Hiriketiya. I would hear this word floating around amongst expats in Colombo, foreign friends who had travelled around Sri Lanka, and the local wanderlusters themselves. After years of heading to the Galle/Unawatuna/Weligama trifecta and with the additional help of a completed highway, I made my way to the insta-famous horse-shoe bay of Hiriketiya.
Since we were arriving around lunchtime, we decided to stop and have a meal at Verse Collective, one of the recently classic café-cowork-surf shop-hostel joint by Dikwella Beach, a few minutes away from Hiriketiya Bay. Once we found the tiny little unmarked lane off the main road, still dubious as to whether we were even on the right path, we ended up at overgrown bushes with a massive stretch of sand and sea beyond. An even tinier unmarked lane to the left led us to the sunny Verse Collective. The blurred lines between inside and outside made the place all the more appealing. The open house had a large, airy communal space with rooms upstairs and a small surf shop attached alongside. We decided to grab one of the tables outside amongst the lush palm. We sipped on our chilled beers and gazed out to Dikwella Beach, enjoying the sea breeze (while also questioning why there was no one on this beautiful stretch of sand). We devoured the burgers we had ordered, savoring every bite as it is still rare to find the perfect burger in Sri Lanka.
The rest of the day was spent in Hiriketiya bay. Amateur surfers dotted the deeper ocean while families and other beach lovers waded around the shallower waters. We swam in deeper and deeper, treading water, floating in the light waves and savoring the sunset (and ducking out of the way of surfboards). I dipped in and out of the water, going between reading my novel stretched out on my towel and diving into the water when the sun burned a little too brightly.
With a heavy downpour compelling us to drag ourselves out of the sea, we found some shelter at Dots Bay House, a chill bar bordering the bay. We ordered a few rounds of their delicious cocktails and devoured the mahi-mahi fish tacos and beef burger (burgers galore in this part of the island apparently!). We huddled closer in together under the table umbrella enjoying the ambience, the rain adding a tinge of crisp romance in the air. The crowd escalated, with people grabbing all the empty space they could find, everyone getting slightly wet in the process. A band started setting up their makeshift instruments as the clouds started to clear and we swayed along to the ballads that they started with and eventually headed to the dance floor when they pumped up the beats. A night to remember.
After a sleep-in the next day, we had an amazing Australian-style brunch at The Grove, one of the cafes across the bay. The menu incorporated the usual brunch palette with its Eggs Benedict and Avocado Toast but with a podi Sri Lankan twist. The coffee was exceptional and the breakfast we had was full-satis!
The commercialism, the skyscrapers of 5-star hotels and the sterile concrete still seems to have avoided the likes of Hiriketiya and Dikwella, a phenomenon, I hope, remains for the next few years. It would be truly tragic to see a massive resort destroying the beauty of that landscape. Fear not though, there are plenty of smaller boutique villas and no-frills but clean friendly hostels to choose from when visiting this area.
In need of a little more ocean therapy before heading back to Colombo, we returned to Dikwella beach, a beach I now consider my favorite across the island. We parked the car in the bushes surrounding the beach, stripped down to our swimmers, and ran Baywatch-style into the arms of the ocean. Devoid of any humans, the waves were glorious, not the rough type that shoves and smacks you around underwater, and without any hints of an undercurrent. We spent hours swimming in the crystal clear water, diving into waves and relishing the complete isolation in nature. Us two amongst the limitless water, the boundless white coast, the infringing forest, sun and sky.
