Thalpe Beach is one of the most popular beaches on Sri Lanka’s south coast and unlike any beach you’ve ever visited before.

What makes Thalpe Beach so unique are the rectangular rock pools carved into the long-dead coral reef at the shoreline.

Too perfect to be natural, the rock pools were supposedly cut out some 50 years ago by the local villagers and used to soak coconut husks, separating the coir (hairy coconut fibres).

Now, Thalpe Beach is a tourist attraction, mostly visited by locals and adventurous tourists.