Dikwella and Hiriketiya travel guide, the whole picture

Dikwella is a market town on the south coast of Sri Lanka, about 22 km east of Matara, and Hiriketiya is the small surf bay beside it. Come between December and April for the calmest sea, stay three or four nights, and plan on beaches, slow food and one small outing a day.

This page is the overview. Each part links to a longer article, and all of them are gathered in our Dikwella and Hiriketiya travel guide.

Where is it, and who does it suit?

Dikwella, also written Dickwella, lies roughly halfway between Galle and Hambantota, close to the southernmost point of the island. The coast road from Matara to Tangalle runs through the town.

Around it there are four bays within about three kilometres. From west to east: Turtle Beach at Batheegama, the long town beach, Pehebiya, and Hiriketiya in its own cove. We explain them one by one in Dikwella beach and Turtle Beach, the bays explained.

We are Ohana, a beach club and restaurant at Turtle Beach, less than five minutes by road from Hiriketiya.

The area suits two kinds of traveller, who are often the same people on different days.

• Hiriketiya suits surfers, people who travel alone and anybody who wants cafes, yoga studios and company close together. It is small and well loved, and from December to March it is busy.
• Dikwella and Turtle Beach suit families, couples of every age, people who want quiet, and people who work on a laptop. The bays are wider or calmer, and the evenings end early.

It is not a place for big nightlife. For that, travellers go west to Mirissa, Weligama and Ahangama. If you cannot decide between the two moods, read Hiriketiya or Dikwella.

When should you come, and for how long?

It is warm all year, about 29 to 30 degrees by day. What changes is the rain and the sea.

• December to March is the driest and calmest time, and the busiest.
• April is hot, with more showers.
• May to September is the south-west monsoon: showers that pass, rougher water on open beaches, fewer visitors and lower prices.
• October and November are the wettest months, and quiet.

The months are taken one at a time in when to visit Dikwella, month by month. For a wet afternoon there is a rainy day in Hiriketiya and Dikwella.

Three or four nights is what a careful guide to Hiriketiya suggests, and it is right for Dikwella as well.

• One day is possible from Mirissa, Weligama or Tangalle: see a day trip to Dikwella.
• Three days are enough for the beaches, a temple, the blowhole and a turtle or two: see three days in Dikwella.
• A week lets you keep whole days for nothing at all.

How do you get here, and get around?

By car on the Southern Expressway, Dikwella is about three to three and a half hours from Colombo airport.

The slow and cheap ways are good too. Trains run down the coast from Colombo to Matara, and a few go on to Wewurukannala, a small station just inland from Dikwella. Expressway buses run from the edge of Colombo to Matara, where a local bus or a taxi covers the last stretch.

From Galle it is a little over an hour by car, from Mirissa under an hour, from Tangalle 18 to 25 minutes, and from Ella in the hills three to four hours. Every route is in how to get to Dikwella.

Once here, a tuk-tuk does most things. Agree on the fare before you get in. Hiriketiya is a walk of 15 to 20 minutes from the centre of Dikwella, and Ohana is 10 to 20 minutes on foot from Hiriketiya. Some visitors rent a scooter, which needs the right licence in Sri Lanka. All of it is in getting around Hiriketiya and Dikwella.

Where should you stay?

Choose the area before the hotel. Hiriketiya is for being in the middle of things, and the bay can be loud at night. Dikwella bay has space and the town's shops. Batheegama, by Turtle Beach, is quiet. Nilwella, to the east, is a fishing village.

They are minutes apart, so you can sleep in one and spend the day in another. The areas are compared in where to stay near Dikwella.

What is there to do?

Mostly slow things, which is the point.

• Beaches. Nine of them within half an hour.
• Surf at Hiriketiya, with lessons on the sand.
• Sea turtles. Wild turtles often feed on the reef at Turtle Beach. We lend masks free. Read how to swim with turtles first, and never touch, chase or feed one.
• Wewurukannala temple, with its seated Buddha about 50 metres tall, a few minutes inland. Cover shoulders and legs, and take off shoes and hats.
• The Hummanaya blowhole at Kudawella, about 5 km away.
• Blue Beach Island at Nilwella, reached across a sandbar at low tide.
• Mulkirigala rock temple, about 40 minutes inland, with around 500 steps.
• Yoga. There are studios in Hiriketiya, and we hold classes in our shala by the ocean.

One outing a day is plenty. The rest belongs to the water. The full list of twelve is in things to do in Dikwella.

Where do you eat?

Hiriketiya has the most choice in the smallest space: cafes for brunch and coffee, pizza, poke, and small local kitchens for rice and curry, kottu and hoppers. In Dikwella town, roadside places serve rice and curry at local prices, and the eastern end of the beach has a few bars and cafes for the evening. Bring cash in rupees for small shops and tuk-tuks.

At Ohana the kitchen cooks to order from 08:00 to 21:00: breakfasts from the world in the morning, then the day's catch, seafood platters, ceviche, bowls and Sri Lankan curries. Eleven dishes have a vegan way, and food is not spicy unless the dish says so. We serve no alcohol. See the restaurant, or come for breakfast and brunch.

Good to know

• Ohana is at Turtle Beach, Dikwella, less than five minutes by road from Hiriketiya.
• Breakfast is served from 08:00 to 11:00, lunch and dinner from 11:00 to 21:00, every day.
• Sunbeds are free for the whole day, one for each person, when each person spends 10,000 LKR on food and drinks; otherwise they cost 1,000 LKR an hour each. A towel comes with every sunbed.
• No alcohol is served. Filtered water is on the house, and snorkel masks are lent free.
• Prices are in LKR, plus a 10% service charge.