About The Sevana
Created by a woman with a big dream, The Sevana is a nature and design-led private estate on Sri Lanka's southern coast, set within more than three acres of tropical gardens and overlooking surrounding paddy fields.
Designed as a place to slow down and experience the beauty of the island, the estate brings together contemporary architecture, thoughtful hospitality and a deep connection to nature. Every space has been intentionally designed to feel calm, private and unhurried, creating an environment where guests can spend meaningful time together while always having room to retreat.
With five standalone cabanas connected by winding garden pathways and centred around an open pavilion, The Sevana welcomes exclusive-use stays and hosted retreats throughout the year. Whether gathering with family, celebrating with friends or hosting an intimate retreat, the estate offers a peaceful setting where people can come together, relax and experience Sri Lanka at a gentler pace.
During the winter and spring months, The Sevana also hosts a small number of women-only, women-led surf retreats. Created for adult women who want to learn or progress their surfing, these retreats combine expert coaching with thoughtful hospitality and a supportive environment immersed in nature.
Every retreat also contributes towards organisations supporting the empowerment of women and marginalised communities through surf and community initiatives.
The Sevana Story
The idea for The Sevana began with surfing.
I discovered surfing in 2012, at the age of 39, and came to Sri Lanka for the first time a year later. What started as surf trips gradually became the beginning of a much bigger idea: to create the kind of place I had often wished existed as a woman travelling, learning and trying to progress in surfing later in life.
At the beginning, the vision was to create a safe, welcoming space for women. Somewhere supportive, comfortable and thoughtfully designed, where women could come to surf, stay, learn, rest and feel completely at ease.
Over time, that idea grew.
The Sevana is still rooted in that original intention, but it has also become something broader: a private estate shaped around nature, design, privacy and space. A place for exclusive stays, hosted retreats and carefully curated experiences.
My original plan was to find an existing property and adapt it. I spent years looking, but nothing ever quite matched what I had in mind. Eventually, I realised that if I wanted to create the place I was imagining, I would have to build it from the ground up.
Finding the right piece of land took time. I wanted somewhere surrounded by nature, with enough space to create both connection and privacy. When I found this site, with its paddy views and mature trees, I knew it offered the setting I had been looking for.
The estate was designed around five standalone cabanas, connected by garden pathways and centred around an open pavilion. It was important to me that guests could come together, but also have space to retreat when they wanted quiet, rest or time alone.
The name Sevana comes from the Sinhala language, meaning "shade" or "protection". It felt like a fitting name for the feeling I hoped the estate would offer.
Today, The Sevana welcomes exclusive-use stays, hosted retreats and our own women-only surf retreats. However you experience it, I hope it gives you space to slow down, feel at ease and spend meaningful time in this beautiful part of Sri Lanka.
