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Hotels, dive operators, gear, and how to get here are on the Hikkaduwa location page.
Overview
Sri Lanka's first marine protected area — declared a sanctuary in 1979 and a marine national park in 2002 — fringing the beach town of Hikkaduwa on the southwest coast. The coral gardens sit in 3-12 m of warm, calm water 100-300 m offshore: a shallow fringing reef of Acropora tables, Montipora, and brain corals recovering from the 1998 bleaching and 2004 tsunami. Green and hawksbill turtles graze the heads daily and are reliably approachable, while parrotfish, surgeonfish, snappers, butterflyfish, Moorish idols, and moray eels work the coral, with the odd blacktip reef shark on the seaward edge. Shallow depth, easy shore and short-boat access, and minimal current make it one of the island's best beginner and training reefs, busiest with glass-bottom boats in the November-April dry season.
Briefing note
The sanctuary lies within Hikkaduwa Marine National Park; a Department of Wildlife Conservation entry ticket applies and is usually arranged by dive operators. Coral here was hit hard by the 1998 mass bleaching and the 2004 tsunami and is still recovering — do not touch or stand on coral, and do not chase or ride turtles. Boat and snorkel-tour traffic over the shallow reef is heavy, so dive on a deployed SMB. Diving turns rough and visibility collapses during the May-September southwest monsoon.
What you'll see
9 species curated- year-roundGreen turtle
- year-roundHawksbill turtle
- rareBlacktip reef shark
- year-roundBluestripe snapper
- year-roundMoorish idol
- year-roundParrotfish
- year-roundButterflyfish
- year-roundPowder-blue surgeonfish
- year-roundGiant moray
Conditions
| Month | Water | Visibility | Current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27–29 °C | 15–25 m | mild |
| Feb | 27–30 °C | 18–28 m | mild |
| Mar | 28–30 °C | 18–30 m | mild |
| Apr | 28–30 °C | 12–22 m | mild |
| May | 28–30 °C | 8–15 m | moderate |
| Jun | 27–29 °C | 5–12 m | strong |
| Jul | 27–29 °C | 5–12 m | strong |
| Aug | 27–29 °C | 5–15 m | moderate |
| Sep | 27–29 °C | 8–15 m | moderate |
| Oct | 27–30 °C | 10–20 m | mild |
| Nov | 27–29 °C | 12–22 m | mild |
| Dec | 27–29 °C | 15–25 m | mild |
Season calendar
Peak season highlighted · current month outlined
Gear for this site
Beyond the basic kit- Reef-safe sunscreen — The reef is shallow and heavily visited; reef-safe formulas reduce chemical load on already-stressed coral.
- SMB — Glass-bottom-boat and snorkel-tour traffic over the reef is constant in season — deploy an SMB and surface alert.
Next step
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