If you’re a beach or surf lover then look no further than Hiriketiya. Hiriketiya beach is sublime! The bay is home to amazing waves, unreal sunsets and lush food and drinks at Dot’s Bay House. It is the perfect place to spend a few days and have some fun!
The fun atmosphere and dreamy setting make it an incredible place to spend a few days. There are loads of awesome things to do, cheap places to eat and endless waves to surf. You may not have heard of Hiriketiya but instead Dikwella. They are neighbours, so both places can be enjoyed and experienced together!
Top 6 things to do in Hiriketiya/Dikwella
1) Surfing
With endless waves to surf, Hiriketiya beach is the best place we have seen for surfing in our travels. I (Tom) am not one to judge as this was my first place I have ever surfed and absolutely loved it! We rented a long foam board each for 500 LKR for 1 hour from the waters edge, in which he chucked us in 20 minutes for free – the equivalent of €2.19/£1.88 (2021), an absolutely ridiculously cheap price!
Hiriketiya beach is the perfect surfers paradise for all skill levels due to the various breaks across the bay. You find that the more professional surfers stick to one side and more beginners stick to the other side of the bay.
At around sunset everyone and their mum seems to surf! Be aware that there is no etiquette at this time and boards will be flying everywhere! We would suggest you sip a beer or cocktail and watch the madness unfold before you and enjoy the wipeouts from the comfort of the beach.
2) Hummanaya Blowhole
Considered to be the second largest blowhole in the world and only one in Sri Lanka, we really enjoyed our visit here! The blowhole seems to activate every 20 minutes give or take. We stayed here for around an hour and witnessed three or four pretty spectacular jets of water into the sky, giving us a well deserved shower of cold water every time.
Check out our gallery which will send you to our Instagram if you so wish, to show you exactly what we witnessed in a reel! It was amazing!
3) Dikwella Beach
If a peaceful walk along the sun kissed sand is what you’re seeking then take a trip to Dikwella Beach. When we were here at the end of 2021 we were the only people here alongside our trusty tuk tuk driver and a local fisherman. It’s not as thrilling as Hirikietiya beach but we very much enjoyed the serenity of this gorgeous beach.
4) Wewurukannala Buddha – Sri Lanka’s largest statue
We didn’t actually visit this Buddha statue. A mix of a lack of research and enjoying the surf too much to not leave the beach was the reasoning behind this. If you’re a first time traveller to this part of the world then we would highly recommend to absorb the local culture and religion by visiting Sri Lanka’s largest statue sitting at 50m in height. This is not something we were able to do as we were either stuck on a surfboard or eating for the duration of our stay in Hiriketiya.
5) Eat and drink
Who doesn’t love to eat and drink? We are surprised we’re not obese with the amount of amazing food we’ve eaten in Sri Lanka. Back in the UK we try to eat as much vegetarian food as possible and in Sri Lanka eating stunning vegetarian food is not hard. This is the stunning breakfast our accommodation, Sea View Clay House provided.
Although, we must come clean and say we had some pretty damn good crispy chicken in Sea View Clay House! The Westerners in us were craving…
Honestly just shop around, look on Google Maps and pick up a menu in each nice place you see. That’s what we did and it all added to the experience. But we will help you out, if you’re stuck, go to Dot’s Bay House located just off the beach for amazing food including pizza if you do so desire, just like we did after a few cocktails.
Restaurants in Dikwella are good, very trendy and admittedly some of the most expensive so far in Sri Lanka. Shop around!
6) Yoga
If you’re a yogaholic, then Hiriketiya, Dikwella is the perfect destination. We must admit this is something we still need to whilst travelling to unwind and relax. When in Hiriketiya, we were recommended to visit Salt House (which also provides accommodation) and Dot’s Bay House for the best session. We just love a morning coffee overlooking the sea to unwind and relax, setting up for the day.
Where to stay?
We stayed in Sea View Clay House, Hiriketiya (which you can check out further here) and thoroughly enjoyed our stay! The individual houses are nestled in amongst the surrounding greenery. Rooms are cosy for two backpackers with a cooler in the room that works very effectively.
Situated alongside the coast, breakfast, lunch, dinner or drinks can be enjoyed looking out at sea, watching the monkeys or listening to the crashing of waves. It must be said the breakfast was always delicious as pictured above. How can you not enjoy breakfast when the scenery is like this from above?
The staff were amazing and really welcomed us. We were treated like royalty!
Dot’s Bay House
This amazing hostel/hotel is located just of Hiriketiya beach making it an easy choice if you’re a surf lover. The food and drinks are amazing and the vibe was very inviting. We went for one drink and ended up staying for 7 hours due to awesome food, amazing staff and of course happy hour, serving 2 for 1 mojitos between 5pm and 6pm.
Where next?
Our next destination was based on our love for wildlife in their natural habitat and for us Udwawalawe National Park was made our next stop. Read more about why we chose Udawalawe in our next blog!
Travelling Translated
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