Where to swim with turtles near Hiriketiya and Dikwella

Wild sea turtles feed on the reef at Turtle Beach in Dikwella, less than five minutes by road from Hiriketiya, and you can often see them with nothing more than a mask. They are wild animals, so nobody can promise you one, but a calm sea and a little patience go a long way.

Where are turtles seen around Dikwella and Hiriketiya?

Our bay, Turtle Beach, is a calm round bay with a reef on the horizon. Many people know it as Turtle Point, the name travel guides use when they write about green turtles feeding in the shallows. Turtles come to the bay to feed, and we often see them only a few metres from the beach, so you reach them by swimming from the sand, with no boat. They are most likely green turtles, the kind seen most often around Sri Lanka. Grown green turtles eat sea grass and algae, so a reef with plenty of growth keeps them coming back. The reef also holds many small fish, and big ones too.

There are other places nearby:

• Hiriketiya. A turtle sometimes swims through the bay. With surfers and boards in the water, it is more luck than plan.
• Rekawa, near Tangalle. This is a different experience. A local conservation project takes visitors to the beach at night, from about 8 PM, to watch turtles come ashore to nest. Only red light is used, and a sighting is never promised.

At some beaches further west along this coast, turtles come close because visitors feed them seaweed. Please do not join in. Turtles find their own food and do not need ours.

When is a good time to look?

The sea on the south coast is usually calmer from about December to April. From about May to September the south-west monsoon brings rougher water, and rough water is cloudy water, so in those months swim only on calm days.

Flat water matters more than anything else. You see further, you float more easily, and you do not have to fight the sea to stay in one place. At Ohana we see turtles most often early in the morning and at sunset.

If waves are breaking over the reef, it is a day for the sand and not for the mask. On a calm day, watch the surface as well as the bottom. Turtles breathe air, and a feeding turtle comes up every few minutes. A small dark head that lifts, breathes and goes down again is a turtle.

How should you behave around a turtle?

Sea turtles are protected by law in Sri Lanka, and the bay is their home before it is our swimming place. The rules are simple, and children learn them quickly:

• Never touch a turtle. Not the shell, not the flippers.
• Never chase. If the turtle swims away, let it go. Another one will come, or the same one will come back.
• Never feed.
• Keep your distance. Guidelines differ from place to place, from about 1.5 metres to 3 metres and more. Take the bigger number.
• Do not swim right above it. A turtle needs a clear way up to the surface to breathe.
• Come from the side, slowly. It should be able to see you and to leave. Float, and keep your arms and legs quiet.
• Do not stand on the reef. It is alive, and it is the turtles' table.

If a turtle swims towards you, stay still and let it pass. That is the moment people remember, and it only happens to those who wait.

What should you bring?

• A mask. We lend snorkel masks free. Ask at the bar.
• Reef-kind sunscreen. Read the list of ingredients, because words like "reef friendly" on a bottle are not regulated. Leave out creams with oxybenzone and octinoxate. Mineral filters such as non-nano zinc oxide are the kinder choice.
• A long-sleeved swim shirt. The more skin it covers, the less cream goes into the water.
• Drinking water for after. Filtered water is on the house at Ohana.

That is all. The less you carry into the water, the more you notice in it.

What about the sea urchins?

Sea urchins live in the rocks around the bay. They do not move towards you, but their spines are sharp. Walk into the water where the sand is clear, and once you are near rocks, float and do not put your feet down. Tell children the same thing before they go in, not after.

If you are not a strong swimmer, stay close to the shore and go in with someone. On request, when one of our team is free, they come into the water with you. Nobody has to see a turtle today. They live here, and so does the coffee.

There is more about the bay and its turtles on our turtles page, and about sunbeds and the garden on the beach club page.

Good to know

• Snorkel masks are lent free at Ohana. Ask at the bar.
• We are at Turtle Beach, Dikwella, less than five minutes by road from Hiriketiya. Directions are on Find us.
• Sunbeds are free for the whole day, one for each person, when each person spends 10,000 LKR on food and drinks; otherwise they cost 1,000 LKR an hour each. A towel comes with every sunbed.
• Breakfast is served from 08:00 to 11:00, lunch and dinner from 11:00 to 21:00. Prices are in LKR, plus a 10% service charge.