Little bit of adventure with pampering

Demi Hewamanna and Dilanka Mannakkara

When you plan on heading down south for that well needed break, somehow or the other you automatically think of Hikkaduwa, Unawatuna, Tangalle and not beyond that. When one asks why, they say, that there is nothing much over there but now there is.

Located exactly 212 kilometers away from Colombo, one can find a nest of natural beauty, sun, sea and sand nestled deep inside the heart of Ranna. Ranna212, the newest resort and spa located an hour away from Tangalle is one of the best places to go chill out, relax and if you are an explorer or an adventurer, then this is also the ideal place to be. This is a center point to go check out the main, national parks, ancient ruins, turtle sanctuaries, whale watching and much more.

Tastefully furnished exotic rooms

Barely four months old, Ranna212 has achieved record heights proving brilliant performances and maintained a high occupancy rate during its short span of operations. The Resort is a popular destination among the Sri Lankan family travelers during the April season, where it reaches around 85 percent occupancy rate during that time. Ranna 212’s hospitable and friendly staff is led by its General Manager Reyhan Morris and Operations Manager Pushpitha Udawatte.

“Since we came into operation from December 30 last year, we have managed to keep a high occupancy rate with many foreign tourists especially from Russia and the CIS countries. The reason, I strongly believe is the exotic location and the mesmerizing seashore”, GM Reyhan added.

Welcomed traditionally with a beetle leaf and lotus flower, we were immediately checked into our rooms. The first thing you love to check out when you are given your room is check out the bed and of course the bathroom. To me, the bathroom was classic, classy and sexy. The bathtub was made out of cement and smoothened to perfection with a glass door shower attached next to it.

If you want to pamper yourself even more just opt for the spacious suites with two balconies overlooking the lovely beach and deep blue sea while enjoying a good movie on a 42 inch LED TV. The suites are the epitome of luxury and the room service will take just a jiffy to bring anything that you order from the menu.

Indulge yourself at Senses, Flame, Tonic and Wave

After freshening up, we made our way to Senses which is the main restaurant at the hotel with the other been Flame that is mainly used to hold barbecues and other special occasions. As we ordered some juices, we went through the menu and there was some real true Sri Lankan dishes to devour. With Dilanka been the foody goody, I knew he couldn’t wait to dig into the dishes as well. But the best of the meal was having the curries served in different sizes of clay pots made specially for Ranna 212. “Our specialty is seafood. Authentic South Sri Lankan cuisine too is popular among Sri Lankan clientele. Our Chefs are well versatile with authentic food and can offer anything the guest want”, Pushpitha said.

Ranna 212 has two tropical bars - Tonic which is Sri Lanka’s only over water bar and the beach bar Wave. Tonic is their hip style bar, serving authentic tropical cocktails and it is the prefect place to chill out unwinding to the soft music, savouring to some mouth watering canapés while sipping a ‘Ambertini’, or any other signature cocktail of the day.

Wave is Ranna’s rustic and casual bar located on the beach. You could sink your teeth into the fresh juices made out of tropical fruits while having a bite of a hot pizza, a succulent burger or a delicious sandwich.

However Ranna 212’s best kept secret for me was the Spa. The soothing and treatments vary from a full body aroma therapy to a local style ayurveda or you could try out their treatment of special aloe vera to get rid of dark sun burns.

Top place for excursions

As mentioned above Ranna212 is the central spot for excursions in the southern coast. Just take a bike and within 5 minutes you could ride to the scenic Kalamateiya - a bird sanctuary with abundance of natural beauty and various species of birds migrant and non migrant.

Ussangoda which is just 20 minutes away from Ranna 212 is another place that you should visit when in Ranna. Ussangoda is an archeological site and the general belief is that a meteor has struck in the ancient past leaving the landscape barren whilst mythological significance links to the legend of Ravana. It is a breath taking view at sunset and I had the privilege of watching blazing orange sun setting over the ocean.

This is also my favourite place for two reasons. One is the magnificent view that makes you feel like Simba (Lion King), who is given the first tour of the kingdom he would inherit from his father and and you see this amazing sun rise where rays of orange, red and yellow reflect the land giving something that is truly hard to describe.

Second reason was seen Dilanka struggling to get down from the rock and getting the help of Pushpitha to come down safely while I crab walked down.

We also visited Mulkirigala,a magnificent ancient monastery situated on a boulder that rises virtually perpendicularly from the surrounding plains, except for one slopped side.

The Mulkirigala temple famous for its ancient paintings of the monastery is just 45 minutes from the resort. You could also visit the Yala National park, Uda Walawe park as well as Hummanaya.

So don’t just stop at Hikka or Una...drive further and see what else the South can offer you and don’t forget to stop at Ranna to see the hidden beauties of our culture, natural surrender and amazing hospitality.

Plans are been made to expand the resort with an additioinal 70 rooms that include 25 water villas and 45 rooms and hope to open them by February 2013.