Trincomalee & Koneswaram

The story

Home to one of the world's finest natural deep-water harbours, Trincomalee pairs powder-white east-coast beaches with the dramatic clifftop Koneswaram Temple — a thousand-pillared Hindu shrine perched above the Indian Ocean at Swami Rock. The reef at nearby Pigeon Island is one of Sri Lanka's best snorkelling grounds, teeming with blacktip reef sharks and turtles.

Highlights

• Koneswaram Temple on Swami Rock
• Uppuveli and Nilaveli beaches
• Pigeon Island snorkelling & reef sharks
• Whale watching (Mar–Aug)

Things to do here

1. 1Snorkel with reef sharks and turtles at Pigeon Island
2. 2Visit Koneswaram Temple on Swami Rock
3. 3Whale-watching boat trip (March–August)
4. 4Sunbathe and swim at Nilaveli or Uppuveli beach
5. 5Diving on the WWII HMS Hermes wreck (advanced)
6. 6Tour Fort Frederick and the sacred deer sanctuary