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A three-hour guided scuba session on the reefs and wrecks off Hikkaduwa, suitable for both certified divers and complete first-timers under instructor supervision.
Highlights
- Guided reef dive with schooling fish, moray eels and grazing green turtles
- Shallow wreck sites within short boat range of the beach
- Suitable for certified divers and for first-timers under instructor supervision
- All scuba equipment provided
- Best conditions from around November to April
Hikkaduwa Reef Scuba Diving Session: Key Facts
| Price | From $127.78 per person |
|---|---|
| Duration | 3 hours |
| Group size | Up to 6 people |
| Languages | English |
| Tour type | Mini Tour |
| Booking | Direct with the local operator — no OTA markup |
Full description
Hikkaduwa was Sri Lanka's first beach resort town and its reef is the reason. A shallow coral sanctuary sits directly off the main beach, and beyond it a set of dive sites in the ten to thirty metre range gives the area a season that runs from roughly November to April, when the southwest monsoon is off and visibility is at its best.
The reef itself took heavy damage in the 1998 bleaching event and again in the 2004 tsunami, and it is honest to say it is a recovering reef rather than a pristine one. What it still delivers is fish life and structure: schools of snapper and fusilier, moray eels, lionfish, parrotfish grazing the hard coral, and green turtles that graze the seagrass close to shore.
The wrecks are the other draw. Several vessels lie within short boat range, including the Conch, a nineteenth-century oil tanker in shallow water, and the Earl of Shaftesbury, both broken up enough to be swim-through friendly and heavily colonised.
The session runs about three hours in total. Certified divers dive to their qualification level with a guide. If you have never dived, the time is used for a theory and skills briefing, shallow-water practice and then a supervised discovery dive with an instructor alongside you throughout. Equipment is provided and the instructor sets depth conservatively.
Hikkaduwa is around two hours south of Colombo on the expressway and transfers are not part of this booking, so plan the travel separately or combine it with a night on the coast.
Tour Itinerary
The schedule below is a suggested plan and can be adjusted to suit your preferences.
Check-in and briefing
Paperwork, medical declaration and dive briefing at the centre.
Kit up
Equipment fitting and pre-dive checks.
Dive
Guided reef or wreck dive with your instructor.
Return and debrief
Back to the centre, rinse gear and review the dive.
Detailed Itinerary
[{"time": "09:00", "title": "Arrival at the dive centre", "description": "Registration, a short medical questionnaire and a chat about your experience level so the guide can pick the right site."}, {"time": "09:20", "title": "Briefing", "description": "Safety procedures, hand signals, buoyancy and equalisation. First-timers get a longer theory and skills session here."}, {"time": "09:45", "title": "Equipment and checks", "description": "Wetsuit, mask, fins, BCD and regulator fitted and buddy-checked."}, {"time": "10:00", "title": "Entry and dive", "description": "Short boat ride or shore entry depending on the site and conditions, then the dive itself with the instructor at your side."}, {"time": "11:15", "title": "Surface and return", "description": "Back to the centre to rinse gear."}, {"time": "11:40", "title": "Debrief", "description": "A run through what you saw, plus options if you want to continue towards a certification."}]
Includes
- Scuba equipment hire including tank, weights, BCD and regulator; guided dive with a qualified instructor or divemaster; safety briefing; boat transfer to the dive site where required.
Excludes
- Transport to and from Hikkaduwa; meals and drinks; underwater photos or video; dive insurance; certification course fees; gratuities.
Important information
Meeting point
Dive centre in Hikkaduwa on the south-west coast. Exact address sent on confirmation.
Know before you go
- Free cancellation available up to 24 hours before the activity starts