Hikkaduwa Beach

Hikkaduwa is a small town on the south coast of Sri Lanka located in the Southern Province, about 17 km north-west of Galle. Hikkaduwa National Park is one of the two marine national parks in Sri Lanka.The national park contains a fringing coral reef of high degree of biodiversity. The area was declared a wildlife sanctuary on May 18, 1979, and then on August 14, 1988, upgraded to a nature reserve with extended land area. The growth of the number of visitors in the next 25 years increased the degradation of the coral reef. To reduce the effects to the ecosystem, the reef was declared a national park on September 19, 2002

Arranged around the heavily trafficked main Galle to Colombo road which runs mostly parallel to the shore, Hikkaduwa's beach and night life make it a popular tourist destination. A well-known international destination for board-surfing, the town was featured in an episode of Anthony Bourdain's television show No Reservations.

Hikkaduwa was affected by the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake along with nearby villages Telwatta, Paraliya (Queen of the Sea rail disaster), Dodanduwa, Kahawa and Rathgama. In the wake of the tsunami, many of the families who had lost everything were given sewing machines as part of the relief operations. As a result, the town has a multitude of tailors who will custom make shirts, pants, and shorts.

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