Tourist information about Hikkaduwa in Sri Lanka

General information about Hikkaduwa

Hikkaduwa (Hikaduwa, Hikadua, Hikkaduwa) is a small town and popular resort on the West Coast Sri Lanka approximately 100 kilometers south of Colombo (Hikkaduwa on the map of Sri Lanka). Although Hikkaduwa belongs to the West Coast, it is actually located almost in the very south of the island. The population of the city is just over 100,000 people.

Like many other popular resorts around the world, Hikkaduwa was originally "discovered" by hippie colonies in the 70s. They already knew a lot about good beach places, and they chose the still calm shores of a small village in those days. The place turned out to be so successful that after a couple of decades it turned into a developed resort area, and the village grew into a whole city.

Hikkaduwa holidays

Hikkaduwa is one of the most popular and developing resorts in Sri Lanka. They come here, first of all, for a beach holiday and a well-developed resort infrastructure. In principle, we can say that if you do not know where to go for the first time in Sri Lanka-choose Hikkaduwa, you will not be mistaken.

True, it is worth objectively saying that because of the constant waves, this place is more suitable for surfing than for calm swimming. Only a small beach Hikaduwa Beach or Hikaduwa Coral Reef with a length of less than a kilometer is protected by coral reefs, there are no strong waves on it.

The beach area of Hikkaduwa stretches along the coast for almost 10 kilometers, and the most saturated part of it is concentrated within about five kilometers. The entire infrastructure is located along a fairly busy road (Galle Road or A2), which is separated from the beaches by dense buildings of hotels, restaurants and houses. Across the street is also a chain of hotels, cafes, travel agencies, etc. along the road there are sidewalks, and in the evenings you can quite comfortably walk around the tourist area in search of a place to eat or have fun.

The beach in Hikkaduwa is generally good, and very long. Almost throughout the resort, it is quite wide, however, in places it narrows greatly, and in the north it generally disappears due to the dam erected by hotels. The entire beach line is built up with hotels, and you will not see any Palm Beach in the style of "bounty" here: restaurants and hotels go directly to the shore, getting closer to the water every year. Everywhere on the beach there are schools of surfing and diving (including training in Russian), equipment rental. As for diving and snorkeling, according to some estimates, this is one of the best places in Sri Lanka for diving, and almost the dive capital of the country: there is a coral reef and several sunken ships. If you move further north, already beyond Hikkaduwa, there are still many undeveloped, but very pleasant beaches, some of which are located rare hotels. Read more about the beaches in Hikkaduwa here...

In the evenings, tourists usually stroll along the beach or along the picturesque Galle Road in search of a cafe or restaurant, but there is also a modest nightlife in Hikkaduwa. On Fridays, the Vibration Hotel hosts a very noisy night party with modern music, so a sleepless Friday night for Disco Lovers is provided here. On other days, the resort falls asleep early, and you can find evening entertainment only in bars on the beach.

There are no attractions in the resort area itself, but there is something to see in the surroundings. Excursions to turtle farms, gem mines, a national park, and temples in the surrounding area are popular.

As for security, it is impossible to call Hikkaduwa a completely calm place in Sri Lanka. Incidents with tourists occur here more often than in other resorts. These are mainly incidents on the roads, robberies on the streets (tearing off chains, phones, cameras), theft of things on the shore, theft from rooms or rented houses. Fortunately, elementary precautions allow you to avoid most of the troubles, you just need to be more careful and attentive.

Infrastructure in Hikkaduwa

Hikkaduwa is one of the most touristically developed resorts in Sri Lanka. There are many hotels here, different categories and prices, a lot of budget accommodation. Restaurants and cafes for tourists are found at every turn, and many of them even have a menu in Russian, which is very rare for the country. Shops for tourists (jewelry, souvenir, tea), travel agencies, bicycle and motorcycle rentals, currency exchange offices abound. There are several large supermarkets, several markets, banks and ATMs. And there are also travel agencies focused on Russian-speaking tourists, Russian-speaking guides.

However, you need to understand that the city is stretched for many kilometers along the coast, and the development of infrastructure is very different along this length. The most developed area is the center near the bus station and railway station. It is here that there are local markets, supermarkets, many inexpensive local cafes, there is an electronics store, pharmacies. Further south (towards Galle and Unawatuna) begins the tourist zone, where there is already an exclusively tourist infrastructure: hotels, travel agencies, expensive tourist restaurants, rental vehicles, diving centers. And there are few inexpensive cafes, markets, supermarkets in the tourist zone.

There are a lot of accommodation options in Hikkaduwa, prices are low compared to other resorts. You can find and book a hotel, guest house or private accommodation in Hikkaduwa on these sites. All sites have a Russian interface and Russian-language customer support, a lot of reviews from real guests.

• 🛌 Search for hotels in Hikkaduwa on Yandex.travel
• 🛌 Search for hotels in Hikkaduwa on Trip.com (💥 our choice)
• 🛌 Search for hotels on Ostrovok.ru

Hikkaduwa weather, tourist seasons

In general, you can relax in Hikkaduwa all year round, but the high and low seasons stand out.

• High season lasts from November to April. At this time it is best to go diving, surfing, or just relax on the beach.

• in low season from May to October "problems" start in the ocean. Constantly blowing wind creates strong waves, sometimes even storms. At this time, some hotels close for repairs or vacations. If you are ready to be content only with sunbathing on the beach without active bathing, and trips to attractions, then you can come to Hikkaduwa during this period (there are enough sunny days here even at this time).

Tourist seasons in Hikkaduwa by month, when is the best time to go

Current Hikkaduwa weather and forecast

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How to get there

Hikkaduwa is located on the West Coast 100 kilometers from Colombo to the South. There is no airport near the city, and therefore one gets here through Colombo airport, from where one gets to Hikkaduwa by taxi, bus or train.

From other cities and regions of the country, Hikkaduwa can be reached by bus or train. But direct flights and trains and buses are only from Colombo, Galle, Matara and other cities and resorts of the south-west coast, so in most cases you need to go with a transfer through the major transport hubs of Colombo or Galle. In general, during one light day in Hikkaduwa can be reached from anywhere in Sri Lanka, you just need to plan the route correctly, and leave early.

Here is a brief overview of the routes to get to Hikkaduwa from major cities:

• Colombo airport. Directly only by taxi or tuk-tuk, or budget by bus to Colombo and transfer there to another bus or train.
• From Colombo. Direct buses and trains run during the day and at night (less often). Buses can be taken at the bus station or anywhere on the main Galle Road – A2. Buses run often, it is not necessary to focus on the schedule, you can just come to the stop and wait for the bus. Trains run on schedule at least 10 times a day.
• From Negombo. From Negombo with transfer via Colombo by train or bus. Transport goes often, you can just come to the station and go.
• From Jaffna. Go also through Colombo by bus or train. The train is preferable, but you need to leave either early in the morning or take the evening train, which arrives in Colombo at 4 am.
• From Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Ella and other cities of the mountainous part of Sri Lanka, it is best to get by train with a transfer through Colombo, there are, including, night trains. If you go by bus, it will be faster to take the bus to Colombo, and get off earlier in the city of Kaduwela. In Kaduwela, you need to change to a bus on the expressway to Galle (departs every 20-30 minutes, costs 460 rupees), and then in Galle at the bus station, change to a bus to Hikkaduwa. Also at least from Nuwara Eliya once a day in the morning there is a direct bus to Ambalangoda and it goes through Hikkaduwa.
• From Trincomalee. The direct train from Trincomalee to Colombo only runs overnight, or you can change trains via Batikaloa or Galoya Junction (see how to get to Trincomalee). Bus service is available during the day via Colombo.

Learn more about all the ways, how to get to Hikkaduwa here...

Transport Hikkaduwa, what to move

The main resort area stretches along the coast and the Galle road for five kilometers, and you can move along it on foot, take a taxi or tuk-tuk, bus or rented transport. For trips to the surrounding attractions, it is best to rent transport, or hire a tuk-tuk with a driver.

There are practically no car taxis in Hikkaduwa, but if you find a car, then trips are mainly carried out at a contractual price, no one is in a hurry to turn on the meters. But there is a good alternative, especially if you need to go far away, for example to Colombo or the airport-use applications PickMe or Uber.

It is much easier to catch a tuk-tuk, there are a lot of them here. Drivers themselves constantly and too obsessively offer their services on the Main Street and even on the beach. A short trip within the resort will cost from 100 rupees if you know how to bargain, usually tourists are asked for 300 or more. You can hire a tuk-tuk on time for 2000 rupees (from 6.04 USD) for 3 hours, 3000 rupees (from 9.06 USD) per day. But everything again depends on your ability to bargain.

There are no city buses in Hikkaduwa itself, but the main Galle road is very often used by public and private buses between Galle and Colombo, as well as other resorts on the West Coast. They stop at places marked with a bus stop sign, but can stop at any place on request. Travel costs from 10 rupees depending on the distance, payment to the conductor in the cabin.

The greatest freedom of movement is given by rented transport. A motorcycle for rent can be found from 2200 rupees per day (6.65 USD), but more often ask for 3200 and above. Bike rentals start at 100 rupees per hour and 400 per day, but these are mostly "killed" bikes. For a normal bike will have to pay almost twice as much.

Learn more about transport in Hikkaduwa here...

Hikkaduwa attractions, what to see

For most tourists, the main attraction of Hikkaduwa are its beaches. Indeed, apart from the beaches there is nothing interesting in the resort area itself. However, near the resort there are many attractions that you can visit yourself by rented transport, tuk-tuk, bus. You can also go to the sights with an excursion, because Hikkaduwa is one of the few places in Sri Lanka where you can buy inexpensive group excursions, and not individual tours by tuk-tuk or rented car. Excursions are also offered for several days in Colombo, in the mountainous part of Sri Lanka (Nuwara Eliya, Ella, Horton Plateau and the end of the world, tea plantations, etc.), in the Cultural Triangle (Dambulla, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura), national reserves. And by the way, there are even travel agencies with Russian-speaking consultants and guides.

Among the interesting places visited from Hikkaduwa, you can include the sights of nearby Bentota, Ambalangoda( Ambalangoda), Galle (Galle). You can get to these cities not only on your own, but also by bus or commuter train.

Learn more about Hikkaduwa attractions here...

Useful tips on Hikkaduwa

• Currency exchange, ATMs. Hikkaduwa has one of the best exchange rates on the island. The only better course we could find was in Colombo. So you can safely change dollars here to local money for your entire trip. In the center (near the bus station) there are several banks and ATMs.
• Food. In the heart of the tourist area it is not easy to find cafes with low price for locals if you want to save money. In the bulk there are expensive tourist cafes and restaurants. But if you go to the bus station and railway station, where the actual city center is located, you can find a lot of inexpensive cafes.
• Supermarkets and shops. There are many markets and small shops, but it is best to go to supermarkets in the northern part of the city for food, alcohol or things in the bus station area.
• Alcohol. Hikkaduwa has several liquor stores. One of them is in a large supermarket and a separate store further north. The supermarket sells only uncooled alcohol. Remember that alcoholic beverages in Sri Lanka are not sold around the clock and only in special stores: go to the first supermarket and buy a bottle of beer will not work. Beer, by the way, here costs from 480 rupees per bottle.
• Hotel selection. When choosing a hotel near the road, take into account the noise from transport. Rooms in some hotels even along the street are well protected from noise, but somewhere it is simply unbearable. Read reviews about the hotel so as not to be mistaken.
• Nightlife. On Fridays, the Vibration hotel in the southern part of the resort hosts night parties with modern and loud music. If you stay near this hotel, you will not be able to sleep on Friday. You either have to stay awake from loud music, or go to a party.