Sri Lanka was never on my radar until this year when I started researching all it has to offer- beaches, jungle, culture, wild elephants, whales year round, surfing and the largest concentration of leopards than anywhere else in the world! Not only that, it’s very affordable.
When To Go
Theres 2 different monsoon seasons in Sri Lanka. The west and south coast have a rainy season from May-September, while the east and north coast rainy season is October-February. I was here in December and did a counterclockwise loop around the southwest area. I traveled in reverse order of the what most people do because I wanted to go to the beaches first. I started on the south coast, went on a safari at 2 national parks, tea tasting in Ella and then the epic train ride to Kandy.
Important! Double check your countries visa requirements. At the time of writing this, you need to purchase a Sri Lanka travel visa in advance. You can get it online for about $35 USD. You also need proof of a return flight exiting Sri Lanka, or they won’t let you on the plane.
How To Get Here
You’ll fly into Bandaranaike Airport in Colombo. Inside the Colombo airport I saw people were selling full size refrigerators and ovens next to baggage claim. Welcome to Sri Lanka!
The airport is about 12 miles from Colombo city and with traffic it takes almost an hour.
You can take the bus, train or a pre charged taxi into the city. The bus is about 20 cents USD and a taxi is $15 USD.
Theres a taxi stand before you exit the airport. They write the price on a receipt, you hand the receipt to the driver and pay him when you arrive.
Get cash from the ATM or currency exchange before you leave the airport. It’s cash only almost everywhere.
Hikkaduwa Beach
Train from Colombo to Hikkaduwa
I took a train to the Hikkaduwa beach area. When planning your trip, check the train schedule ahead of time as usually there are no trains on Saturdays or Sundays. You can also take a bus or a taxi.
Train Tip: Most people leave from Colombo Fort station, but I left from Maradana station. The seating on the train is first come first serve and Maradana is the very first stop, versus Colombo Fort being the 2nd stop. Your chances of getting a seat are higher if you get on at Maradana.
I didn’t see any 1st class tickets for this train, only 2nd and 3rd class. Prices are: 2nd class $1.04USD and 3rd class $0.55 cents USD. Besides price, I think the only difference between 2nd and 3rd class is theres extra leg room in 2nd class. 3rd class had seats facing each other, where as in 2nd class all the seats were facing forward.
When the train arrived, it was a chaotic mob of people pushing each other to get a seat. I was lucky to get a window seat on the right side. The train travels along the coast and the right side has a view of the ocean. It’s about a 2 hour train ride. The trains look old fashioned with no doors, windows open and a nice ocean breeze.
From Hikkaduwa station I took a tuk tuk to my hotel on the next beach over, Narigama beach (bargain with the tuk tuk drivers).
Narigama Beach
Narigama beach is on the quiet side of Hikkaduwa. I was looking to relax so this was perfect for me. If you’re looking for nightlife, Hikkaduwa beach has more people, shops, restaurants and bars. It’s about a 20-30 minute walk to get to either beach (faster if you walk on the road).
Accommodation
Theres plenty of budget options starting at $5/night for a shared room and $10/ night for a private room.
Ocean View Cottage– beachfront hotel in a quiet location, $34/night for a private room with AC and a balcony over looking the ocean and pool. Highly recommend!
Luxury: Avenra beach hotel– pricey for Sri Lanka but a beautiful hotel with a pool overlooking the beach.
Food
The Joint at Southwind– this was my favorite beachfront restaurant and I spent almost every day here lounging on a daybed. They have tiki hut daybeds, chaise lounge chairs to sunbathe and a shaded cabana area with pillows. The curry’s are good as well as the seafood and salads.
Top Secret– this beachfront restaurant has daybeds as well, and they play upbeat reggeton and party music.
Hotel restuarants– The food at the hotels are very good and usually cheaper than a restaurant. I had a big seafood dinner for only $8 USD. Also, I think all the hotels/homestays I stayed at in Sri Lanka included free breakfast. This wasn’t a basic breakfast either, it was freshly made hoppers, curry, eggs, fresh fruit and tea.
Things to do in Hikkaduwa
Snorkeling
Theres a coral reef right off of Hikkaduwa beach for snorkeling. I swam out pretty far and saw a ton of tropical fish and sea turtles. The coral was mostly dead, but I heard if you hire a boat theres better coral reef further out.
At night, I was lucky enough to see a sea turtle swim to shore, dig a giant hole in the sand, lay eggs for about an hour, cover the hole up and swim back out to sea!
Surfing
Hikkaduwa and Narigama beach both have good surfing for beginners. Theres surf board rentals right on the beach for $2 USD, and they offer lessons as well.
Mirissa Beach
Bus from Hikkaduwa to Mirissa
I was originally planning to take a train to Mirissa beach. It was Saturday and I found out theres no trains on the weekends, so I took the bus. Some buses go all the way to Matara and will pass Mirissa on the way. However, there are more frequent buses going to Galle, and then transfer buses to Matara (and get off at the Mirissa stop). The transfer was easy and all the locals were helpful. I didn’t wait more then 5 minutes for the next bus to leave. The bus from Hikkaduwa to Galle was 26 cents USD and Galle to Mirissa was 65 cents USD and a 1.5 hour drive total.
Bus Tips
Theres 3 indications for a bus stand: a yellow 1/2 rectangle painted on the side of the street, a blue bus sign, or a cement hut that you can stand in. Depending on the bus, it will come every 5 minutes to 15 minutes and you’ll have to wave it down. Theres a spot next to the driver to keep your backpack and theres vendors jumping on and off the bus selling snacks and drinks. The blue buses are nicer (vs. the red bus) and are also usually packed with people- but that’s all part of the experience.
Like other countries in Asia, driving the bus is a 2 person job- theres a driver and a conductor. The conductor signals when the driver should stop or start the bus and he collects the money. You don’t need to give money right when you get on. You can sit down and the conductor will come find you later. It’s amazing how good their memory is.
They had crazy upbeat Sri Lankan music playing on the bus and music videos on a tv for entertainment. Overall, it was easy to take the bus here and all the locals would ask to make sure I knew when to get off.
Accommodation
There were plenty of budget options starting at $5/night. The Mirissa area has 3 bays of nice beaches. Mirissa beach is the busiest. The bay just east of Mirissa is quiet and nice and the 3rd bay to the east is very quiet and secluded. I spent most of my time east of the Parrot Rock area. I’d say anything west of Mirissa Seastar Hotel is a nice beach area.
Things to do in Mirissa
Whale watching
Theres blue whales off the coast of Mirissa year round! My hotel organized whale watching for me. It was $42 USD for a 7 hour boat trip, breakfast and transport there and back. Technically the trip is 2-6 hours but it’s really however long it takes to find whales.
They gave us complimentary Dremamine (motion sickness medicine) when we got on board, but I had already taken some as I get sea sick easily.
It took a while to find the whales but once we found them they would breach about every 10 minutes. We spotted about 9 blue whales, with the biggest one at 98 feet long (30 meters)! We also saw sperm whales, brite whales and sea turtles.
Surfing
The waves are good for surfing all around the Mirissa area, especially on the west side of the beach. It’s easy to find surf board rentals right on the beach.
Parrot Rock
Theres a sand bar that goes out to Parrot Rock between Mirissa beach and the bay to the east. You can climb to the top and it has a nice lookout point.
Sunset
Theres a great look out point for sunset. Walk east of the Mirissa Seastar Hotel and climb up to the grove of palm trees on the hill for an amazing view.
Food
Zephyr restaurant– beachfront restaurant with a nice view and good seafood salad
The Shack– bean bags in the sand
Briso– chill vibes and reggae music
Sudu weli– tiki hut bar on the beach
Expenses
Plan to budget around $30-$40/day (in USD).
Flight- $529
Transportation- $3/day
Accommodation- $10/night ($29/night for beachfront hotel)
Food- $6.5/day
Whale Watching- $42
Travel Visa- $35
From Mirissa
From Mirissa beach, it’s definitely worth it to see wild elephants in Udawalawe National Park, go on a leopard safari in Yala National Park, and the epic train ride from Ella to Kandy. For details on how to get there and what to do click here.
This was my 2 week itinerary: (I didn’t plan in advance, this is just what it turned out to be)
4 nights Hikkaduwa
2 nights Mirissa
1 night Udawalawe national park
1 night Yala National Park
4 nights Ella
2 nights Kandy
1 night Colombo
After years of experience with solo travel, this is one of the easiest countries to get around, but not because of the public transportation. Although the train is easy travel, the trains won’t go to a lot of places. It was easy because of the people and how genuinely helpful the locals were. They went out of their way to make sure I knew which buses to take and where to get off and this made it easy to get around.
Thanks for reading and please email me if you have any questions. 🙂
Heres a video of my trip.