Hikkaduwa
| Hikkaduwa | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 6 ° 7 ′ N , 80 ° 7 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Sri Lanka | ||
| Southern province | |||
| District | bile | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | LK-31 | ||
| height | 30 m | ||
Hikkaduwa ( Tamil : இக்கடுவை, Sinhalese : හික්කඩුව , Hikkaḍuva ) is a small coastal town in southwest Sri Lanka , about 100 km south of the state capital Colombo and 20 km northwest of the provincial capital Galle . The place extends along the coastline and the main road as well as the Colombo-Galle railway line.
Until the 1970s, Hikkaduwa was a "dreamy" fishing village. It was then discovered by young individual tourists who enjoyed the beauty of beach life there as hippies or surfers. Numerous simple pensions, restaurants and pubs were built. In the 80s the first larger hotels were built and package tourism developed. Today there is a colorful juxtaposition of individual and package travelers with the associated wide range of entertainment and shopping. The offshore coral reef is a popular area for divers and snorkelers.
On December 26, 2004, Hikkaduwa was hit very badly by the seaquake in the Indian Ocean . In the vicinity of Seenigama, the express train with almost 2,000 people was hit by the tsunami. In this accident , it is estimated that around 1,700 people were killed. Several, mainly private, German aid organizations have been very successful in getting involved in Hikkaduwa since the tsunami disaster.