Explore The east
North of Trincomalee the coast is lined with a fine strand of wide golden beach, beginning at the village of Uppuveli and continuing through to Nilaveli and beyond: a superb stretch of coast whose enormous tourist potential has as yet barely even been scratched – which is a large part of its appeal. Both Uppuveli and Nilaveli were saved from development during the civil war by their position close to the front line, and have little changed since – although a handful of courageous local entrepreneurs continue to plug away against the odds, sustained by a steady stream of NGOs on weekend jollies. Both places remain extremely low-key even during the season from May to September, and at other times of the year are usually more or less comatose.
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Uppuveli
Uppuveli
Just a few kilometres north of Trinco, the low-key village of UPPUVELI is little more than a modest cluster of guesthouses, a couple of hotels, a few fishing boats, and a great many palm trees. Uppuveli’s guesthouses managed to eke out a tenuous existence during the war years, while the village was lucky enough to escape the widespread destruction wrought by the tsunami on nearby Nilaveli thanks to its sheltered position behind Trincomalee’s Swami Rock. The long-anticipated postwar resurgence has yet to be felt here, however, and although the village has a little more life than Nilaveli further down the coast, the atmosphere remains deeply somnolent.
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Nilaveli
Nilaveli
Some 10km north of Uppuveli, the straggling settlement of NILAVELI is home to another fine stretch of largely deserted beach, though the village has yet to recover from the twin effects of war and tsunami and the whole place still feels moribund, at least apart from the attractive Nilaveli Beach Hotel, the area’s major – indeed only – landmark, and one of the east coast’s most attractive boltholes.
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Whale-watching around Trincomalee
Whale-watching around Trincomalee
Following the recent development of whale-watching tours in Mirissa, Trincomalee is rapidly emerging as another internationally important whale-watching destination. Blue whales in particular (plus smaller numbers of sperm whales) can regularly be seen around six to eight nautical miles east of Trincomalee (about 30min by boat), and can even occasionally be spotted from the land – with Swami Rock offering the best vantage point. Dolphins (mainly Spinner) are also regularly seen. Most sightings occur between March/April and August/September, as whales continue their migrations around the island from the south coast (where they mainly congregate from December to April) – this means that Sri Lanka offers around ten months of continuous whale-watching annually at different points around the coast.
