Finding accomodation is easy room prices range from £1.50 per night (basic double bed, fan, shower and toilet) right on the beach to £30+ per night. There are hotels all along the main and only street ! in Hikkaduwa.
We just turned up at the airport and shared a taxi with another couple with boards who were on the same flight. The taxi took about 3 hrs due to the traffic (unbeliveable - bikes, mopeds, ox and carts, lorries + chaos). Once in Hikkaduwa we found accomodation within 10 mins and paid around £2.50 per night.
My girlfiend now wife upgraded the accomodation to a villa for about £5.50 - £7.00 per night including breakfast. It had a balcony overlooking the beach and was a two minute jog down the beach to the reef. Meals cost from 50p !. Taxis known as 'tuk tuks' will get you anywhere for next to nothing.
After March there's surf on the East Coast at Arugam Bay but I didn't go there as the Tamel Tiger situation was a bit dodgy. There is a website for the surf shop at Hikkaduwa - search for surf/sri lanka and you should find it along with photos and I think accomodation above the shop which faces onto the main reef. The Lonely Planet guide for Sri Lanka has lots of detail on Hikkaduwa, hotels etc and even surfing.
Definitely a very warm, mellow and cheap surf spot once you get there !
Chris King
