Lakeside Yoga Retreat on Koggala Lake, Sri Lanka

Lanka Yoga was built specifically as a yoga centre, not converted from a hotel, and you feel the difference. The shala is a big open-sided hall facing the lake, so morning practice happens with the water in front of you and birds moving through the trees behind. The sound of the lake is the soundtrack to class — no music required. Mats, blocks, bolsters and straps are all provided on site.

The retreats are led either by Lanka Yoga's senior teachers or by visiting teachers who come in for specific weeks. Teachers who have run retreats and trainings here include Stefan, Dush, and Jess — each week has a different lead, so the style of the teaching shifts depending on who's on. If you're booking a specific week, ask who's teaching it, because the flavour of the asana practice really does change. What stays the same is the structure: two yoga sessions most days, one before breakfast and one in the late afternoon, with the middle of the day completely open.

The food is one of the things people write about most in reviews. It's entirely vegan, cooked from scratch by Jeevan and his kitchen team, and leans on Sri Lankan cooking — coconut milk curries, jackfruit, dhal, pol sambol, red rice, and a rotating line of vegetable curries at lunch and dinner. Guests who've stayed repeatedly say they didn't miss dairy or meat at all, which is unusual enough to be worth mentioning. If you want to learn what you're eating, the kitchen occasionally runs cooking demonstrations, and there's a blog post on the site about the island's dishes if you want a primer before you arrive.

The location is the other thing that sets it apart. Duwa village is on the west bank of Koggala Lake, a body of water fringed with mangroves and small islands. The manager, Chaminda, arranges boat trips, tuk-tuk transport and cultural excursions for guests — the Koggala area has a stilt-fishermen stretch, a Buddhist temple on an island in the lake, and the historic fort town of Galle is half an hour away by road. The beach at Habaraduwa and Unawatuna is a short drive, and the airport at Katunayake is around 2 hours by expressway.

The campus runs on resource-aware systems — solar hot water, filtered drinking water, local sourcing, and a hiring policy that favours people from the surrounding villages. That's not marketing; it's how the place actually operates, and you notice it in small things like the absence of single-use plastic and the fact that most staff you meet are from the neighbourhood.

Group sizes stay small enough that the teachers know everyone's name by day two, and the communal dining means you'll eat with the same people all week. It's a sociable place without being a party — reviews from solo travellers and people on their first retreat are consistently positive for exactly that reason.

What's included

- 7 nights accommodation on the Koggala Lake eco-campus - Two yoga sessions per day (morning and late afternoon) - Three vegan meals daily (breakfast, lunch, dinner) - Filtered drinking water - Use of yoga mats, blocks, bolsters and straps - Opening and closing circles - Wi-Fi in common areas - Assistance arranging transfers, excursions and massages

What's not included

- International flights - Airport transfers (can be arranged at extra cost) - Travel insurance - Visas and entry fees - Optional excursions, boat trips and cultural tours - Spa treatments and massages - Personal expenses and drinks outside meal times