Life’s a Beach: Sri Lanka, The Indian Ocean Paradise

Sri Lanka may not immediately spring to mind as the obvious location to visit for a beach holiday, but in fact the tiny island nation off the southernmost coast of India is positively thriving with fine beaches.

More than a thousand kilometres of palm tree-fringed, golden sandy beaches surround Sri Lanka. There are countless beach resorts scattered all over the island, offering a range of quality locations to choose from that suit all budgets, too.

The beauty of Sri Lanka is that it's never 'off season' in terms of a beach holiday. There's always some part of the island that will offer the ideal climate for bathing, swimming and general outdoor relaxation.

Whilst the island is small, compared to the neighbouring India, it's still not an island you can walk around in an afternoon ' it's roughly about a quarter the size of the UK, so knowing where to base yourself for the best beaches is crucial before booking anything.

On the west coast of the island, there is Bentota Beach, which has coral reefs and a marine system that makes for water-sports heaven'in particular Scuba Diving. This beach is widely considered to be the best seaside location on the whole of the west coast.

For those who want to base themselves in the capital Colombo, then Mount Lavinia is probably the best beach location from a commuting point of view. A mere 12km from the island's capital, the Mount Lavinia area still has an air of colonialism about it, but the sand is soft and the sea is normally clear, calm which adds up to a very pleasant.

Elsewhere on Sri Lanka, there is Trincomalee on the east coast, which is a beach city with one of the most beautiful natural harbours on Earth. Along the same coast is Nilaweli, which is a fantastic long and wide beach, with white sands and an incredible choice of location for scuba diving. Indeed, this is perhaps one of the finest seaside locations on the whole of Sri Lanka.

For surfers, there is Arugam Bay which is also on the island's eastern shoreline, some 314km from the capital Colombo. With numerous shipwrecks nearby, surfers may want to swap their board for a tank of air and a mask and venture beneath the waves for some fantastic scenery.

For year-round warm weather and thousands of kilometres of beautiful sandy shoreline,