Insight on expat life in Colombo

Hello everyone,

I was recently offered a good job in Colombo and am trying to gather as much info as possible to make my decision. Can you help me out?

- Is it possible to live on the beach and work in Colombo? How far are the nice beaches from town?
- How easy is it to get around the city?
- Are there job opportunities in tourism for expats?
- How easy is it to open a small café/restaurant for a foreigner in Colombo? How high are standards?
- Has any of you experience with Airbnb in SL? Is it complicated to rent out a room if we got an extra room in our apartment?
- How common are yoga and ayurveda? I am a big fan and would love to practise and/or learn more.

A little bit about us: I am Italian, but lived in many different places. My fiancé is French and lived with me in China for over two years. We have travelled a lot around Southeast Asia, but never to South Asia.

Any other info on life in Colombo will be highly appreciated!

Hi Peper,

Hope this helps,

- Is it possible to live on the beach and work in Colombo? How far are the nice beaches from town? Possible, Sri Lanka is surrounded by sea.so you can find quite resonable accomadation closer to the beach in Colombo
- How easy is it to get around the city? If you dont have a hired vehicle then tuk tuk or cabs are your best answer.Public Transport is also good but quite basic amenities.
- Are there job opportunities in tourism for expats? Yes.many due to post war tourism boom in Srilanka
- How easy is it to open a small café/restaurant for a foreigner in Colombo? How high are standards? Depends on catering crowd.all that matters is how you take it to the crowd.luxury is optional
- Has any of you experience with Airbnb in SL? Is it complicated to rent out a room if we got an extra room in our apartment? ABB is quite expensive in SL.try some local sites for renting out.But it depends on what your landlord says.
- How common are yoga and ayurveda? I am a big fan and would love to practise and/or learn more. Plenty of programs available.Most of the known gyms offer yoga.

Dear tharinduwije,

Thank you so much for your answers, it was really kind of you to take the time.
However, I am afraid you misunderstood some of the questions and the info you wrote is a bit too general.

Where are you from?

My pleasure.Im from colombo.Even though im currently working abroad.If you give specific questions we all can help you up in no time. For me most were common questions.Feel free to ask in specific if you want more info.