Coconut Board Rd and strung out along the extensive Passekudah shoreline, while budget and midrange places are concentrated inland along the Valaichchenai–Kalkudah Rd.

For closeness to Kalkudah, Laya Waves is your best bet, located right at the northern end of the sand. Elsewhere, both Nandawanam Guesthouse and New Land Guesthouse are within walking distance of the beach (around 10 minutes and 15 minutes respectively).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The East attractions

1. Passekudah Beach

2.42 MILES

With the resorts stretching into the distance, Passekudah's extremely shallow water heats up to bathtub temperatures on sunny days (you'll have to wade…

2. Coconut Cultural Park

2.49 MILES

Just behind the resorts, this attraction is dedicated to the coconut, surely the world's most remarkable plant, and inexorably linked with Sri Lanka (its…

3. Batticaloa Lighthouse

12.45 MILES

At the end of a sandbar, surrounded by lagoons and mangroves, this 28m-tall lighthouse dates from 1913. The sheltered coastline around here is a popular…

4. Kallady & Navalady Peninsula Beach

14.61 MILES

This long beach follows the peninsula all the way north to the end. The swimming is usually good. With a bike, you can explore the beach, which has access…

5. Our Lady of Sorrows

14.73 MILES

Of the dozens of churches, the most eye-catching is the huge cerulean blue, eight-sided, unfinished Our Lady of Sorrows.

6. Imperial Saloon

14.97 MILES

Consider a haircut and head massage (Rs 400) at this utterly bizarre salon, a monument to kitsch. Every centimetre is covered in decorative painting, fake…

7. St Sebastian’s Church

15.12 MILES

Beside Kallady Bridge is the fairly modern and relatively unattractive St Sebastian’s Church, built somewhat in the shape of a whale.

8. St Anthony’s

15.13 MILES

The vaguely Mexican-looking, earth-toned St Anthony’s is one of Puliyanthivu's most striking churches.