Born in the water.
In March 2025, Sarah — a hospitality and events professional from France, travelling through Sri Lanka — took her first longboard lesson with Anju, a surf coach born and raised in Weligama. After many hours in the water together, a slightly crazy idea emerged: what if they built something here?
Both had dreamed of having their own place. Together, they invited Sarah’s best friend, Kenza — a French interior architect — to join the project. And when they first stood on the land in the heights above Weligama, looking out over the jungle with the ocean glinting in the distance, five minutes from a break that barely anyone knows — the answer was obvious. Lanka Surf House was born.
Anju
Anju has been teaching surf in Weligama for more than ten years, working with everyone from complete beginners to experienced surfers returning season after season.
Over the years, surfing became more than a job. It became a way of meeting people from everywhere, sharing the ocean he grew up with, and showing a different side of Sri Lanka — one that feels local, relaxed, and real.
Lanka Surf House sits only a few minutes from the house where he was raised. Building something here, with people he knows and in the place that shaped him, was never just a business idea. It was personal from the beginning.
Co-founder & Director
Kenza
Kenza spent years designing homes, boutiques, and hospitality spaces in France before joining the Lanka project.
When she first visited the land above Weligama, she immediately connected with the calm of the jungle and the slower rhythm of life around it. Her vision for Lanka was simple: create a place that feels warm, relaxed, and deeply connected to its surroundings.
From the natural materials to the custom-built furniture, every space was designed to feel easy to live in — calm, open, and welcoming.
Co-founder & Interior Architect
Co-founder & Managing DirectorSarah
Sarah worked for several years in hospitality and events in France before discovering Sri Lanka during a surf trip in 2025.
What started as a short stay quickly turned into a much bigger project. After meeting Anju in the water and later bringing Kenza into the adventure, Lanka Surf House slowly came to life.
For Sarah, Lanka is about creating the kind of place she always looked for while travelling — somewhere beautiful but unpretentious, social yet peaceful, and deeply connected to the local atmosphere of the South Coast.
● Our philosophy
A few things that matter to us.
●
Share the love
Share the love of surf, food, and Sri Lanka. Give guests the space to let go — of routine, of noise, of whatever they left behind. ●
Give back
Give back to the village. One of our commitments is to introduce the children of Pitiduwa to the ocean: teaching them to surf, to swim, to feel at home in the water.●
Build together
Lanka didn't start with a business plan. It started with a conversation in the water — two people, one idea, a piece of land in the hills above Weligama. Everything since has been built the same way: with trust, with others, from the ground up.●
Live lighter
Leave your routine at the door. Lanka is a place to reconnect with what actually matters — your body, the ocean, the people around you, and the island that makes it all possible.
