Hikkaduwa – quick travel guide

Nice beach town known for having corals and turtles, and many Russians. And OK for surfing.

It’s a small beach town with a nice relaxed vibe without being pretentious. Plenty of water activities to do around here, and close to other towns for other excursions and activities. You can stay here a couple days or a couple weeks.

Where to stay:

• By the beach – I prefer Narigama beach. It’s not only nicer but also cheaper since it’s a little further from town center.
• By the lake – called Hikkaduwa Lake. It’s also a super nice vibe, and only 15 minute bike-ride to town center and then a little more to the beaches. The bike ride wasn’t a pain, and also you can call a tuktuk if you don’t want to walk or ride a bike. Or maybe you rent a moto-scooter. The biggest pain was when you get hungry late at night and have to come into town for food. The best parts about being by the lake is that it’s cheap, it’s chill, and you can go canoeing in the lake or just enjoy having more space and being more remote. The places you’ll stay at can be more vibey and family-like because everyone hangs out together and bonds more when there’s nothing else to do.

Both options are nice. Choose an option by the beach or by the lake, or split it up between both.

Hostels & Hotels:

• TheLakeHostel – awesome vibey spot on the lake (not the beach). Prices are still cheap, but slightly more expensive than even some places just across the street from the beaches. But it’s a super nice vibe. Everybody is like a little family here. Very peaceful and really in the zen part of nature. They have free bikes and canoe to use whenever you want. Or you can rent scooter or call a tuktuk to bring you back into town.
• Lazy Koala – super cheap place that feels luxury and looks much fancier than the price. Only problem is it’s not on the beach. But has nice pool and views of the water. But Hikkaduwa Beach is close by enough.

There are many great places. Just check on Google Maps along the water. You shouldn’t have any problems.

Neighborhoods & Walking areas:

• The main city area by Hikkaduwa Beach and all the further south is it. But there are plenty of little restaurants and stores can be found as you walk around town.

Activities to do:

• Buildings & architecture:
  • Sīnigama Sri Devol Shrine – nice shrine by the beach. North coast of Hikkaduwa.
  • Railways – get some cool photos of the locals or yourself walking on the railways.
• Parks, gardens, green spaces:
• Beaches, bridges, water-points:
  • Hikkaduwa Beach – the main in town. Many people, vendors, tourists, and crowded. Boats, surfing, and tour stuff. Markets and restaurants nearby. Keep walking further south and things get nicer…more solitude and relaxed vibe.
  • Turtle Beach – named for the turtles that come there, and people feeding and trying to take pictures of them. Please don’t be one of the idiots touching the turtles. Nice photos along the rocks, and sunset in the distance.
  • Narigama Beach – definitely my favorite of the 3 I walked. Big sandbar so you’re not all crowded together. Much more space to lay out or play volleyball. The restaurants and bars here have more space and many of them seem nicer vibe. Others are more local so you can see some locals hanging around here, too. Then there’s also parts with just trees and no commercial buildings nearby. The “nightlife” is more around this area.
  • Hikkaduwa Lake – we took a canoe from hostel and explored around. Saw all kinds of little animals. The most incredible was some big bats flying above, wow! (Around sundown hours.)
• Markets, shopping:
  • Easy enough to find essential things. For big markets and what not, you should have bought in Colombo.
  • You can get custom beachwear at some shops if you can wait a couple days for them to make it.
• Arts & museums:
  • Tsunami Museum
  • Safon Robes Art Gallery
• Viewpoints, landmarks, sunsets –
  • Sunsets – just go along the beach.
• Tours:
  • Boat tours – glass bottom, fishing, etc.
  • Surf – lessons and surfboard rentals.
  • Scuba – definitely among the cheapest you’ll find anywhere in the world. Dives and certification programs.
  • Snorkeling –
  • Hikkaduwa River Safari

Restaurants & Cafes:

• Sudha’s Eatery – a good local place with reasonable prices. Many good dishes…rice, kottu, pasta…all was good.
• Horizon Beach Restaurant – a nice place. Seems almost only Russians and foreigners eat here. During a city-wide power outage, we ate here because it was the only place with the lights on. Good food at slightly higher prices but not crazy.

Bars & Clubs:

• Hug Inn – known as one of the main “party place” on many nights. Sunday for sure. But depending on the season, it could still be dead when you go. The music was super great though when I went. I loved the house/EDM DJ.
• Vibrations – saw some live rock band on Sunday night here as well.
• Other places I heard about but didn’t try – Funky de Bar, Mambos Place.

Miscellaneous tips:

• General travel tips for Sri Lanka.
• Tuktuk:
  • Use Pickme app to get prices for places, and then haggle with nearby drivers. Make sure you show them on the map and that they see exactly where a place is. So you they can’t play games of pretending they didn’t know how far it was and changing the price later. Also try to have exact change so they can’t pretend they don’t have any change.
• Internet – tends to suck when it rains. So check the weather and/or read reviews about the WIFI before you book a place.
• Gym:
  • Fit 4 Life GYM – probably the nicest and biggest gym in town. Also has extra spaces just for whatever you want to do. Your own workouts, moving around, shooting content videos.
  • Muscle Hut Body Building & Fitness – smaller gym but still adequate equipment for everything you need. Has a punching bag (which I like as a boxer).

Nearby towns:

• Galle

Unfiltered notes: