I went to this beach on December 26th exactly 18 years after the December 26th tsunami that occurred in 2004. Long tailed boats – the livelihood of fisherman – were destroyed so a community formed to build a barnyard on coconut beach and secured enough private donations to rebuild all the boats that were lost. The barnyard still stands as a memorial to unity in the face of devastation and you can feel that spirit here – for example – you don’t have to pay to lay in a lounge chair here – just buy something from the restaurant and they consider that a fair exchange.
