Nature
Pigeon Island snorkelling
A ten-minute boat ride from Nilaveli to a small national park island with the most accessible living coral in Sri Lanka, hundreds of reef fish and blacktip reef sharks in the shallows.
Mid-range
East Coast
Trincomalee
One of the world's great natural harbours, and the calmest water on the island
- East Coast
- Best May–Aug
- 2nights suggested
Trincomalee sits on a deep natural harbour with the Koneswaram temple on a cliff above it and the flat, clear beaches of Uppuveli and Nilaveli to the north. Pigeon Island's coral lies a short boat ride offshore, and between May and September the sea here is glassy while the south-west is being rained on.
Koneswaram Kovil, on Swami Rock above the harbour, is one of the most important Hindu temples in Sri Lanka and among the most dramatically sited anywhere: a painted gopuram on a cliff straight above the Indian Ocean.
Nilaveli and Uppuveli are wide, shallow and unusually calm, which makes them the best swimming beaches on the island for families and weak swimmers during the eastern season.
Pigeon Island National Park, a few hundred metres offshore from Nilaveli, has the best accessible coral and reef fish in the country, along with resident blacktip reef sharks in the shallows. Visitor numbers are capped and the reef is fragile: no standing on coral, no touching, no sunscreen in the water.
Whale and dolphin watching runs out of Trincomalee in the eastern season, and Kanniya's hot wells and the hot springs make an easy inland half-day.
Highlights
- Snorkelling Pigeon Island's reef
- Koneswaram temple on Swami Rock
- Calm, shallow swimming at Nilaveli and Uppuveli
- Blue whales and dolphins in the eastern season
- Kanniya hot wells
- East Coast
- May–Aug
- 2 nights
The eastern season runs roughly April to September. The north-east monsoon makes October to January wet and the sea rough.
Where it is
Trincomalee is in East Coast.
Getting there & around
Advisory door-to-door estimates for typical road conditions, not live routing output.
Experiences here
- Culture
Koneswaram temple and Swami Rock
A major Hindu temple on a cliff a hundred metres directly above the Indian Ocean, with a painted gopuram, a colossal Shiva statue and one of the great views on the east coast.
Good value
Sri Lanka itineraries that visit Trincomalee
- 13 days
East Coast and the North
Built for June, July and August, when the south-west is wet and the east and north are at their best. Anuradhapura, the Jaffna peninsula, Pigeon Island's coral, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya, finishing in Kandy. The Sri Lanka that returning travellers come back for.
- West Coast
- Cultural Triangle
- North
- +2
- Stays
- Transport
- Guide
Indicative price band: Mid-range per person.
Nearby destinations
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