Among Asia’s best beach towns, Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka
Hikkaduwa (“Hikka”) is a three hour drive south from Sri Lanka’s capital city, Colombo. People come here almost exclusively for the beach and the sea. Every day in Hikkaduwa, there is a feeling of celebration. Locals and travelers flock to the coral reefs that shield Hikka from deep currents that plunge in from the Indian Ocean. At Amaya, the area’s most famous reef, you can snorkel or explore the sea floor on a glass bottom boat — where you are at a perfect vantage point for the region’s exotic and vibrantly colored fish, sea turtles, and symbolic blue coral — with finger-like tips that glow like lightening bugs. The main road runs right along the sea among rows of tiny huts selling souvenirs, beach clothes, and diving equipment. Restaurants serve a diverse range of fresh seafood catches and the local favorite, “roti,” to hungry beachgoers. Roti is a bread-like wrap that in other parts of the country, enfolds only an egg. In Hikkaduwa, they have modified the traditional method to include cheese and tomato, avocado and cheese, even chocolate and banana. It is sort of a Sri Lankan-style crepe. Hikkaduwa is famous for beach festivals and parties that last well into the night, making it a choice spot for a younger, more lively crowd who come from Colombo and beyond to indulge in a pulsating beach atmosphere.
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