How to get from Colombo to Dickwella

There are 3 ways to travel the 210 kilometres (130 miles) from Colombo to Dickwella. You can choose between the bus, taxi and train. The journey takes 3 hours to 3 hours 55 minutes and the quickest way is by taxi. If you're on a budget, the cheapest option is by bus with tickets starting at 420 LKR ($1.40).

The only direct buses available from Colombo to Dickwella are non-airconditioned buses. Normally, these would be very uncomfortable in Sri Lanka. But the buses will be passing along the west coast, so you might enjoy the sea breeze from the open window.

From Bastian Mawatha Bus Stand, take a bus bound for Kataragama (#3) or Tangalle (#32-4). Make sure to pick the semi-luxury bus as they make fewer stops compared to the normal bus. Fares start at 420 LKR ($1.40). Ask your driver to drop you off at Dickwella.

If you’re not comfortable with taking a non-airconditioned bus, there is also an option to travel via a tourist bus from Colombo to Matara. Then you can transfer to a taxi that will take you directly to Dickwella.

Disaru Expressway departs daily from Bastian Mawatha Bus Station at 11:00 and arrives at 14:00 in Matara Bus Stand. A ticket costs 2,360 LKR ($7.80) and the bus journey takes 3 hours. From here, Dickwella is 30mins away by taxi. Taxi fares start at 1,270 LKR ($4.20).

Dickwella doesn’t have its own railway station, so your best option is to take a direct train to Matara. Another station that is closer to Dickwella is Wewurukannala. This station is only 10min drive from Dickwella and part of the railway between Matara to Beliatta, but unfortunately, the schedule runs very irregularly.

Somehow, I ended up taking this train from Colombo as my original train was canceled. This journey isn’t recommended, though. The trip took me almost double the amount of time, excluding the waiting time at Colombo railways station!

For this reason, we recommend taking a direct train to Matara and continue by taxi or bus to Dickwella. Or if you want to try your luck, ask for the train to Wewurukannala (good luck with pronouncing that) and who knows it might be leaving soon after you arrived.

When booking online, only 1st class train tickets are available from Colombo Fort to Matara Railway Station. A ticket costs 3,450 LKR ($11.40) and the journey takes at least 2h 35m - 3h 25m.

From Matara Railway Station, Dickwella is about 20 km away. The easiest way to reach it is by taxi, which takes about 30 minutes and costs around 1,500 LKR ($5).

A cheaper option is to travel by bus. However, Matara Bus Stand is still 1.5 km away from the railway station. It is 5-10mins away by taxi or tuk-tuk and 20mins away on foot. From Matara Bus Stand, take a bus bound for Dickwella.

The last option is to take the train to Wewurukannala, but as we described chances are very small that that matches your schedule.

From Colombo to Dickwella, you can book a taxi via Uber for around 9,100 LKR ($30), but fares can be slightly cheaper or more expensive depending on availability. Hoping for cheaper rates? You can also check the taxi apps PickMe and TaxiGo. But note that although these are widely available in Colombo, they are not easy to book for longer journeys.

PRO TIP: Use the code “hpam1ue” or this link to order your first ride with Uber for free!