Surfing in Hiriketiya
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The Hiriketiya surf guide

A horseshoe bay with a beginner side and a reef side, and shelter when the coast is too big.

Welcome to Hiriketiya

Surfing in Hiriketiya

Hiriketiya is a horseshoe cove near Dikwella, at the eastern end of the south coast, three to three and a half hours from Colombo. It is the furthest of the four southern villages and the least on the way to anywhere.

  • 2spots
  • 2camps
  • 195 minfrom Colombo Bandaranaike (CMB)

The shape does the work: the two headlands wrap the swell, so the bay keeps a wave on days the open beaches close out. It is the fallback for this whole stretch of coast. The sand is on the right where the schools work; the left reef is another proposition, with rocks in the line-up.

The village sits off the main road and you can hear it: no buses, no tuk-tuks going past, a few lanes where everybody walks around in flip-flops. Mornings are slow and evenings are short. If you want a night out it is Ahangama, an hour and a half away; if you want early nights and early sessions, you are in the right place.

Welcome home.

Explore Hiriketiya

Why Hiriketiya?

The bay that keeps working

Hiriketiya exists for a reason of geography: when the swell shuts the rest of the coast, the bay still holds one.

Two headlands wrap the swell and leave a rideable wave where the open beaches are in pieces. In a week when the south-west is hammering, that is the difference between surfing and watching.

The rest follows from the same line. It is small, it is off to one side, the bay is three hundred metres across and fills quickly when it is on. The people who come here chose the quiet, and they chose it on purpose.

Discover the story of Hiriketiya

Where is Hiriketiya?

Getting there

195 min from Colombo Bandaranaike (CMB) (CMB)

Hiriketiya is a cove beside Dikwella, at the eastern end of the south coast and three to three and a half hours from Colombo, about 200 km. It is the furthest of the four southern villages and the least on the way to anywhere, which has kept it small even as it has become fashionable.

The bay is a horseshoe perhaps three hundred metres across, with a headland at each end. You can see the whole thing from the road, which is unusual here and makes checking it trivial.

When to go

Hiriketiya
  • Good
  • Very good
  • Excellent
When to go

Best surf spots in Hiriketiya

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Surf camps in Hiriketiya

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Other surf zones nearby

  • Ahangama

    One reef A-frame that breaks both ways, and the cleanest month on the whole south coast.

    1 spots · 9 surf camps

  • Midigama

    Four reefs inside two kilometres, and almost nobody on any of them.

    4 spots · 2 surf camps

  • Weligama

    The bay the whole south coast learns in, and a reef point for when that stops being enough.

    2 spots · 12 surf camps

  • Arugam Bay

    The other monsoon: four points over twelve kilometres, working when the south coast has gone flat.

    4 spots · 6 surf camps

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