Uga Bay
Pasikuda

The soft, sugar-white sweep of Pasikuda Bay, is a beach you want to stay for - warm, slow and strangely luminous. It’s here, on Sri Lanka’s east coast between Trincomalee and Arugam Bay, that you’ll find Uga Bay, where flip-flops are forgotten, the sea is visible from your pillow and time slows into something far more pleasurable.

This is one of those rare stretches of coast where the horizon feels vast and the water impossibly still, a shallow, cerulean lagoon perfect for morning swims and paddleboarding until the light turns golden. The beach is wide, gloriously undeveloped and practically deserted, save for the odd fisherman dragging in nets at dawn and the occasional kite-seller with bells on his bicycle.

Uga Bay itself is a breezy, beach-chic hideaway with just 46 rooms, thoughtfully arranged in gentle curves around a large, sapphire-blue infinity pool that gazes straight out to sea. The architecture is low-rise and easygoing, all pale stone, terracotta roofs and wide balconies, with just enough modernist edge to keep it feeling contemporary without shouting about it. Interiors are sleek but warm, with clean lines, polished wood and local crafts.

Room categories are tailored to suit both castaway couples and beach-roaming families. The Beach Studios are closest to the sand, opening straight out onto that bone-white shore. Ocean Studios, just a little elevated, have balconies with cinematic views of the sunrise. The Ocean Suite adds a splash of indulgence, with its own plunge pool and outdoor rain shower, while the two-bedroom Bay Suite and the private Beach Villa, a two-storey, sea-facing stunner, are ideal for those travelling en masse or simply in need of a little extra elbow room.

There’s a gentle rhythm to the days here - barefoot breakfasts on the open-air terrace, cycling to nearby villages, afternoon spa rituals, moonlit dinners. It’s the kind of place where you can be as idle or as active as you like, the bay offers everything from kayaking and snorkelling to jet-skiing and banana boating, and the resort is fully equipped to kit you out for a morning on the water. Or for something slower, head to the spa, a serene, subterranean space with porthole views of the ocean and therapists who specialise in Ayurvedic practices.

One of the joys of this corner of Sri Lanka is how undiscovered it still feels. A short cycle inland brings you into the heart of local life, dusty fishing villages where ox carts still clatter by, spice-scented markets and intricate Hindu temples in hues of turquoise and tangerine. The hotel can arrange guided excursions or simply point you in the right direction with a map.

Dining at Uga Bay leans local but refined - there’s plenty of ocean-fresh seafood, grilled lobster, black pepper crab, curry-leaf shrimp, alongside Sri Lankan curries served with paper-thin hoppers and the requisite pile of sambals. The chefs are adept at balancing traditional flavours with international flair, and meals can be enjoyed by the pool, under a palm tree, or as a private, candlelit affair on the beach with the sea just steps away.

Uga Bay is part of the Uga Escapes family, a boutique Sri Lankan hotel group with a knack for finding extraordinary corners of the island and turning them into something quietly and confidently magical. Sister properties include Ulagalla, an exquisite manor-turned-eco-retreat tucked into the paddy fields of Anuradhapura, and Jungle Beach, a thatch-roofed hideout near Trincomalee where wild peacocks wander through the undergrowth and the jungle literally meets the sea. Each is distinct, deeply rooted in its environment, and entirely Sri Lankan in spirit.

But if Ulagalla is where you go for history and Jungle Beach for wilderness, then Uga Bay is your barefoot-luxury escape, sun-drenched, salt-sprayed, and sensibly hard to leave. It’s a place for early morning dips and late afternoon daiquiris, for lazy novels under the palms and the occasional urge to dance barefoot in the sand.

In other words, it’s not just a beach holiday. It’s a little recalibration of the soul, Sri Lanka-style.

To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.
Bill Bryson