Mount Lavinia Beach is possibly Colombo’s best-known beach. Although technically not in Colombo, it is just on the outskirts and is a popular place to go for a beachside walk, a sea bath, or just to hang out in one of the many beachside establishments. A gently curving stretch of beach that runs more or less parallel to Mount Lavinia’s Hotel Road, the Mount Lavinia Beach is a little hub of eateries, hotels, and other businesses which create a small community of sorts with S. Thomas’s College, Mount Lavinia at its heart and the grand Mount Lavinia Hotel overlooking it all.
The Sunday Morning Brunch caught up with a few of the key beachside establishments on Mount Lavinia Beach to gain some insight into how business is doing following the restrictions and curfew being lifted in Colombo.
Mount Lavinia Beach in the new normal
Normally bustling with locals and tourists catching some sun or frolicking in the sea, Mount Lavinia Beach post lockdown looked empty, even considering the fact that we visited on a weekday afternoon.
Mount Lavinia Beach is typically one of those places that see some activity regardless of what day of the week or time of the day you visit. The weekends are busy with more locals choosing to hit the beach or bask in the seaside atmosphere from one of the beachside restaurants or cabanas.
Some of the beachside restaurants or hangout spots at Mount Lavinia have been in business for 25-plus years, providing a welcoming place for those who want to hang out at the beach but not actually go to the beach itself.
The recent beach nourishment project, which was met with some controversy, has also changed the face of Mount Lavinia Beach; it is now a wide, sandy beach without the myriad little rock formations that used to be there. While this will potentially be a blessing during the season and when tourists start visiting again, for the moment, it paints a rather lonely image, particularly when thinking of the beach pre Covid-19.
Mount Lavinia Beach and lockdown
With tourism and leisure being one of the industries worst affected by the pandemic, life at Mount Lavinia Beach in terms of business came to a virtual, if not physical, standstill once the curfew was implemented.
Jojo’s Place is one of the older establishments at Mount Lavinia Beach at 30 years old. A casual place that serves an extensive range of food and bites with beer and wine, Jojo’s Place allows guests to bring in their own hard spirits and enjoy themselves with unfettered access to the beach. Speaking to Jojo’s Place Manager Gamini Thilakaratne, we learned that Jojo’s ceased operations for the duration of the curfew, reopening less than a month ago. Thilakaratne explained that the biggest challenge is the lack of footfall and tourists and that while Jojo’s Place enjoys a large local client base, tourists do form a substantial part of their market.
Thilakaratne also commented that the beach nourishment project has helped Jojo’s Place avoid high tides over recent weeks (during the off season, on occasion, the water levels increase to where it can come up to Jojo’s Place’s doorstep).
Sugar Beach, the beachside restaurant and bar that opened a few years ago, kept their delivery operations running during the lockdown. Speaking to its Manager, we learned that Sugar Beach resumed delivery operations one month into the lockdown, before opening for dine-in as soon as they were able, once they received the go-ahead from the Government. Speaking on how things are now, the Manager explained that while footfall was less than before, the same trends in terms of rush times seem to have endured.
Loon Tao, the Chinese beachside restaurant owned by Excel Restaurants, shared that of the four Excel Restaurants locations which include Loon Tao and The Shore by O! on Mount Lavinia Beach, Berlin Sky Lounge in Colombo 2, and Tsing Tao at Colombo Racecourse, only The Shore by O! maintained delivery operations during the lockdown, with the other locations opting to cease operations until dine-in facilities were allowed.
Loon Tao Manager Pushparaj explained that from Loon Tao’s perspective, business has been slow with crowds being much less than before. While Loon Tao did not need to rearrange the layout of their restaurant (their tables were already spread out for the privacy of guests), they have limited their capacity by more than half. Loon Tao is spread out over two floors, of which the upper floor is being renovated at the moment.
Pushparaj did comment that things were slowly picking up, with the restaurant having received recent inquiries for private parties and group events, and shared his hope that things would normalise as soon as possible.
The Shore by O!, one of Mount Lavinia Beach’s staple Friday night hotspots known for its atmosphere and being right on the beach, got through the lockdown focusing on delivery. The Shore by O! Manager Suranga Rukshan commented on operations in the new normal, explaining that while The Shore by O! did cease operations for the first month of the curfew, they resumed delivery operations as soon as they were able, and now following the lifting of the curfew, its back to being fully operational. He added that there has been a dip in footfall, like the other establishments on Mount Lavinia Beach.
Another iconic establishment further up the beach past the Mount Lavinia Hotel is the Buba Beach Seafood Restaurant. Over 20 years old, Buba Beach is a collection of thatched huts and private areas spread out across a beachside compound that can become one large location for private events on demand.
Buba Beach Manager Ricky David shared that Buba Beach shut down completely for the duration of the lockdown. Delivery is not a service Buba Beach offers as the atmosphere is an integral part of the Buba experience.
In terms of social distancing, because of the scale of Buba Beach as a venue and the fact that tables were placed far apart for guests to enjoy privacy, Buba Beach did not find itself needing to rearrange the space. A challenge though is the limitation on handling groups because Buba Beach is one of those places that can handle several large groups at a time, David explained, with a total capacity of up to 500 people.
Health and safety
All the establishments at Mount Lavinia Beach are taking health and safety very seriously.
Sugar Beach, for instance, has rearranged the restaurant for adequate social distancing, halved their seating capacity, taken to disinfecting chairs and tables in between customers, and training staff on proper protocol and practices to maintain health and safety. All customers and staff also have their temperatures checked at entry.
Restaurants like Buba Beach, Loon Tao, and The Shore by O! have also adapted to making health and safety a priority, and while their restaurant layouts didn’t require rearranging, proper sanitising and health and safety protocol are being strictly observed.
An issue faced by some of these restaurants, however, is the increase in prices of seafood and other ingredients. This makes it harder for restaurants like these, which are already suffering from large losses of revenue. Restaurants are put in an even trickier position by such increases in prices, as this is not a time that they can justify increasing menu prices. As Thilakaratne from Jojo’s Place explained, customers’ spending power has reduced and they are being more careful about where they go and how they spend, so increasing prices at this time will simply drive away even more people.
Mount Lavinia Hotel in the context of the pandemic
The grand dame overlooking it all, Mount Lavinia Hotel, has ceased operations entirely, choosing to support the Government and the national Covid-19 prevention effort by becoming a quarantine centre in this time of need to accommodate repatriated Sri Lankans and minimise the spread of infection.
Despite the main hotel being used as quarantine centre, Mount Lavinia Hotel is still operating its food delivery arm, running this aspect of operations from their kitchens at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH).
Outlook and keeping things going
Speaking with the restaurants along Mount Lavinia Beach, a common theme emerged – the desire to persevere and keep things going. While opinions of how long it would take for things to normalise differed, with some saying it would be a matter of months to others saying it would take two years or more, what’s important to remember is that Mount Lavinia is a little hub of business which has been badly hit twice in the near past, first by the Easter attacks and now by the pandemic.
How the Government and the economy respond and how the former deals with the pandemic are yet to be seen, but for the businesses along the Mount Lavinia Beach, as well as for businesses and communities in all parts of Sri Lanka, if not the world.
