Blog Trincomalee and Nilaveli
Trincomalee was not quite what we were expecting. The North-East of Sri Lanka isn’t very developed due to their Civil war just recently ending. So unless you are in a tourist area, there isn’t much around. Also, finding good food here is rather difficult so save some protein bars for this area. While Trincomalee itself doesn’t have all that much to offer there are little gems in the area. I would recommend visiting here if you enjoy laying on the beach all day and some light snorkeling. Aside from that there isn’t much to do.
Our first stop on the way into Trincomalee was to Pebble’s Beach, it’s a gorgeous one! There’s a section for locals and a section for tourists (which you can go to even if you’re not staying at the resort). The section for tourists we found to be very safe. If you want a private beach with a killer sunrise view, definitely try to get in here. The water was super flat and crystal clear.
We stayed at JKAB resort in Trinco, which I don’t particularly recommend and especially if you do stay here DO NOT EAT HERE. You might tell yourself the food doesn’t look that bad, but it is. Please save your money, I promise you’d rather be hungry. Anyways, the room wasn’t bad, a little overpriced for Sri Lanka, but we also booked that day. If you can try to get in at Jungle Beach or Nilaveli Resort (looked nice). So, speaking of Nilaveli, this is ACTUALLY where all the tourism is. Trincomalee and Nilaveli seem to be close, but are very different tourism wise. So this is where you’ll want to stay.
The next morning we set out to do some snorkeling off Pigeon Island which is a short ferry (speed boat) ride away from Nilaveli. This can tally up pretty quickly and the island also gets crowded fast. Pigeon Island is ‘known for it’s diving’. Okay, was it the worst place I’ve gone diving? No. Was it the best? No. I would not recommend going here purely for diving. However, if you’re already here and want to do some snorkeling, it’s a decent spot.
Pigeon Island has two main dive spots, one for beginners which is much more protected and shallow and another on the same side the ferry drops you off for more ‘advanced’ snorkeling. Keep in mind, this island is filled with beginner snorkelers. The beginner section is pretty rocky but there is one nice sand entrance, so make sure you enter there and avoid getting scraped. You should also try to plan to come here for high tide, low tide will probably guarantee some blood. The entrance area will be packed but if you can get out past the crowd there is a bunch to see, however honestly nothing too impressive. One guy told me he saw a turtle, but that’s about it. The one good thing is that the fish are very tame so they’ll come right up to your face, which is pretty cool.
The second spot is much better. It’s a great place to spot sharks, we saw three. Aside from sharks and some schools of fish we didn’t see all that much, but this section is much more open so you’re more likely to see something. The coral is also better on this side. We didn’t last long in the water because there were so many jellyfish and we kept getting stung. That was the first time I’ve been completely surrounded by jellies. Luckily they didn’t sting too bad, but it was uncomfortable enough that it wasn’t pleasant to stay in the water.
Because most of the snorkelers are beginners here, they have no respect for the corals. Personally I yelled at a lady who was about to step on some brain coral. So what I’m getting at here, the Sri Lankan’s are not taking care of this area as much as they should. The corals here aren’t going to last long. A lifeguard seems to chill at the second spot to make sure no one enters the roped off area, but there are no restrictions in the beginner area. I also saw a tourist.. swim, pummel.. through the roped off section, definitely destroying some coral. So if you do go here, take some care to preserve it.
After we finished snorkeling at Pigeon Island we went looking for some decent food seeing as the food at our resort was off-limits. We ended up at Fernando’s which I highly recommend! Potentially one of the coolest beach bars I’ve been to and definitely the coolest table I’ve eaten at. It’s a swing!! The service is not the best so definitely don’t sit down expecting to leave anytime soon, you’ll probably need a few hours. But. The drinks are pretty solid, I tried the Fernando and Caipirinha, my friend tried the mojito, all solid but also probably not exactly what you’re expecting. While I wouldn’t consider it anything special, the food is good for this area. So since you’re probably just looking for a bar to drink at and beach to chill in this area anyway, definitely make a stop at Fernando’s. You won’t regret it.
