Location: Trincomalee
Top Things to do in Trincomalee
10 Things to Do in Trincomalee That You Shouldn't Miss
Trincomalee (English: /ˌtrɪŋkoʊməˈliː/; Tamil: திருகோணமலை Tirukōṇamalai; Sinhalese: ත්රිකුණාමළය Trikuṇāmalaya) also known as Gokanna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee District and major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast of the island overlooking the Trincomalee Harbour, 113 miles south of Jaffna and 69 miles north of Batticaloa, Trincomalee has been one of the main centres of Sri Lankan Tamil language speaking culture on the island for over two millennia. With a population of 99,135, the city is built on a peninsula of the same name, which divides its inner and outer harbours. People from Trincomalee are known as Trincomalians and the local authority is Trincomalee Urban Council. Trincomalee city is home to the famous Koneswaram temple alluded to in its historic Tamil name Thirukonamalai and is home to other historical monuments such as the Bhadrakali Amman Temple, Trincomalee, the Trincomalee Hindu Cultural Hall and, opened in 1897, the Trincomalee Hindu College. Trincomalee is also the site of the Trincomalee railway station and an ancient ferry service to Jaffna and the south side of the harbour at Muttur.
Restaurants in Trincomalee
1. Trincomalee War Cemetery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 217 reviews
Trincomalee is a seaport on the north-eastern coast of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and was formerly a naval station. After the fall of Singapore it became a naval base of importance to our command of shipping in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. The cemetery was originally the Combined Services Cemetery, but was taken over by the Admiralty from the military authorities in April 1948 for use as a permanent naval cemetery. On the withdrawal of United Kingdom Forces from Ceylon it became the property of the Ceylon Government who have granted the Commission security of tenure in perpetuity. Save for a few post-war and non-war graves it is purely a war cemetery, and service war graves were transferred to it from Trincomalee (St. Mary) Churchyard; Trincomalee (St. Stephen's) Cemetery, Kottadi Cemetery, Jaffna; and Vavuiyna Combined Cemetery. A special memorial commemorates a naval man buried in Trincomalee (St. Stephen's) Cemetery whose grave could not be found. The non-war graves are those of men of the Merchant Navy whose death was not due to war service, and of civilians, of whom some were employees of the Admiralty; while the post-war graves were dependents of servicemen, civilian employees of the Admiralty and dependents of such employees.
Reviewed By SheemaE - Durham, North Carolina
While we bicycled to the Golden temple, we stopped by at this cemetery. Very well maintained . The man who takes care of it told us that he inherited the job from his father. He lives next door and has excellent information sheet in English. Reading epitaphs made me cry a bit until I saw 'Curry anything'.
2. AquaCreed Scuba Dive Centre
Overall Ratings
5 based on 121 reviews
Diving & PADI Courses PADI Authorized Dive Centre. AquaCreed Scuba & Leisure experience to provide high quality outdoor leisure activities in Nilaveli , Trincomalee , Sri Lanka - Asia
Reviewed By Tamal_Ind - Gurugram (Gurgaon), India
My wife and I did our AOW with Aquacreed Scuba and our experience was absolutely amazing. Right from day 1, when I started interacting with Jez via emails, till the very end, when we finished our courses.
Jez is very professional as well as empathetic. He also gave me some valuable tips to improve my diving skills. He also helped us with suggestions around accommodation, transport, etc., and it was extremely helpful in planning us a great trip.
Rachael was our instructor and we absolutely loved diving with her. She was extremely patient with us. She answered all our queries and made us do all the skills until we perfected them. She also made the entire experience full of fun!
I would highly recommend Aquacreed Scuba!
3. Koneswaram Temple
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 731 reviews
Reviewed By Starnurse2 - Crowthorne, United Kingdom
After a stroll up through many stalls selling drinks and offerings for the temples, you leave your shoes at the minder and wander up to the top of the hill. It is a lovely temple with great paintings and an interesting collection of "cots" hanging in the trees -offerings from those hoping to have children. Many boats come here so the fishermen can come and pray before going out to sea. The temple has laid in ruins, been restored and enlarged over the years, and it became one of if not the most important surviving classical Dravidian structures by the 17th C.
4. Nilaveli Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 326 reviews
Reviewed By SunnyW358 - Albuquerque, New Mexico
Nilaveli is a very beautiful beach to walk along. We took a long walk when we stayed at Nilaveli Beach Resort toward the Nilaveli Beach Hotel. In between these two hotels, there were 3-4 little guest houses too. The beachfront belonging to these two hotels and the guesthouses was very clean. These beach areas were marked by a red flag. In between however, there was a lot of garbage on the beach. It looked like some people dumped their big black-plastic-bags-full of garbage on the beach. It was unfortunate that they could not find an alternative to this.
In front of our hotel, the beach was super clean.
We even saw some beach patrol by armed military closer to the Nilaveli Beach Hotel.
Another interesting factor was seeing a lot of cows on the beach. In the evening they went back to their abode (wherever that might be) in small groups.
5. Marble Beach
Overall Ratings
4 based on 321 reviews
Reviewed By Woody992 - Surrey, United Kingdom
This is an average Sri Lankan beach but very difficult to get to. Please be aware there is a charge to get to the beach. Could do with some decent restaurants.
6. Nilaveli Diving Centre
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 173 reviews
Scuba Diving in Sri Lanka is our passion! Thats why we opened our second Diving Centre 2011 at the beautiful Nilaveli Beach at the north east coast of Sri Lanka. This is the official page of the Nilaveli DIVING CENTRE, PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Resort, and Sri Lanka's premier PADI Dive Resort, S-23912 and your gateway to the excitement and adventure of the underwater world! The Dive Centre is open every year from 15. February to 15. November from 8 am to 7 pm. The rest of the year, the month of the north east monsoon, with rough sea and bad visibility, we are operating at our Unawatuna DIVING CENTRE, PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Resort at the South Coast of Sri Lanka, 5 km south of Galle under good diving conditions . The Nilaveli DIVING CENTRE is a fully authorized PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Resort. It offers Scuba Diving for beginners, Fun Dives, all kind of PADI Courses, Snorkelling Trips and Whale & Dolphin Watching . It is German owned and managed from a team of international PADI Diveinstructors.
Reviewed By Albertocarbajo
We did the Pigeon Island excursion for diving and snorkling but it turned out a total disaster.
Pigeon island is crowedbof tourists and to tell you the truth not worty at all for the price. No corals, no turtles, just one mini shark (20 cm long) and hundreds of tourists everywhere (although I 'm awere this is not Nilaveli Diving Center f ault). However, it would have been nice if they inform us that proper shoes are vey necessary for Pigeon island beach, full of sharp corals that heart the feet easily...
Anyway, focusing on the diving staff, the diving instructor and his assistant (both Sri lankan) had a total lack of safety control of the divers/snorklers. After being quite rude and not very helpful during the dives he didn't even ask for the air pressure any single time during the second dive. We could have had a serious problem if we were more junior divers. Additionally, they didn't even offer us water and/or biscuits during the whole excursion although the heat was very high and the diving staff was drinking during the breaks...
And last but not least, we almost had an accident with the boat on the way back to the beach due to the high speed and a total lack of the divers/snorklers' sense of safety.
To sum up, I wouldn't recommend waste your money and risk your health with Nilaveli Diving Center.
7. Fort Frederick
Overall Ratings
4 based on 245 reviews
Reviewed By Robert H - Sydney, Australia
Not much of the ancient fort remains but you can ride or walk up to the top past the groups of spotted deer and up to the temple at the top.
You will be rewarded with great views over the sea and a very interesting temple to tour.
8. Sri Pathrakali Amman Temple
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 27 reviews
Reviewed By smallspender - Weston-super-Mare
This temple dedicated to the goddess Kali is large and impressive on the outside, with stunning decorations and brightly-painted figures and images. Inside, it's even more impressive, beautifully painted, with a truly overwhelming religious atmosphere. I was fortunate enough to visit when a wedding was taking place, and was invited to join the guests at the ceremony, and even take part in blessing the offerings that were brought round for everyone to touch. I had never seen a Hindu wedding before, so was incredibly impressed by the wonderful clothes, not just of the guests, but the priests too, who wore colourful silk sashes over their snow-white dhotis. During a lull in the ceremony, I had a chance to walk around the temple to see all the shrines and richly-ornamented figures. It was such a pleasure to be welcomed so warmly as a non-Hindu, and to have the chance of experiencing the wedding ceremony.
9. Uppuveli
Overall Ratings
4 based on 60 reviews
Reviewed By fjp4564 - Sunshine Coast
this is an ideal spot for a quiet relaxation, and a swim in the tropical blue waters. Gets very hot during midday. Check the ideal months to visit the beach
10. Seruwila Mangala Raja Maha Vihara
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 30 reviews
Reviewed By fjp4564 - Sunshine Coast
The new Vihara is built around an ancient vihare, the ruins of which can still be seen. Very popular place of worship for the local buddhists. Modestl dress required, and no footwear. Very large statute of the Buddha in enshrined the new complex
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