Nihal Arthanayake is a broadcaster, TV presenter and author of Let’s Talk, a toolkit to having better conversations with anyone, any time. He visits the seaside town of Hikkaduwa on Sri Lanka’s southern coast every year – here, he tells us why.
Welcome to Hikkaduwa, a hustle and bustle seaside town on Sri Lanka’s southern coast that could politely be described as a little rustic. But read on and I will explain why your travel itinerary should include at least a day or two in this seemingly unloved town.
Firstly, let me tell you just how many people are saying that Sri Lanka itself should be at the very top of your must-visit destinations. Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the president of Sri Lanka, declared 2025 as the year with “the highest tourism revenue in Sri Lanka’s history”. Vogue described Sri Lanka’s South Coast as “winter’s hottest destination”, while Condé Nast Traveller declared the country the “world’s most family-friendly place to relocate to”. The BBC’s inaugural Top 25 Travel Destinations 2025 ranked Sri Lanka at number nine. But not one of these articles mentioned Hikkaduwa.
That may well be down to something as mundane as the construction of a motorway. Back in 2011, the Southern Expressway connecting the capital, Colombo, to the Unesco World Heritage site of Galle opened, and completely bypassed Hikka (as the locals call it). This meant that the much longer traditional coastal journey that took travellers from Colombo to the south coast was no more, and any seaside town above Galle consequently suffered.
So, while the well-heeled globetrotters immerse themselves in the country’s abundance of luxury boutique establishments, private villas and glamped up expeditions into leopard, elephant and bear territory, I’d like to direct your gaze towards Hikkaduwa.
This is a Sri Lankan coastal town that isn’t wholly consumed with the act of furnishing the needs of tourists. There is not a single edifice owned by an international hotel chain. The small, independent stores, largely owned by locals, offer you everything from the de rigeur baggy pants with elephant motifs, to piles of spiky purple rambutans (a delicious, lychee-like fruit). The vast majority of beachside businesses are ramshackle creations pieced together to form mini havens from the sun.
The surf boys are worth getting to know. They usually have long black hair, permeated with bleached blonde tips or stripes. You can hire a beach lounger from them, be taken out for a surf lesson, or be told about a big beach rave taking place.
Seek out the Hikka Tranz hotel, but rather than go in, look for the public beach to the right of it. There, every single day, you will encounter two large turtles who enjoy nothing more than being fed by tourists with bags of seaweed, sold to them by men who make a living from this human-turtle exchange. It is truly wonderful to come shin-to-shell with these giants, who bump into you just below the knee like an aggressive footballer and then float off for a few moments before coming up for air. They have no fear of humans whatsoever. I only worry for their waistlines.
Further along the beach, there are shoals of fish that will swim around as you lay floating above them in water that is only chest high. I find this particular experience to be the most meditative part of my annual trip to Hikkaduwa. To be able to spend time in such close proximity to this hypnotic underwater menagerie is truly one of life’s blessings.
There are four restaurants that I would recommend in Hikkaduwa: one is called Crab Shack and is part of the Hikka Tranz hotel. Every evening, you can venture over to the icy, glass-fronted cabinet and inspect that day’s catch. From exotic looking fish to giant prawns straight out of Jurassic Park, the array of aquatic delights is almost overwhelming.
Opposite Crab Shack is a restaurant called Appetite. As you walk up the wooden steps into an open-air space that feels like it is on stilts, you are met with a huge speaker pumping out house music, so this isn’t an ideal spot for a lowkey romantic meal for two. The open kitchen is a hub of activity as a team of young men slice, dice and daintily arrange delicious ingredients onto plates. My wife and her friend ordered a seafood platter that was so large I wondered if the ocean had been entirely emptied to furnish it.
If you want to spoil yourself with something more sophisticated, head to Riff Hotel, an architectural exercise in tropical minimalism. Stay on the ground floor for a contemporary twist on Sri Lankan cuisine, or head to the roof for the Japanese restaurant – make sure you have the matcha tiramisu for dessert.
I have been told that a considerable redevelopment budget is coming to Hikkaduwa, so before the buildings and the prices rise, please come and experience a tiny piece of pre-gentrification Sri Lanka.
Nihal Arthanayake is a renowned British broadcaster, author, and DJ
