This was the day that disaster struck not only International Diving School, but the whole country.

The day dawned just like any other Sunday, with a bright sky and a calm and clear sea. Previous night’s Christmas celebrations were still in the air. We had about 30 guests, both foreign and local. The two asst. instructors, Dharshana and Ishan were planning to take one group to Kirala Gala and the others to the Conch wreck. By 9 o’clock, everybody started getting ready, preparing their equipment, and were to set off by 9.30. By 9.15, our boss, Somay noticed something unusual about the sea, as the sea level seemed to have risen. There were some children playing on the beach, and Somay shouted his boys to go and bring them up. The sea level was actually rising, and waves were crashing closer and closer towards the diving center. As the first wave rolled inside the center, some started picking up the equipment on the floor and keeping them on racks to prevent them being washed away, but no way, the second wave came instantly, and before anyone could recover themselves in the knee deep water, the third wave crashed in pushing everyone further inside the diving center. Whoever was there, had to swim out and run for their lives, through the Hotel, across the road, and further inside the village. The whole thing took less than a minute.

When the sea receded, the diving center crew and a few guests who dared, returned to the scene. Luckily, no one among us was missing, except for a few who were injured in the rush. The diving center was in shambles, its roof collapsed in, and pieces scattered everywhere, most equipment washed away and some buried underneath the debris.

What was most astonishing, was the sea. It had retreated further away from the shore about half a kilometer, a sight no Sri Lankan had experienced earlier. The reef, which was about 30 metres away from the beach, was now fully visible. One could see a white smoke rising from the coral reef. Akim, one of our German guests, sensed that something was wrong, and climbed up the hotel balcony and gave us a warning, it might come back. His prediction was correct. In about a half an hour, we could see a thirty foot high, massive black wave rolling towards the shore. Again, everybody bolted.

Once the waves receded after causing a bigger damage, the boats which were inside the Hikkaduwa fishing harbour were seen on top of the reef, in front of the hotel. By now, no one knew what to do exactly, except to flee at the sight of the next wave. The third and the final wave hit Hikkaduwa by around 11.30 a.m. causing the biggest damage. It took the fishing boats which were on the reef, further inside and most ended up in front of the hotels, some on the road, and a few were carried past the railway track, which is located some 50 meters away from the main road.

As the day passed, both foreign tourists and residents in the area who lost their homes, still not recovered from the shock, gathered in the village temple or nearby houses to spend the night. Villagers brought food and clothing to the stranded people. Somay gave shelter to about 30 guests in his house. It is unlikely that anyone in Hikkaduwa had any sleep that night, as most were expecting another tsunami. Thus ended the day, which Sri Lanka faced her biggest natural disaster, that claimed more than 30,000 lives throughout the country, and left over a million homeless.