Traveling with boards in Sri Lanka
I was there in April.
We used either tuk-tuks or hired motorbikes to get around.
For tuk-tuks, you can either hold the board out the side or, if it's a longer journey, put them on the roof. We simply used the leg rope to tie to the roof of the tuk-tuk - they don't often exceed 30km/h anyway. Bring a sock though: protection and some tuk-tuk drivers don't like getting wax on the canvas roof!
For motorbikes, they were great for independence and checking a few different spots. Managed to get surfboard holders for the bike but not from the same place as the bike hire. Again, bring a sock and use the leg rope to secure.
So, to answer your question, we never needed soft racks. We had a van for airport transfers and boards went in with us.
Had a great surf trip to Sri. Scored some nice waves and found some deserted waves.
Enjoy.
Cheers mate, that's a great help.
I went to Sri Lanka for a month about 12 years ago and took a board. The tuk tuk drivers on the surf coasts usually had some straps lying around, but as bevankoopman mentioned, you're well advised to take a sock to avoid the bumps and scrapes that inevitably come with those kinds of improvised travel arrangements.
Great place, really friendly people and amazing food. Can't recommend it highly enough.
I took my soft racks and didnt need them.
There was just the 2 of us and when we landed we hired a driver from Colombo airport and drove to Ella for 2 nights on the way to the East Coast. Places in Sri Lanka have a place on the side for a driver to sleep usually. As there was just the 2 of us in a reasonable sized car the boards slotted in no problem and didnt need the racks.
Got around using a tuk tuk and just used other ropes etc to tie the board down.
Am looking forward to it. We arrive in Colombo and then head across to Arugam bay for about a week then to Midigama across to Hikkaduwa, up to Kandy then Sigiriya and back to Colombo then off to Bangkok for 6 nights. All up we have about 3 weeks and will be going with my wife. Happy times ahead!!
Be prepared with swarms of Israeli surfers with poor etiquette at Arugam Bay. Lots of great sand bottom points a short tuk tuk ride north or slightly longer drive south. Fewer crowds too. Check out 'the rock' at Ahangama. I thought it was the best wave on that coast. Nice hotel on the beach where non surfing wives can hang out.
For anyone interested, a company has popped up in Colombo where you can rent your own self-drive tuktuk to drive around Sri Lanka: www.tuktukrental.com.
They will provide roof racks / soft racks - just let them know when you book. The best way to surf Sri Lanka is with your own wheels.
Tangles its for the wife and you
Not enough airbags for me
jeez that Tuk Tuk looks like fun but I dunno about 4 or 5 hours in one of those ! I think I'll get a taxi down to Midigama! Please let us know how ya go Emu, me and the wife are heading to SL in March for the first time. Was planning to hang around the South West coast.. have fun !
No way would I want to be driving around in Sri Lanka let alone in a tuk tuk!!
My girlfriend and I arranged a driver at the airport when we landed. Took as all the way to the east coast including a stopover in Ella on the way. Apparently most hotels have a spare room for drivers to stay in. So our bloke just hung out for a couple nights before we moved on. I cant remember the price but it wasnt too much.
Given the traffic and risky overtaking going on i was pretty happy to hand off the stress of driving in sri lanka to someone else!
Once we got to the east coast and were just going to different surf spots our own tuk tuk wouldnt have been a bad idea.. just wouldnt want to drive cross country.
I am off to Sri Lanka on the 29th of the month and spending 3 weeks travelling around to different spots, both the coast and the up around Kandy but the majority of time on the beaches. Just wondering if it would be worth it to bring some old soft racks I have lying around at home to get the boards around the place?