Hikkaduwa, in south-west of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, is a large costal tourist area, covering 11 different villages over 6 km (3.7 mi) on the ocean, and 3 km (1.9 mi) inland. It is run by the Hikkaduwa Urban Council. Located in the

Galle District Galle ( ''gālla distrikkaya''; ''Kāli māvattam'') is a Districts of Sri Lanka, district in Southern Province, Sri Lanka, Southern Province, Sri Lanka. It is one of 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the co ...

, Hikkaduwa is divided into three main areas (from north to south): the Sri Lankan town, then the very lively tourist area, then the upmarket area Thiranagama on the edge of the long Narigama beach. Hikkaduwa is a Sinhalese Buddhist stronghold on the island. Religious composition in Hikkaduwa DS Division according to the 2012 census is Buddhists 100,955 (99.06%), other Christians 317 (0.31%), Roman Catholics 293 (0.29%), Hindus 257 (0.25%), Islam 79 (0.08%), others 8 (0.01%).

History

In the sixties, many

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

s came to live in Hikkaduwa which was nicknamed ''Hippiduwa''. Its economy was based on fishing and coconut cultivation, which was replaced by tourism when its golden sandy beaches were widely discovered in the 1960s. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami affected Hikkaduwa along with many nearby villages.

Geography

Located in the Southern Province, Hikkaduwa is about north-west of

Galle Galle (, ; , ) (formerly ) is a major city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, south of Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District. Galle was known as ''Gi ...

and south of

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

. Hikkaduwa is divided into three main areas (from north to south): * the town (with associated public infrastructure, including bus stand, harbour, and railway station) * the tourist area, with numerous hotels and restaurants * Thiranagama, the upscale area, where the only

5-star hotels Five Star (also styled as 5 Star) were a British pop group, formed in 1983 and comprising siblings Stedman, Lorraine, Denise, Doris, and Delroy Pearson. From 1985 to 1988, Five Star had four top-20 albums and 15 top-40 singles in the UK, in ...

in the Hikkaduwa district are located (Riff Hotel and Haritha Villas).

Attractions

Well known for its scenic beaches, coral reef sanctuary, surfing and nightlife.

Surf

Hikkaduwa area might be the most popular surf spot on the Sri Lankan south-west coast. and has many different surf spots. It attracts thousands of surfers between October/November and March/April. There are: shallow sand-bottomed waves, A-frame sections, harbourside waves, mellow whitewash to practice the pop, and fast left-hander waves.

Coral Sanctuary

The Hikkaduwa National Park was the first marine sanctuary to be established in Sri Lanka. It has approximately seventy varietie

of multi-coloured

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

s. In 2023, the Wildlife Conservation Department started to restore the coral reef. Live coral washed ashore with the waves are planted on coconut shell-shaped cement blocks dropped and nursed in the medium-deep seabed of Hikkaduwa.

Hikkaduwa Beach

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...

say that Hikkaduwa Beach is Sri Lanka's version of Kuta Beach (

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

Narigama Beach and Thiranagama Beach

Extends for towards the south, in a broad and continuous sandy beach, this wide beach is calm with some luxury hotels and a few quality restaurants. There also are several surf stops there.

Tsunami Honganji Viharaya ''(Big Buddha Statue)''

The Big Buddha Statue is high. It is a replica of the 6th-century Buddhas of Bamiyan destroyed by Taliban in Afghanistan. It was created using the earliest known sketches of the statue. It was built in remembrance of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami victims and to protect the people from harm.

Hikkaduwa Beach Festival

Held between July/August, this five-day festival attracts thousands of locals and foreign nationals. It features both local and international professional DJ's, famous musicians and world class dancers.

Biodiversity

The jungle around Hikkaduwa is rich in

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

. It is home to the purple-faced langur, an endangered and endemic monkey. Over sixty

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of endemic birds, including

heron Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...

s, sandpipers,

tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae, subfamily Sterninae, that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated in eleven genera in a subgroup of the family Laridae, which also ...

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

s, and

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

s, as well as rarer species such as the lesser whistling duck, the Asian palm swift, the

white-breasted waterhen The white-breasted waterhen (''Amaurornis phoenicurus'') is a waterbird of the rail and crake family, Rallidae, that is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia. They are dark slaty birds with a clean white face, breast and belly. The ...

, the black bittern and Loten's sunbird. Beneath the Indian Ocean lies a number of

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

s, and a great variety of fish and turtles. The turtles still wade onto the shore to lay their nests and eggs. In the early 1980s, Arthur C. Clarke played a key role in persuading the government to declare Hikkaduwa a marine sanctuary.

Transport

Hikkaduwa is located on the

Coastal A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

or Southern Rail Line (connecting

through to Matara). It is also located on the A2 highway, connecting

to Wellawaya.

Notable people

Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian and American actor, producer and businessman. Known for starring in comedic and superhero films, he was the List of highest-paid film actors, world's second-highest-paid actor in 202 ...

, Canadian and American actor whose film '' Ordinary Magic'', was shot in Hikkaduwa * Sir Arthur C. Clarke, world-famous writer, author of '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', lived in Hikkaduwa where he had his diving company's installation.Arthur C. Clarke official site
/ref> *

Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera (; 20 January 1827 – 29 April 1911) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, who was one of the pioneers of Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalist movement in the 19th century. He did a great service to improve the Buddhist Educatio ...

, famous buddhist monk

References

External links

{{Municipalities and Urban areas of Sri Lanka

References

Seaside resorts in Sri Lanka Tourism in Sri Lanka Populated places in Galle District Populated places in Southern Province, Sri Lanka

History

Geography

Attractions

Surf

Coral Sanctuary

Hikkaduwa Beach

Narigama Beach and Thiranagama Beach

Tsunami Honganji Viharaya ''(Big Buddha Statue)''

Hikkaduwa Beach Festival

Biodiversity

Transport

Notable people

See also

References

External links

References