04 Jun 2026 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The east coast's first solar-powered platform dining experience brings the flavours of Sri Lanka's eastern coastline to the open water.
Sun Siyam Pasikudah, part of the Privé Collection under Maldivian-owned Sun Siyam Resorts, has officially launched its floating dining platform on the open waters of Pasikudah Bay, the Aqua Lounge. It is the only floating ocean dining platform on the bay, the only solar-powered floating dining platform on Sri Lanka's east coast, and the only floating fine-dining experience on the open Indian Ocean in eastern Sri Lanka — a meaningful distinction from the lake and river venues that exist elsewhere on the island. There is nothing else like it on this coastline.
Both choices reflect the resort's wider commitments under Sun Siyam Cares, the group's Travelife Gold-certified sustainability programme covering renewable energy, ocean conservation, waste management, and community engagement across all Sun Siyam properties.
What makes the platform stand out is not just where it sits but the thinking behind it. The structure uses sustainable timber and recyclable barrels, runs on solar energy, and reclaimed greywater principles guide the resort's wider operations on land. The floating platform is a natural extension of that philosophy, applied, quite literally, to the ocean the resort is working to protect.
The dining experience centres on a seven-course menu drawing on the freshness and flavours of the eastern coast. Evenings begin with sunset cocktails as the light shifts over the bay, and the platform stays open through the night for guests who want to linger over a meal with the sound of the water beneath them. For those who want something quieter, a bubbly breakfast on the platform is available on request, a more private way to begin the day out on the water.
The platform spans 400 square feet and is reached by catamaran directly from the resort's shore. It is built from sustainable timber and recyclable barrels, and runs entirely on solar energy.
Beyond the guest experience, the platform carries a genuine community purpose that the team considers just as important. School children from nearby villages are brought out to the platform regularly as part of the resort's CSR programme, not as a sightseeing trip, but as a hands-on conversation about the bay they have grown up beside, the coral reef beneath it, and what it means to look after both. It is one of the ways Sun Siyam Pasikudah extends its values beyond its own grounds.
'Pasikudah Bay is extraordinary, the curve of it, the shallow water, the way the evening light falls across it' said Arshed Refai, General Manager of Sun Siyam Pasikudah. We wanted to put guests right atthe centre of that. Not looking at the ocean from the shore, but actually sitting on it. And the menu tells the story of this coast, the ingredients, the fishermen who supply us, the techniques that belong here. That is the east coast experience we want people to leave with.' Sun Siyam Pasikudah offers 34 contemporary pavilions set along one of Sri Lanka's most pristine and unspoiled stretches of coastline. The resort has long embedded sustainability into its daily operations, from solar and LED lighting and water conservation to a waste management approach built around reduction, recycling, and composting.
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