Day Excursions at Trincomalee

Trincomalee Harbour is a large natural harbor situated on the north east coast of Sri Lanka seaport in Trincomalee Bay or Koddiyar Bay. Its strategic importance has shaped its recent history. There have been many sea battles to control the harbor. The Portuguese, Dutch, French, and the English have each held it in turn. In 1942 the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked Trincomalee harbour and sunk three British warship anchored there.

Thiru Koneswaram is situated on top of the Swami Rock and offers a brilliant view of the surrounding sea. If you manage to visit there early in the morning you can capture some brilliant photos of the sunrise. If it’s not a crowded day like a weekday you can go near the kovil from a vehicle. There are some brilliantly colored statues and carvings at the kovil. The sea below has brilliant blue color which is rarely seeing anywhere in the world. Just before the entrance you can see the “Lovers Leap”. As the name suggest it became famous because some couple jumped from it to commit suicide.

The city of Trincomalee presently situated in the Four Gravet Divisional Secretariat of the Trincomalee District, was known as Gokanna in the ancient times. Fort Fredrick was built encompassing the summit of Swami Rock, the highest point in the city. Swami Rock has had Hindu and Buddhist connections from the bygone times. King Mahasen (275-303 A.D.) is said to have demolished the Jaina monastery that existed on the Swami Rock and built a Buddhist temple with a preaching hall. In 1724 A.D the Portuguese general Constantine De Saa destroyed the temple to build a fortress.The Dutch who colonized the country after the Portuguese, caused to have enlarged the fort, while the British who governed the country after the Dutch enlarged it further and named it as Fort Fredrick. Excavations conducted within the fort led to the discovery of Hindu and Buddhist sculptures of archaeological interest.

The Pigeon Island Marine National Park (Declared in 2003) is located around 1 km away from the Nilaveli beach. It is called Pigeon Island due to the thousands of Rock Pigeons that use it as their breeding ground. This is consists of two islands, one is small and other one is larger in size in which contains over 100 species of stunning coral and is teeming with over 300 species of colorful reef including the Black Tip Reef Shark, eels, small groups of different fish , colorful drawn boxfish a variety of rays, and Sri Lanka’s iconic sea turtle. The diversity and compactness of the location has made it as of the finest snorkeling spots not only in Sri Lanka but also in south Asia.

On completion of the excursions stay relax at Nilaveli beach.