Wellness Escape with Yoga, Pilates & Surf on Sri Lanka's South Coast

Talalla Retreat is on Sri Lanka's south coast, roughly 20 minutes from Matara and a couple of hours from Colombo or the airport. The property is seven acres of garden and beachfront — you walk out of your room and onto sand within a minute or two. There are five open-air yoga shalas on the grounds, so classes run rain or shine with the ocean in view.

A typical day starts with a yoga or Pilates session in one of the shalas before breakfast. The reformer Pilates studio was one of the first on the island and looks out over the coastline on all sides — you can join a drop-in class or do the full 8-day Pilates retreat if you want to focus on that. Surf is the other main activity: the in-house surf school is run by Sri Lankan coaches and offers lessons and packages for complete beginners through to improvers. Most guests mix a few surf sessions with yoga and Pilates rather than committing to one thing.

The bathhouse is new and worth building time into your day. It's inspired by traditional Turkish design and includes a sauna, steam room, chill bath, magnesium pool and red light therapy. The Ayurvedic spa next door runs massages and facials using traditional treatments. Both are paid add-ons rather than part of the standard retreat package.

Food is served buffet-style in the open-air restaurant, a short walk from the beach. Menus blend traditional Sri Lankan dishes — curries, rice, sambols, fresh fish — with Western options. Vegetarian and vegan choices are available at every meal, and the kitchen can work around most dietary requirements if you tell them ahead.

What separates Talalla from similar south-coast properties is the combination of facilities in one place: five shalas plus a reformer studio plus a bathhouse plus a surf school plus a spa, all on a 7-acre beachfront site. Plenty of Sri Lankan retreats have one or two of those; Talalla has the full set, which means you can build a week that's as active or as restful as you want without leaving the property.

What's included

- Accommodation in eco-friendly rooms, villas or beach huts - Daily buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner - Daily yoga classes at one of five open-air shalas - Reformer Pilates drop-in classes - Use of outdoor swimming pool and sunbeds - Access to the beachfront grounds and gardens - Wifi in common areas

What's not included

- International flights - Visa fees - Airport transfers (can be arranged for an extra fee) - Surf lessons and surf packages - Ayurvedic spa treatments - Bathhouse sessions - Excursions and day trips - Alcoholic drinks and soft drinks outside meal times - Travel insurance - Personal expenses