Trincomalee – quick travel guide

Northeast beach city, with small beach towns adjacent. Very local and conservative vibe, with pockets of tourist areas during high season.

We came during off-season months of Dec & Jan, also stayed in the outer area of Nilaveli Beach, and felt like we were the only foreigners we saw everyday.

Definitely the least fun place we’ve been on our whole Sri Lanka tour. Beach nearby us was ugly. Everything was far and remote, needed to rent a bike to buy daily food and water. I guess it was nice in that we had time to focus on work stuff instead of getting distracted by tourist stuff. But that’s not why we go places, right?

I’d say 3 days is enough. But also, you need to have a reason to come here. Are you sure you want to see a more conservative part of Sri Lanka? A part that doesn’t have so many westernized food options and tourist things to do? A part that may not be a great place to visit during off-season? Because you might be better just skipping this place.

If you’re simply looking for the least touristy major city of Sri Lanka, skip this and go further north to Jaffna.

Where to stay:

• Uppeveli – knowing what I know now, this is where I would recommend foreigners to stay. Nice tourist beach areas here, and better restaurants that cater to the Western palate and budget. At least until Nilaveli gets more popular. It has a nice beach and is close to busier tourist restaurants, and touristy things. But not in the crowded local area that’s less vibey to foreigners.
• Trincomalee – the main town center. I probably wouldn’t choose to be here.
• Nilaveli – you can stay either on the nicer beach resorts (by north end of Nilaveli) and have a more private access to better-maintained beaches. Or you can stay in the cheaper guesthouses by the south end of Nilaveli where the beach is full of trash and there are lots of locals who may stare at you…my female friend was extremely uncomfortable. During off season, there seemed to be very few restaurants open…and the open ones were all almost empty. Even if Nilaveli was in busy season, just know that staying here is more remote and you’ll likely need a motorbike if you want to go anywhere other than the nearby beach.

We came here during off season and were surprised to find many things were not as described in online guides.

Hostels & Hotels:

• Theepan (Nilaveli) – cheap price and good location if you want to be in Nilaveli, run by a lovely sweet lady. Designed like cute little garden houses.
• Coconut Leaf Shadow Guest (Nilaveli) – another place with nice reviews but we didn’t stay or check it out.
• Vibushan Guest House (Nilaveli) – seems like a big place with cozy feels, with 6-7 rooms to choose from. The community area here has a nice vibe, with many tables to sit and work from or to socialize. During high season…it has a nice social feel for meeting other travelers. The owner is nice and helpful. And the place is cool, even when it’s hot, thanks to many fans. Easy to rent bicycles and motorbikes from here, or sign up for tours and activities. Internet is very good when they refill their data plan…we had to stress the importance to the host and he did it for us. Location is good in that it’s close to Nilaveli Beach (but the dirty side of it so you have to walk or motobike to reach the clean parts).

Don’t bother reading my reviews unless you want to stay in Nilaveli (which I wouldn’t recommend).

Neighborhoods & Walking areas:

• Fernando’s Beach Bar (Uppeveli Beach) – main hangout area for tourists. I suggest you go here anytime of day, but best at sunset and night. It has several little restaurants and bars, outdoor seating with swings right on the beach. Also dance floor upstairs. It’s super packed during high season. All foreigners are here.

Activities to do:

• Buildings & architecture:
  • Fort Frederik – aka “Trincomalee Fort”. Typical Dutch Fort along the beach. More typical tourist thing to visit.
    • Koneswaram Temple – beautiful Hindu temple along the water. Located inside Fort Frederik.
  • Sri Pathrakali Amman Temple – really beautiful colorful temple (inside and out). Looks more freshly painted than others. The colors are very saturated and remind me of that Street Fighter video game from the 90’s. It’s an easy 15-minute visit. No money required.
  • Velgam Vehera – ancient ruins, free entry, no explanation of anything. Overrun by monkeys nowadays, and almost nobody there.
• Parks, gardens, green spaces:
  • Pigeon Island National Park:
    • Most people come here to snorkel and play on the suppose “one of the nicest beaches in Sri Lanka”.
    • I didn’t go because I read so many mixed reviews.
    • The positive reviews say it’s absolutely beautiful. Great beaches and snorkeling, seeing fish and turtles, small sharks, etc.
    • The negative reviews say it’s way overpriced for foreigners, costing $60 per person after you factor in the island entry fee, boat transports, boat access fee, snorkel gear rentals, etc. Many claims of very little fish in the water, and nearly dead corals. And that the place only has great reviews because of national Sri Lankans who only pay 2% of what foreigners pay.
• Beaches, bridges, water-points:
  • Trincomalee Beach – I didn’t go and I’m not sure it’s even a beach. Perhaps just the city part along the water. Maybe you can go and report back to me. But hey, you can go there to visit the tourist points.
  • Uppeveli Beach – total tourist area. Everything looks nice and made for tourists. Even if you’re one of those tourists who don’t like going to touristy places, I’d still recommend you go here.
  • Nilaveli Beach – you’ll hear lots of mixed reviews because this beach is long and feels different depending where you are. The south end feels very local, everybody wearing tons of clothes, foreign women might feel uncomfortable by all the staring from local guys. Especially during off-season when there are no foreigners. It’s also dirty and full of trash. The north end closer to the hotel resorts (like Nilaveli Beach Hotel) is more free of trash and not crowded, looks more like paradise.
  • Coral Cove Beach – beautiful and has living corals. Maintained by the military, and requires permission from the military for you to access. Unfortunately, no access is given to foreigners.
• Markets, shopping –
• Arts & museums –
• Viewpoints, landmarks, sunsets:
  • I wouldn’t know where to find sunset since Trincomalee is on the east coast. My guess is around Trincomalee Beach area.
• Tours:
  • Whale watching – can see whales and dolphins on this boat tour. We didn’t go.

Restaurants & Cafes:

• Fernando’s Beach Bar – go here and you’ll see many touristy options for restaurants.
• Eastern Lanka Seafood Restaurant – very good local food with lots of great reviews. It’s along the road.

Bars, clubs, and nightlife:

• Fernando’s Beach Bar – go here and you’ll see several tourist options for bars and clubs. It’s the nice part and nightlife part of Trincomalee for foreigners. In peak season, it’s completely full everywhere.

Miscellaneous tips:

• General travel tips for Sri Lanka.
• Mold issue:
  • Many cheaper accommodations in this beach area are very poorly ventilated and rooms will have a strong mold smell (which is not good for you). Only way to get around that is to at least air out the rooms (and risk being bit by mosquitos) or to demand another room; which may or may not be available.
  • Whatever wet thing you have in your room, like wet clothes during rainy season, try to hang it outside to have it dry out ASAP and reduce any moisture in your room.
• Motorcyle – great transportation method here as there are long roads without too many vehicles (especially once you’re out of the Trincomalee center). Just beware of many petrol stations always running out. So don’t wait until your fuel gets too low.
• Internet – many places run out of internet (and don’t refill) during low season. Which is something that happens often here in the less touristy parts of Sri Lanka.

Itinerary:

• DAY 1 –

Nearby towns:

• Anuradhapura** – best and most condensed cultural center. Worth going!
• Sigiriya* – go if you want to see the Lion Rock.
• Jaffna – worth going if you want to see the least touristy area possible of Sri Lanka. And well-informed ahead of time on the extremely conservative culture up there.

Unfiltered notes:

• 9 AMAZING PLACES TO VISIT IN TRINCOMALEE, SRI LANKA – The Coastal Campaign
• 17 Things to do in Trincomalee – Destinationless Travel