Is Sri Lanka’s South Coast really digital nomad friendly?
Sri Lanka's south coast has gained a reputation as a budding destination for digital nomads, especially among surfers and sun-seekers. Weligama, one of the largest digital nomad hubs on this stretch, is often compared to hotspots like Bali or Thailand. But after spending a month working remotely from Weligama, I’m here to give a candid review of whether this town—and the surrounding areas—truly stack up as a digital nomad destination.
It’s important to clarify that this post only looks at our lifestyle as digital nomads in Weligama, not travelling Sri Lanka as a whole, as we committed to returning to travel the nation after we next visit India again.
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Weligama Bay
Weligama, located between large south Sri Lankan towns Galle & Matara, and just east of Ahangama and Midigama, has quickly become a base for digital nomads with incredible coastline and a growing tourist infrastructure. During our month-long stay, we shared a two-bedroom villa for around A$650 total for the month. However, aside from our comfortable accommodation, the lifestyle and experience wasn’t quite what we were expecting.
While we spent most days working from Outpost Weligama, a fantastic co-work and co-live space with reliable internet and an unbeatable beachfront location, other aspects of the overall experience didn’t have us in a rush back to Sri Lanka.
Food! Sri Lankan Cuisine and what's on offer
We love a local food option, as local as it comes, but after four weeks we started to feel a bit disappointed in Weligama’s food offerings. Local restaurants typically only offer rice and curry medleys (some of which are amazing), stuffed roti, kottu, a dish of chopped up flatbread and vegetables, and hoppers. While these dishes are an interesting introduction to Sri Lankan cuisine, especially their unique roti-based dishes, we felt the lack of variety started to wear on me after a while, and so did the carb heavy diet.
Western-style cafes catering to foreigners were also pricey and, more often than not, disappointing in quality. There were a few exceptions, we found ourselves frequenting a single restaurant (Moochies) because the alternatives were so underwhelming. Overall, the food is nice for a short visit (up to a week) but if you’ll be staying longer, we’d be inclined to get a place with a decent kitchen you feel comfortable cooking in. You can pick up some decent fresh produce at supermarkets and local markets and plenty of breakfast foods are available.
Connectivity
Working online, internet reliability is crucial. Fortunately, we worked from Outpost Weligama which provided fast and dependable Wi-Fi. However, beyond this co-working space and our villa, finding reliable internet could be challenging. To make matters worse, we experienced full-day power outages at least once a week at our accommodation. If you’re working on a tight deadline, be prepared to find backup spots to stay connected.
Where Weligama shines, the surf!
Let’s shift to the positives. If you’re a surfer, Weligama and its surroundings is a paradise. The beginner-friendly waves of Weligama Bay, coupled with the more advanced breaks in Ahangama and Midigama, attract surfers from all over the world for good reason. Though we didn’t spend as much time surfing as we could have, the waves are undoubtedly a huge draw. In the right season, and season is very important in Sri Lanka, the south coast’s surf conditions are hard to beat.
Costs of living for digital nomads
Always a complex topic, everyone has their own idea of affordability so this is coming from our own perspective. One of the most surprising aspects of our time in Weligama was what our total spend was. While we managed to snag an accommodation that was great value, many other expenses were higher than expected. Scooter rentals, for instance, were more expensive here than anywhere else we’d experienced in Asia, even after negotiating for a month-long rental we finally agreed to A$205 per month for an old and badly conditioned bike.
You could expect curries (which were normally quite cold) and other dishes at local restaurants or as they call them, ‘hotels,’ for around $2-$3. For western restaurants, smoothie bowls were around $10 and meals (eggs benedict, burgers, poke bowls etc) up to $20.
To take a board out along the main beach at Weligama (without a lesson), you will pay around $3-$5.
All up, the cost of living were super reasonable for us, however there were a few key things like the scooter hire, which was beyond what we would expect to pay.
Beautiful beaches and day trips
Weligama offers natural beauty that blew us away. The beaches are stunning, with palm trees and blue water framing the coastline. Weligama is also well-positioned for day trips to nearby spots like Hiriketiya and Galle. Hiriketiya is a gorgeous beach, though it’s become over-touristed for such a small area, and it had us feeling glad we chose to stay in Weligama.
The sunsets at nearby Mirissa are breathtaking, providing a daily reminder of the beauty that brought us to this part of the world in the first place. If you’re someone who values surf, sand, and stunning sunsets, Sri Lanka’s south coast has the goods.
So, is Sri Lanka's south coast digital nomad friendly?
Sri Lanka’s south coast, particularly Weligama, offers a laid-back environment with beautiful beaches and solid surf, but it’s far from my ideal digital nomad spot. The limited food options, comparatively high prices and unreliable electricity make it hard to recommend Weligama as a long-term base for remote work—unless you’re there primarily for surfing.
We’re looking forward to exploring all over Sri Lanka, but we decided to post up in Weligama at the tail end of the south coasts good weather season and by the time we left we were ready to leave. But those beaches are definitely worth a holiday!
That’s It!
If you’ve made it down here, thank you so much for reading!
This is our take on whether Sri Lanka’s south coast is an ideal digital nomad spot - in our opinion, you can do better! But if surf is your number one priority, this is a really good option.
