Diving in Trincomalee

Click here for above-the-water photos from our long weekend in Trincomalee, on Sri Lanka's beautiful eastern coast. The twins got certified to dive during our visit, and Pat took lots of underwater photos (coming soon in another web album).  Jake's friend Emily is visiting us for a few weeks, so we now have two Emilys - a Canadian one and an American one. 

Trincomalee, Uppuveli and Nilaveli are adjacent towns with beautiful beaches along the upper east coast of Sri Lanka. The area is still fairly undeveloped, but tourism is definitely on the rise due to good diving, snorkeling and the great beaches. 

Locals are mostly Hindu and Muslim, so calls to prayer are frequent, with chants broadcast over loudspeakers from various temples. Mixed-in with the prayer music, fresh bread delivery tuks and ice-cream vendors drive around all day playing Beethoven’s Für Elise. Tourists are mostly European, Chinese and Indian. August is high season, but most of the "traffic" we experienced during our 5 day stay in Trinco was four-legged in nature. Cows roam around everywhere, along with deer and beach dogs. 

Trinco's most famous religious sight is Koneswaram Temple, a shrine to the Hindu Lord Shiva to whom expecting mothers pray for health pregnancies. The Temple sits on a bluff with amazing views of the area. Fencing along the cliff edges is covered with handmade offerings - small wooden "cribs" tied with colorful ribbons. 

Our days in Trinco were very simple: 

• An early breakfast of tea, fruit, eggs and toast, which is always included as part of a stay at local villas like the placed we stayed in Nilaveli, Sea Zone. 
• Morning diving with Jez and Cinzia at AquaCreed. 
• Lunch at Rice & Curry, a small restaurant we fell in love with in Uppuveli with excellent kottu and dal. 
• An afternoon rest during the heat of the day. 
• A little puppy time, with the five, 6-month old puppies being cared for by the dive shop near our villa. One is pictured below. 
• Playing in the practically perfect waves at Nilaveli Beach until sunset (around 6:30pm here). 
• Repeat, with minimal variation. 

On our last morning, we snorkeled at Pigeon Island National Park. We got there early to avoid the crowds and with the hope of seeing reef sharks, but the visibility was less than ideal for spotting them. There were plenty of fish and some nice coral. Fish photos coming as soon as we download Pat's underwater camera.