Hikkaduwa & Around
This small boutique hotel close to Hikkaduwa lake has lush, glitzy rooms, a beautiful pool and excellent food, though it's not actually on the lake. What really makes a stay here special are the staff – within seconds of arriving they'll have memorised your name and be bending over backwards to help.
The British-influenced menu stretches to English breakfasts and fish and chips. It's 3km inland, just off Baddegama Rd.
27.1 MILES
A vision of tropical bliss, Mirissa Beach boasts powdery pale sand, while its azure water is framed by an arc of coconut palms. The west side is the…
19.08 MILES
This exquisite tea plantation in the hills above Koggala offers (free) highly informative tours of the estate. You'll sample and learn how they produce…
10.58 MILES
Flag Rock, at the southernmost end of the Fort, was once a Portuguese bastion. Today it is easily the most popular place to catch a sunset. During…
10.32 MILES
Originally built in 1640, the present building dates from 1752. Its floor is paved with gravestones from Dutch cemeteries, while other impressive features…
10.39 MILES
A beautifully carved British coat of arms tops the entrance to the Old Gate on the outer side. Inside, the letters VOC, standing for Verenigde…
Martin Wickramasinghe Folk Art Museum
17.81 MILES
This interesting museum includes the house where respected Sinhalese author Martin Wickramasinghe (1890–1976) was born (the traditional southern structure…
29.76 MILES
The Sinharaja (Lion King) rainforests occupy a broad ridge at the heart of the island’s wet zone. The only way to get about the reserve is by foot, and…
22.39 MILES
You'll find the Brief Garden 10 kilometres inland from Bentota. A barely controlled riot of a garden out of The Jungle Book, the grounds are a lovely…
0.24 MILES
Hikkaduwa Lake, with its monitor lizards and numerous birds, makes for a pleasant excursion away from the beach. Boat tours can sometimes be organised on…
0.98 MILES
This interesting Buddhist temple has lots of popular educational paintings that are the work of one man over nearly a decade. The monks are happy to show…
1.44 MILES
Hikkaduwa’s marine park stretches along the northern end of the beach and is an easy way to get a glimpse of some of Sri Lanka's undersea life…
2.2 MILES
About 2km north of Hikkaduwa is the Seenigama Vihara, perched on its own island. It’s one of only two temples in the country where victims of theft can…
2.35 MILES
Right on the coast north of Hikkaduwa is this statue of a standing Buddha facing the waves with his hands in the abhaya mudra (Buddha pose conveying…
2.57 MILES
This small monument remembers the 35,000 people who lost their lives just in Sri Lanka during the 2004 tsunami and the hundreds of thousands of others…
7. Tsunami Education Centre and Museum
2.78 MILES
This locally run centre focuses on tsunami education for locals, but also has some dramatic and harrowing photos of the 2004 tsunami, including some of…
2.85 MILES
This ramshackle, private museum 3.5km north of Hikkaduwa tells the story through photographs and newspaper features of that dreadful day in 2004 when the…