This is the second part of a three part series about our adventures in Sri Lanka. You can read about our safari in Yala National Park here. After Yala, we headed north to Trincomalee for a beach break. The best time to visit Trincomalee is from May to August, when the southwest monsoon makes beaches in Galle unpleasant. Avoid Trincomalee in October to January because of the northeast monsoon.
The Drive to Trincomalee
For about the 20th time that day, I thought I was going to die as an oncoming bus hurtled towards us in the wrong lane. One thing I’ll say for driving in Sri Lanka is that no one texts and drives. I’m guessing those who did are all dead. The driving situation requires constant attention as your vehicle weaves in and out of the correct lane, competing with buses, tuk-tuks, bicycles, pedestrians, and cattle.
Our driver insisted he knew where he was going despite asking for directions from every third person once we were in the city limits. Finally, two hours later than we thought, we pulled into the hotel in Trincomalee, which is often abbreviated as Trinco.
Lodging in Trinco
There are lots of beach front options for a place to lay your head. We picked Cinnamon Trinco, which has beachfront rooms and a good buffet.
Snorkeling at Pigeon Island
For our snorkeling trip in Trinco, we met up with our tour guide at 7:30. There was another couple there in their late 20s from Washington, DC. We got fins and walked to the boat. The locals were fishing using a long net that they dragged in the water. It reminded me of the hukilau in Hawaii.
Our boat paused in front of a temple at the mouth of the river to pray for safe passage before heading out to sea. It took about 30 minutes to get to Pigeon Island. We had to stop along the way at Nilaveli to pay the park fee. That was accomplished by one of our guides wading through waist-deep water to the shore holding our cash above his head. He came back with a park guide and a receipt.
If you go to Pigeon Island, go early in the morning. We were the first boat to get to the island. There’s a Do Not Enter area marked off with buoys. That’s where the coral that’s still alive is. Your guide will swim with your around the edges of that area so you can see it. The coral outside that area is mostly dead. We saw lots of small fish and even a black tipped reef shark. Our guide seemed determined to chase the reef shark until all of us saw it. After about 45 minutes of snorkeling, we came back to shore. The beach was lined with boats by that time and the beach was crowded with tourists.
We switched to the other side of the island – the back side, and went snorkeling again. After a few hours we headed back to the hotel with the obligatory stop to pray at the temple.
The hotel had two of the best restaurants in town. My favorite was the hoppers that we had for breakfast.
If you go
Stay at: Cinnamon Trinco
Take the train back to Colombo: The Man in Seat 61.