Travel to Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka.

Country/Town Visited: Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka
Date of stay:March / April 2011
Where you stayed: Hansa Surf Guesthouse
Tour or pre planned: Pre-planned

Picture a beautiful, almost untouched, pristine, white sandy beach, with half decent waves, surfers, coconut trees overhanging your balcony, warm weather, violent thunderstorms at night and endless sunny weather during the day. Welcome to Sri Lanka’s Hikkaduwa, the perfect beachside town on the south-west coast.

Locals and tourists here generally blend well.  There was no tension or animosity that existed when I was there and many tourists match up with locals and vice versa. A common interest which binds the Local and the Gringo is of course, cricket. I just happened to be there during the 2011 Cricket World Cup being staged jointly by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Beach Cricket was played by us almost every day which fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine. 

Sri Lankan people are very friendly, have a great sense of humor and make you feel welcome in their country. They are naturally very gifted cricketers and athletes in general and they are also very good with their hands - making jewellry, arts, crafts and ornaments.

The great thing about Hikkaduwa, given its south-west orientation, is that the sun sets on the water, making for a breath taking backdrop as you sip on your favourite drink by the beach. A beautiful site to see each night and no two sunsets are ever the same. One extraordinary night included a “moonset” where the moon revealed itself from underneath the nightly clouds and literally set in the same position as the sun when it goes down, then a few hours later occurred a golden sunrise over the jungle on the east side as I bathed in the warm water of the sea. I will never forget that.

Add to this picture Hikkaduwa’s stray dogs. There was “Calamari Ring”, who was a light brown coloured dog with a tail shaped like a freshly cooked calamari ring. There was “Buckle Boy”, who wore an old buckled belt. He was pretty feisty and liked to start play fights. Then there was “Diggy Marley” a reference to Ziggy Marley because of the reggae music played in the bar at the time and the fact that “Diggy” was digging a hole to park his arse into after a long day prowling the beach for food. They hang around generally and mean no harm.

The great thing about Hikkaduwa is that there is so much to do and it is yet to be completely ruined by tourism like other beachside towns around the world. Cancun and the Gold Coast spring to mind.  

There is the obvious activity of surfing. If you are like me and have no idea how to surf, Hikkaduwa might be the ideal place to start. The strength of the waves vary each day but you can get some baby waves to learn depending on the conditions. There are beginner lessons and hiring a board and an instructor varies from $10 USD to $40 USD. Or you can hire a surfboard from the hostel for around 100 rupees (less than 1 GBP). I preferred to watch people surf.

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